10 worst zoos

Giza Zoo
Cairo, Egypt
To permit the poorer citizens of Cairo to visit the city's only green park, the entrance fee is small and is not enough to cover the costs of running the zoo. The zoo's main goal is to entertain, rather than to educate. However, many rare species have been successfully bred in the zoo — including the first Californian sea lion to be born in the Middle East in 2002.

Glkand Zoo
Iraqi Kurdistan
Not only does the Glkand Zoo in Iraq have the usual zoo problems of too-small living spaces and general cruelty towards animals, it also seems to be a location of illegal animal smuggling. An increasing trend among the Iraqi wealthy is to acquire a private zoo with the most exotic animals possible, and the Glkand Zoo is a transaction point for some of these exchanges. The zoo owner openly says that he smuggles some animals for private zoos, like birds and monkeys, but denies that he does so with more dangerous animals, like lions. Although, there seems to be proof to the contrary.

Mumbai Zoo
Mumbai, India
The zoo has seen a lot of controversy surrounding its ill-treated animals. Until very recently, the elephants lived in a small enclosure with their legs chained to restrain them. A very recent order from the central zoo authority, directing the transfer of these elephants to a wild life sanctuary or a tiger reserve, has ensured that these animals will find more breathing space. The other animals had terrible cages barely larger than themselves. Teasing monkeys and other animals was common in the zoo. Eleven antelope died in their enclosure. Many believe that construction caused the deer stress which eventually killed them.

Kiev Zoo
Kiev, Ukraine
In 2008, 51 animals died in the Kiev Zoo and in recent months, they lost a 39-year-old elephant, a white camel and a bison. Two sick yaks were saved by veterinarians. Zoo authorities blame a mysterious middle-aged man for poisoning the animals, while critics point at substandard living conditions and negligent handling by unqualified zoo administration. The Kiev Zoo was first founded in 1908 by the Nature Lovers Society and was financed by various private donations. During its first years in business, the zoo experienced some hardships and therefore, did not contain many animals.

San Antonio Zoo
San Antonio, Texas
The San Antonio Zoo was rated number one in the 2009 list of the 10 Worst Zoos for Elephants compiled by In Defense of Animals - a title they've had for the second year straight. For two years the unfortunate elephant named Lucky was kept in solitary confinement in an area too small for her. And then the zoo decided to add another elephant to the tiny space to create a "herd."

North Korea
The whole country
Luckily Robert Mugabe's "Noah's Ark" of animals from Zimbabwe seems to have been stalled due to a storm of outrage by conservationists about the horrible zoo conditions in North Korea. This plan was reminiscent of the time when Mugabe sent two rhinos to North Korea in the 1980s, only for them to die a few months after being relocated. Wildlife experts said that it was unlikely that the animals, particularly the two baby elephants, would have survived the 7,000-mile flight, not to mention North Korea's cold temperatures and poor living conditions.

Dhaka Zoo
Dhaka, Bangladesh
In 2009, the Dhaka Zoo in Bangladesh lost massive numbers of animals. As many as 21 rare animals died in one year and after the death of a giraffe in September 2009, the zoo curator and deputy curator were temporarily suspended and an investigation of the animals' deaths began. The zoo has more than 2,000 animals and some 150 species. The zoo is currently home to 2,050 animals from 165 species. Of them, 58 are mammals including elephants, and Tigers.

Oradea Zoo
Oradea, Romania
A pride of 13 lions was saved from the Oradea Zoo where they were living in small concrete enclosures, including a 15 foot-by-12 foot cage that was home to four adult lions. The zoo could no longer afford to keep them and they were due to be put down if a new home couldn't be found. Luckily the Yorkshire Wildlife Park's animal director visited the zoo and was moved to raise the money to relocate them to the United Kingdom.

Shenyang Zoo
Shenyang, China
Over the course of three months, 11 rare Siberian tigers died in this now closed zoo in northeastern China. A manager at the zoo said the tigers died of various diseases, but local authorities and wildlife officials believe they died from malnutrition. The tigers were apparently fed cheap chicken bones as food and were kept in very small cages. China has only about 50 tigers left in the wild, but there are about 5,000 kept in captivity. The Shenyang government has since taken control of the park and proposed measures to prevent any further deaths.

Bowmanville Zoo
Ontario, Canada
In June 2010, three animals were stolen while in transit from Nova Scotia to the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario. The zoo offered a $20,000 reward for the return of the animals and $2,000 for a picture that showed the animals being given water. Police believed it was an "opportunity crime," and that the thieves were unaware of their cargo. Imagine opening up that trailer to find a Bengal tiger and two camels. However, a few days after the supposed theft, the trailer was found just north of Montreal with the animals safe and sound inside.