THE ANIMAL Party will stage a protest on Tuesday outside the ministry of agriculture and environment against the creation of a crocodile park in Cyprus.
The protest will take place at 11am.
A joint Israeli-Cyprus venture is seeking permission to set up a crocodile park despite the controversy it has stirred up over the past year when the news first emerged.
The application by TSA Crocopark Ltd, which is being discussed by the Environmental Impact Assessment committee, reduced the number of Nile crocodiles from the originally proposed 1,002 to about 170-220. Under the proposal the site would be located off the Nicosia-Limassol highway near the Choirokoitia exit.
The Nile crocodiles would come from Fatzael Crocodile Park in Israel which was closed down after 70 creatures escaped in 2011 causing mass panic in the area. Residents of Psematismenos and Tochni had refused to consider the matter last year when it was first raised last year.
The Animal Party said on Monday the message they wanted to send the minister of agriculture was clear. “We will not let the minister to turn Cyprus into a vast zoo,” a statement said.
“The majority of citizens are against these developments while you insist in dolphinariums and parks, a crocodile slaughterhouses and introducing every kind of exotic animal,” it added, also making reference to the Siberian tigers recently acquired by a Nicosia zoo, and two Asian elephants at a Paphos zoo.
Author: Editorial