Our friends at Animal Protection Society Samoa recently brought it to our attention that a Mr. Loyale has been granted a lease of 5 acres of land, along with permission by Samoan officials to launch the pacific island’s first zoo.
This is particularly concerning for many reasons. Firstly, Mr. Loyale is known to have had a previously failed venture involving performing circus animals, who are said to have died in a multitude of horrific ways following the closure of the touring act. Animals unsuited to the Samoan climate such as Lions, Ostriches, Llamas and Baboons were all shipped in for the act in 1997, which disbanded in 1999, with some of the animals reportedly just being “left behind” when the circus ‘left town’.
OUR LETTER to Samoan officials points out that husbandry and care of exotic wild animals requires highly skilled teams, and it is unlikely from his track record that Mr. Loyale is fit to put such teams in place for this new venture.