Recently, our organization has submitted an official request to the Ministry of Environment (MESPI) to obtain information about licensed facilities that keep wild animals, as part of the legal analysis we are doing and to better understand how much the legislation in Kosovo for the protection of wild animals is implemented.

After receiving the necessary information from MESPI, we realized that no facility (restaurant, pet shop or other entity) is licensed to keep wild animals and it is not known where these animals were taken from. 🚫🦁

Numerous restaurants and so-called “zoos” illegally keep a variety of wild animals, ranging from wolves, deer, eagles, monkeys, to kangaroos, and even a lion (remember Gjoni the Lion?). These animals are exploited for entertainment and profit, enduring poor housing conditions that endanger their well-being.

This disturbing situation requires urgent actions from the responsible institutions, which must be committed to the implementation of the existing legislation to protect wild animals and especially not to allow the captivity of wild animals from nature.

We demand that all restaurants and zoos be prohibited from keeping and bringing in other wild animals, as well as prohibiting the promotion and exploitation of wild animals for business purposes. Also, we request the confiscation of any animal kept illegally, by amending/supplementing “Administrative Instruction 01/2012 On the conditions of keeping, marking and evidencing of the protected in captivity”. The state must build the necessary infrastructure (rescue centers) for the appropriate holding of confiscated wild animals (based on their species) until a suitable long-term solution is found. 🏞️🐾

We call on everyone to fight animal cruelty by boycotting restaurants that mistreat wild animals. Remember, the only legal place for wild animals is in their natural habitats!