Photo Corners headlinesarchivemikepasini.com
A S C R A P B O O K O F S O L U T I O N S F O R T H E P H O T O G R A P H E R
Enhancing the enjoyment of taking pictures with news that matters, features that entertain and images that delight. Published frequently.
Beyond The Bars Takes On Conditions At European Zoos
20 March 2017
On the thirty-third anniversary of founding of the Born Free international wildlife charity, it has published a virtual book entitled Beyond the Bars to highlight the stark reality of life for wild animals in captive facilities around the world today.
Despite advances in knowledge about individual species and their biological needs, many animals are still kept in substandard conditions in European Union zoos, Born Free said. The Foundation believes this to be unacceptable and hopes that this compelling collection of photographs will help influence a greater commitment to improving standards in animal welfare in Europe's zoos.
Born Free's Virginia McKenna said, "I should be used to looking at captive wild animals, having done so for over 45 years, but these tragic pictures left me speechless. Please look into the eyes of the macaque, the male lion, the bear -- well, please look at all the animals. They tell their own story more poignantly than any words of mine. And the message they give is simple. Help us. End this."
Photographer Britta Jaschinski added, "I have documented wildlife in zoos since the 1990s. Twenty years on, I am shocked to see conditions have not improved. Considering the knowledge we have gained about animals and how they live in the wild, how can we accept that many zoos can't even provide the most basic of animal care?"
For more information see the news release below or visit the Born Free Web site.
Beyond the Bars: Born Free exposes bleak existence faced by thousands of captive animals with new virtual book
Series of images by top photographers mark the charity's 33rd year and launch of the Beyond the Bars activity
They stand like a row of battery cages, but each one houses a single unhappy lion. Two miserable chimpanzees hug themselves for comfort and rock side to side. A hopeless macaque monkey huddles on a broken fence; a desolate brown bear gazes bleakly through rusty wire; a polar bear -- evolved to migrate hundreds of miles -- lies prone on a bare floor. There is nowhere to escape from the public's gaze. Inquisitive opportunistic animals, kept in a monotonous unchanging world.
Today marks 33 years since the stars of the 1966 wildlife classic Born Free, Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers founded the international wildlife charity by the same name, along with their eldest son and now president of the charity, Will Travers OBE. To commemorate this auspicious occasion, a new virtual book, entitled Beyond the Bars, has been launched to highlight the stark reality of life for wild animals in captive facilities around the world today.
Beyond the Bars virtual book features harrowing images by acclaimed international photographers Britta Jaschinski and Jo-Anne McArthur, who visited zoos in several EU countries in summer 2016 and documented the animals' daily lives.
Despite advances in knowledge about individual species and their biological needs, many animals are still kept in substandard conditions in EU zoos. The Born Free Foundation believes this to be unacceptable and hopes that this compelling collection of photographs will help influence a greater commitment to improving standards in animal welfare in Europe's zoos.
Virginia McKenna said: "Are you wondering when these photographs were taken? The Dark Ages, Middle Ages, Victorian times? Would you ever imagine they were taken in 2016? Some images were 'captured' in smaller European zoos. But many were taken in Europe's most affluent countries, Germany, France, Italy, Denmark -- and the UK. I should be used to looking at captive wild animals, having done so for over 45 years, but these tragic pictures left me speechless. Please look into the eyes of the macaque, the male lion, the bear -- well, please look at all the animals. They tell their own story more poignantly than any words of mine. And the message they give is simple. Help us. End this."
Photographer, Britta Jaschinski said: "I have documented wildlife in zoos since the 1990s. Twenty years on, I am shocked to see conditions have not improved. Considering the knowledge we have gained about animals and how they live in the wild, how can we accept that many zoos can't even provide the most basic of animal care?"
The Beyond the Bars virtual book is available to view on Born Free's Web site at: http://www.bornfree.org.uk/beyondthebars