U.S. sanctions are crippling Cuba , struggling to feed the population and animals in the zoos are starving to death

 

Photo credit: Lions at the Camagüey Zoo Facebook/Yanaris Alvarez

As severe economic instability in Cuba continues, a worsening animal welfare crisis is emerging within its zoos, raising urgent concerns that can no longer be ignored.

Recent reports from April 2026 paint a deeply troubling picture. At the Casino Campestre Zoo, images and eyewitness accounts have sparked international concern, showing lions in visibly emaciated condition. They appear weak, severely malnourished, and described as skeletal in appearance, struggling to survive. These reports have prompted urgent calls for immediate intervention.

But this may not be an isolated case.

Across the country, multiple facilities are reportedly facing similar challenges as Cuba’s ongoing shortages of food, fuel, and basic resources take a devastating toll not only on people, but also on animals entirely dependent on human care.

Zoos are increasingly struggling to meet even the most basic standards of animal welfare. Caretakers, often working under extremely difficult conditions, are constrained by a lack of supplies, limiting their ability to provide consistent nutrition and adequate care.

Facilities such as the National Zoo of Cuba are not immune to the country’s broader economic crisis, raising serious questions about long term sustainability and animal welfare.

Meanwhile, attractions such as the Acuario Nacional de Cuba and the Delfinario de Cienfuegos continue to operate, though visitor experiences vary widely and growing ethical concerns are being raised about conditions and consistency of care.

This crisis raises a broader and urgent question: what happens to captive wildlife when the systems meant to protect them begin to fail?

Without immediate attention, resources, and international support, the suffering of these animals risks deepening further, hidden in plain sight behind bars that were never meant to become cages of neglect.

The global community cannot look away. Greater transparency, independent monitoring, and urgent intervention from Cuban authorities are needed to address these conditions and prevent further suffering.

Take action by contacting the Cuban government, along with international animal welfare and public authorities, to urge immediate intervention to protect the lions and other animals at the Casino Campestre Zoo, as well as at zoos and facilities across Cuba.

The management of the Zoo at the Casino Campestre in Camagüey issued a statement rejecting the allegations shared on social media regarding the abandonment and malnutrition of its animals, but subtly acknowledged that the country's economic crisis directly affects the facility.

The text, shared by Radio Camagüey on , describes the publications that circulated in recent days as "manipulation and slander," and claims that the workers care for the animals "with such diligence and dedication."

However, the statement itself acknowledges that the oldest lioness in the zoo, at 22 years old, "shows natural signs of deterioration due to her inability to digest food," although it attributes this to biological causes associated with her old age.

The institution claims to have five caretakers, a food preparation specialist, a biologist, and a veterinarian who monitor the animals' health daily.

Facebook capture / Radio Camagüey

Even so, the message concludes with a phrase that reveals the contradiction between the official discourse and reality: the zoo operates "despite the effects of the current economic situation in the country, from which it is not exempt."

The complaints that prompted the institutional response began last Thursday, when the Cuban Yanaris Álvarez published images of three lions from the Casino Campestre showing ribcages and visibly marked bones, severely atrophied muscles, and lying on a concrete floor surrounded by dry leaves in a neglected environment.

The next day, on Friday, citizen Pedro González reported in the Facebook group Revolico Camagüey that the zoo director prevented him and other neighbors from directly feeding the animals with meat, guava, bananas, and corn purchased with their own resources.

The executive told them that "the animals have a diet and are not hungry" and called the police when visitors questioned his behavior.

González's response was forceful: "Where is that diet when animals are dying of hunger? Where is the care when the water is dirty and the environment is unhealthy?"

The director suggested as an alternative that citizens donate food to the zoo staff so that it could be given to the animals, a proposal that the neighbors rejected. "We all know what usually happens with donations: they don't always reach those who truly need them," González explained.

The case of Casino Campestre, the largest zoo in Cuba with over 900 animals from 72 species, is not an isolated incident but part of a documented pattern of neglect in state facilities throughout the Island.

In December 2025, it was reported that a lion at the zoo in the municipality of Florida, also in Camagüey, had been without food for eight days.

In February of last year, the organization Bienestar Animal Cuba reported neglect and widespread hunger in the Puerto Padre zoo in Las Tunas, where the animals "do not ask for luxury, they ask for food."

In January, the felines at the Santiago de Cuba Zoo were fed with leftovers and slept on their own waste; the response from a staff member at the facility was simply: "There they are."

Cuba approved the Animal Welfare Decree-Law in 2021, with fines ranging from 500 to 4,000 Cuban pesos, but activists and independent organizations point out that the law lacks effective enforcement mechanisms and that state institutions rarely respond to complaints.

