The Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals filed a lawsuit against the Ramat Gan Municipality, arguing that noise from large-scale events held in a park adjacent to the Safari disturbs the animals.
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Ahead of one event scheduled this week, the SPCA explained that past parties had caused such distress to the zoo inmates that some had to be put down.
"On Sept. 28, 2019, animals at the Ramat Gan Zoological Center (Safari) were harmed by the volume of the music played during a party in an adjacent park. The noise in question was so strong that it disturbed the patients and doctors at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, in violation of the law. The noise was so loud the animals went crazy, began to stampede, and one zebra even broke several vertebrae and as a result had to be put to sleep," the SPCA claimed.
According to the lawsuit, a report prepared on the zebra's death indicated that the stampede that fatally injured the zebra could be attributed to the noise from the event, ad that despite the Safari's attempts to handle the problem – setting out food far from the park, and making attempts to coordinate with event organizers to increase the volume of the music gradually, were not enough to prevent serious harm to the animals.
The SPCA claims that after lengthy negotiations with the city of Ramat Gan to secure agreements to limit the volume of music played at events held in the park, the understandings reached were violated, and the animals at the Safari were suffering repeated harm.
According to the SPCA, a party held on May 28, 2022 led to the zebras stampeding every times the bass was too loud.
"Zoologist Hila Ahisar and the zookeepers at the Safari also reported unusual behavior in the open African area as well as the zoo, which are relatively far [from the park]. Reports said that apart from the zebra stampedes, the massive bass beats lead to the Safari's entire herd of rhinoceroses starting to run with their tails up [a sign of distress], including one rhinoceros who limps and runs very little; the Syrian brown bears roaring; and the Asian elephants trumpeting in distress," the lawsuit claimed.
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