Costa Rica has religiously been ranked has one of the happiest countries in the world. In 2014, it attained the number one spot. The nation has a high life expectancy, good quality of life and is ranked especially high on its ecological footprint. This basically means that Costa Ricans are extremely satisfied with their way of life, and now it is not only the humans but also the fauna that have another reason to love their country.
The Costa Rican government has announced that it will be the first country in the world to shutdown all its zoos and free the animals held in captivity. The country is an especially bio-diverse place as it holds about 4 per cent of the world’s known species. The country has also recently banned hunting for sport on its land.
Unfortunately, Costa Rica is contractually obligated to keep two of its zoos open for another ten years. Still, after that, it plans to shut all of them down in favour of a cage-free habitat for animals to live in. They want to convey to the world how important it is to respect and care for animals.
Environmental Minister René Castro says, ” We are getting rid of the cages and reinforcing the idea of interacting with biodiversity in botanical parks in a natural way,” as quoted by Higher Perspectives.
” We don’t want animals in captivity or enclosed in any way unless it is to rescue or save them,” he added.
In addition to this, animals that are currently held in captivity and would not survive in the wild will be cared for in rescue centres and wildlife sanctuaries. No new zoos will open in Costa Rica.