The statement made this Saturday is a notable exception, although its defensive tone and its veiled acknowledgment of the economic crisis as a limiting factor reveal that, behind the official words, the situation of the animals under state management remains critical.

World Animal News and the US Time.

'Born to Roam' the suffering of Polar Bears in Zoos exposing the true extent of the suffering of these beatiful creatures in zoos across Europe

 

Today, International Polar Bear Day, sees the launch of our major new report, Born to Roam: The Suffering of Polar Bears in Zoos, exposing the true extent of the suffering of polar bears in zoos across Europe.

In Europe alone, 151 of these magnificent, wide-ranging, apex predators are incarcerated in zoos, including 12 in two establishments in the UK - Yorkshire Wildlife Park and Highland Wildlife Park. Using powerful, individual case studies, the report outlines the history and continuing plight of these captive polar bears and underlines, through real-life examples, the ethical, welfare and public safety concerns associated with the keeping of polar bears in zoos. 

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In the wild, these apex predators roam across vast natural ranges that are typically equivalent in size to the whole of Austria. In contrast, polar bears in zoos are confined in enclosures that are often only the size of an Olympic swimming pool, and in countries where they are completely unsuited to the warm climate.

The report lays bare the shocking and, at times, fatal impact of captivity on the physical and psychological health and welfare of polar bears that cannot participate in the wide-ranging, natural behaviours they have evolved to perform. 

Horrifyingly, the majority of polar bears in European and North American zoos develop and display deep-seated, abnormal stereotypic behaviours, such as compulsive pacing and neck-twisting, as a consequence of long-term psychological damage. Their lifespan is often significantly reduced as a result of inappropriate diet, and several bears have died in zoos following ingestion of foreign objects.

The comprehensive report also emphasises the serious carbon costs associated with the building and maintenance of polar bear enclosures and the provisioning of food. Concrete production is responsible for 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions, while steel production contributes a further 8%; both of these frequently feature in zoo-based polar bear enclosures. On top of the animal welfare issues, it calls into question whether, by keeping these animals, zoos are doing more harm to the planet than the good they claim.

This report comes 37 years after Born Free’s first commissioned report, which pulled back the curtain on the reality facing captive polar bears.  It shines a light on the archaic, unethical, and damaging practice of keeping polar bears in zoos; and reveals that, sadly, 37 years on from our original report, very little has changed. Despite the growing volume of evidence highlighting the plight of polar bears in zoos, many zoos persist in keeping and breeding them, and show no sign of changing their policy going forward.

“The tragedy of keeping polar bears in captivity is not only that so little has been done to address the problems they endure, but that zoos actively perpetuate them.”

– Will Travers OBE, Born Free Executive President

READ THE BORN TO ROAM REPORT

Independent research released by Born Free just a matter of weeks ago also demonstrates a tide of public support for an end to the keeping of large animals, such as polar bears, in captivity. Polling conducted by Opinion Matters, commissioned by Born Free, found 76% of those surveyed* believe it is very or quite important that the next UK government introduce measures to phase-out the keeping of large, wide-ranging animals in zoos, wildlife parks and other captive facilities. 

Therefore, Born Free is, once again, reiterating its call for the capture of polar bears for captive use, and attempts to breed them in captivity, to be brought to an immediate end. Every effort must be made to ensure those polar bears that remain in captivity are provided with the best possible conditions to try and meet their welfare requirements and ensure their well-being for the rest of their lives, including moving animals, where feasible, to the best available facilities in the most appropriate climate.

The charity is urging the public to read and share this report with the relevant government body that legislates zoos in their country, urging them to take action to bring this travesty to a permanent end.

Will Travers OBE, Born Free’s Co-Founder and Executive President stated, “The tragedy of keeping polar bears in captivity is not only that so little has been done to address the problems they endure, but that zoos actively perpetuate them. Zoos continue to breed polar bears. They continue to house them in devastatingly inadequate settings. They continue to disseminate the myth that the lifetime incarceration of polar bears in zoos is somehow addressing the conservation threats the species faces in the wild. On the contrary, as this report indicates, zoos may be making matters worse for wild polar bears rather than better. The message is simple. No more breeding, no more imports, phase-out the suffering – and have the honesty and integrity to recognise what has been staring us in the face for decades: that polar bears cannot endure a life in zoos.”

Chris Lewis, Born Free’s Captivity Research Officer concluded, “When society looks back in years to come, people will rightly be shocked that zoos ever thought that they could keep such wide-ranging animals, that are fine-tuned to survive in such extreme conditions, in a captive environment. The zoo industry must remove their blinkers and accept that the welfare needs of polar bears cannot be met in captivity and humanely bring this practice to its long-awaited end.   

READ THE FULL 'BORN TO ROAM' REPORT