An animal welfare group is calling for a ban on wildlife breeding in captivity and the introduction of compulsory de-sexing in Malta’s zoos and private collections.

In a statement, the Malta Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (MSPCA) urged the Parliamentary Secretary of animal rights Clint Camilleri to enforce the ban.

A spokesperson for the society, Chris Pace, expressed fears for the animals’ welfare since there was nowhere to put the surplus wild animals should the need arise.

Demand for such animals was prevalent in the illegal alternative medicine industry in Asia, were some animal body parts were used in the production of medicines, she added.

No suitable sanctuary facilities

“Malta has no suitable sanctuary facilities for such surplus animals. Foreign NGOs cannot be expected to assist while the problem is allowed to recur. It is not a sustainable model for them. Zoos overseas are not looking for more animals. It makes no sense to continue allowing captive wildlife to breed,” the statement read.

The statement was issued in response to an article in The Sunday Times of Malta article describing the way the number of tigers at Mtaħleb Wildlife Park had increased.  The park owner Chris Borg said he was surprised when he realised the tigers at the facility had tripled in number to 21.

He had allowed them to mate freely, thinking they were too stressed by a devastating fire in 2016 to conceive.

The MSPCA said: “We see this pattern all the time in animal hoarding and collecting situations where people develop a quasi-addiction to adding more animals to their collection.

“It makes no sense to continue allowing captive wildlife to breed. Even in private collections, the MSPCA has seen keepers lose control of their population growth,” the society said.

Questions sent to the Parliamentary Secretary for animal rights were not answered by the time of going to print.