Exotic Animals


Support Bill S-15 for elephants & great apes!   Recently updated !

SUPPORT BILL S-15! A BIG STEP FORWARD FOR CAPTIVE WILD ANIMALS IN CANADA     Bill S-15 is now in the midst of 2nd reading hearings. They should be completed by the end of May 2024. Elephants and great apes (chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas, orangutans) are highly sentient animals who have […]


Second kangaroo escape sympton of Ontario’s inaction on exotic animals

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 […]


NO PLACE FOR A SLOTH!

Guest commentary by Kira Pedersen  (July 2023) I recently visited a mobile zoo exhibit where, among other animals, I met a sloth for the first time and it wasn’t fun. While it was a miserable experience for me, it was undoubtedly worse for the sloth. The traveling animal show was […]


New scientific paper on MLAPs (Mobile Live Animal Programs)

Click here to read Mobile Zoos and Other Itinerant Animal Handling Events: Current Status and Recommendations for Future Policies (2023) MLAPs in many parts of Canada, and particularly Ontario are either loosely regulated or not regulated at all. There are hundreds of businesses, ranging from small, one person, part-time operations […]


London votes against bylaw amendments for Reptilia

We’re pleased to report that on February 14 2023 London City Council voted 9 – 6 against moving forward with a Reptilia exemption to London’s animal control bylaw and the creation of a business licensing category for exotic animal establishments. This is a very positive development for reptiles and other […]


Opinion: A Bird Artist Perspective on Birds in Zoos

By Barry Kent MacKay (September 9, 2022) As a part-time professional bird illustrator, I visit a lot of zoos to look at, and sketch, birds. But as a naturalist, a bird-lover, and part time professional animal protectionist, as well as an artist, I spend a lot more time observing birds […]


WILD AMONG US: exotic pet webinar series – Public registration now open

**For professionals and anyone else interested in the protection of exotic animals** Zoocheck and World Animal Protection invite you to attend our free webinar series on exotic animal issues pertaining to the trade, regulation, seizure and sheltering of exotic animals kept as pets and the associated animal welfare, public health […]


Time for Change at Spruce Haven Zoo in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario

Ben the black bear has spent more than 25 years in a tiny, substandard cage at the Spruce Haven (Nature Park) Zoo, a small privately-operated zoo in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. Able to walk only for a few seconds in one direction or another, Ben is confined on a hard […]


Report challenges value of cetacean captivity

Media Release December 14, 2016 REPORT CHALLENGES CLAIMS THAT KEEPING WHALES AND DOLPHINS CAPTIVE IS JUSTIFIABLE The recent deaths of beluga whales Qila and Aurora have thrust the issue of captive display of cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises) in Vancouver back into the spotlight. The Vancouver Humane Society and Zoocheck […]


New Legal Action to Relieve Lucy’s Distress

For Immediate Release September 6, 2016 Zoocheck and Voice for Animals Launch New Legal Action to Relieve Lucy’s Distress In the ongoing battle to have zoo standards enforced in Alberta to protect Lucy, the lone elephant at the Edmonton Valley Zoo, Zoocheck and Voice for Animals has filed an Originating […]