Escapes, human injuries and deaths, animal suffering and perpetual problems for municipalities the result of lack of exotic animal regulation in Ontario
While some reporting of the escaped kangaroos treat the incidents very lightly, they are actually a sign of a very problematic, broken system in Ontario. Unlike most other provinces, exotic wildlife in Ontario is subject to no meaningful regulation at all and that has been a serious, longstanding problem that has resulted in a multitude of animal escapes (including lions, tigers, bears and wolves), numerous injuries, several deaths, a litany of problems for the municipalities in which these animals reside and, perhaps most importantly, it has allowed the poor treatment and suffering of animals to continue year after year after year.
Every political party in Ontario has acknowledged the problem but none have yet bothered to address it. The first attempt, a Private Members Bill to control the proliferation of reptile zoos, was back in 1980, more than 4 decades ago. And there have been 15 other bills, study groups and other initiatives since that time but no government has ever made dealing with exotic animals a priority.
It’s no mystery what needs to be done. In fact, compared to problems governments typically deal with, its easy and cheap to address. The 15 or so legislative, regulatory and other initiatives mentioned above provide a host of solutions. In a nutshell, their key components are regulation of businesses, institutions and organizations that keep, display or use exotic wildlife in captivity, and creating mandatory animal welfare, human safety and other requirements which should include making sure, before anyone applies to acquire animals, that they have the competency, capacity and finances to keep them humanely, safely and in the best interests of the animals themselves.
Additionally, the province should also make it illegal for private individuals to keep most wildlife species. No one should be allowed to own a tiger, baboon, wolf, zebra, kangaroo and keep them in their basement, backyard or barn. That is not in the best interests of the animals, the people who live around and near them and community members.
Learn more: Roadside zoos
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Kangaroo escapes southwestern Ontario zoo, found safe several kilometres away (CBC News, January 10, 2024, Bob Becken See article with photos or read text below.
For the second time in just over a month, a kangaroo has escaped in connection with an Ontario zoo — this time in Chatham-Kent.
According to municipal police, the animal got out of Greenview Park and Zoo, located in the hamlet of Morpeth.
Police say it was later tracked down several kilometres away near Ridgetown on Tuesday.
Lambton OPP also warned a kangaroo was spotted on Douglas Line northeast of Sarnia on Tuesday. Police later confirmed it was the same animal captured in Chatham-Kent.
Police said mischief charges “are being considered” for the person that reported the sighting to Lambton OPP.
These are just the latest incidents of kangaroos getting loose in Ontario. In early December, one of the animals was loose in the Durham Region as it was en route to a zoo, then later captured.
Chatham-Kent police said in a statement that if residents thought they spotted a kangaroo hopping around the area of Reeder’s Line in the former Howard Township in the Morpeth area, they “were not hallucinating.”
Chatham’s Lexi Prochnicki said she was out making Amazon deliveries in the Ridgetown area when she noticed the animal.
“I figured it was a deer at first,” she told CBC News. “I see so many of them on my route but then I realized deer don’t have tiny arms. I hit the brake and backed up, sure enough it was a kangaroo.”
Prochnicki said another person in the area contacted the zoo and not long afterward, a police officer pulled up.
“The kangaroo didn’t seem to be afraid or anything … just out for a stroll.”
The “short-lived adventure” for the animal, as police put it, isn’t to be taken lightly, according to a University of Windsor associate professor of anthrozoology.
Beth Daly compares it to the adage of dogs getting scared during fireworks and taking off because of the overwhelming sound.
“That always makes me think about any wild animal that’s living out of its environment or living in these kinds of cages,” she said.
Daly said that when exotic animals are loose, they’re motivated by the fear of having no idea where they are.
“Suddenly they’re in these crazy anthropogenic environments where they have no idea where they are or what they’re in. And I should think, as with most wild animals, their instinct is to simply run, fight or flight.”
Daly said word of the escape made her “cringe.”
“Ontario doesn’t have regulations for roadside zoos. It’s an ongoing public issue for animal welfare people. It’s just very disturbing. If I wanted to open a roadside zoo in Windsor, I would just go get the animals I want and get a license and I could have a roadside zoo in my backyard or out of my van.”
Exactly how the kangaroo escaped is unknown. However, police said it was returned safely to the zoo.
CBC News contacted Greenview Park and Zoo, but didn’t receive a response ahead of publication.
Michèle Hamers, the wildlife campaign manager for the group World Animal Protection Canada, isn’t speculating on how the animal could have escaped. But she’s critical of the lack of government oversight at roadside zoos in Ontario, which she says are not regulated at the provincial level.
“My initial reaction [to the news] was ‘another one,’ she said, referring to multiple instances in recent months where animals have escaped from zoos.
“How is this possible that this continues to happen?”
Next time an animal escapes from a roadside zoo, it could be one that’s more dangerous to the public, like a lion or a tiger, she said.
“This is going to continue to happen until these roadside zoos are finally addressed and situations improve, or if these places are closed down,” she said.