Tbilisi Zoo Director calls for end to firework use in holiday season celebrations
Local media on Tuesday quoted Gurielidze as saying the Zoo administration had again given tranquilisers and anti-stress drugs to its animals in anticipation of the fireworks throughout the New Year’s Eve celebration hours, as the staff does every year. Photo from Tbilisi Zoo's Facebook by Sandro Chitanava.
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Tbilisi Zoo Director Zurab Gurielidze has called for an end to the use of fireworks during the New Year’s Eve celebrations, pointing to distress caused in animals by detonations of pyrotechnics annually during holiday seasons.
Local media on Tuesday quoted Gurielidze as saying the Zoo administration had again given tranquilisers and anti-stress drugs to its animals in anticipation of the fireworks throughout the New Year’s Eve celebration hours, as the staff does every year.
He pointed out the explosions had still caused stress to most of the animal residents of the Zoo, with its location in the downtown placing the facility in the “epicentre” of the fireworks.
Fortunately, everything ended without casualties this time. […] However, in any case, such fear and stressful situations do not pass without a trace - certain diseases may appear [among the animals] after a certain period of time”, Gurielidze added.
The Director also recalled the death of a little wildebeest following its stressful experience of fireworks in last year’s celebrations, and urged the public to refrain from using pyrotechnics, particularly in the vicinity of the Zoo.
The Georgian-based Society for Nature Conservation on Friday asked the Parliament and the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection to restrict use of fireworks during the holiday season celebrations to prevent their negative impact on both humans and the environment.
In an official letter submitted to the bodies, the non-governmental organisation pointed to “serious threats” for human health and animal welfare behind the visual appeal of fireworks and called for setting up of working groups to draft bills on limiting their use.
It specifically highlighted the danger posed by fireworks to biodiversity through its impact on bird behaviour, pointing to the effect of explosions in causing “panicked, chaotic” reactions in birds.
Detonations of pyrotechnics cause a disorganised flight reaction and lead to collisions of birds with each other - as well as buildings and trees - as well as their injury and death, the NGO noted, adding birds were observed failing to return to their nests after experiencing the explosions.