In Brandenburg you can Big cats like lions and tigers also be kept privately, at least if the animals are not from the wild, but from breeding come. The State Environment Agency records “the keeping of animals of specially protected species, including lions,” said a spokesman on Thursday.
Anyone who wants to keep big cats must report this to the authorities. In the animal inventory of the State Environment Agency are according to spokesman currently 23 lions recordedmost belonging to circuses and zoos. Only a “private attitude is recorded”said the spokesman.
Anyone who does not report their privately held big cat is committing an administrative offence. Anyone who does not register their private big cat is acting illegally, said Brandenburg’s animal welfare officer Anne Zinke.
Some federal states such as Berlin have a dangerous animal ordinance that also regulates the keeping of big cats. There is no such thing in Brandenburg. As a rule, the veterinary offices of the districts only learn about the animals if they approve commercial animal husbandry, In the past, for example, in circuses, in recent years more often in film animal schools.
Unlike in Brandenburg, the private keeping of dangerous wild animals is generally prohibited in Berlin. If you do it anyway, you have to use one Fine of up to 50,000 euros calculate. However, there are exceptions for certain animals such as boa constrictors, lizards or tarantulas. Big cats, pandas or cheetahs are not among them. For dangerous snakes or spiders is one Authorization of the regulatory office necessary – but also the proof of the species-appropriate and behavior-appropriate housing as well as escape security.
Brandenburg’s animal welfare officer calls for a ban
Brandenburg’s animal welfare officer, Zinke, complains that there are no legally anchored husbandry requirements. There is only an “expert report on minimum requirements” from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture from 2014 and it is out of date.
However, the Animal Welfare Act provides for minimum standards, such as species-appropriate care and freedom of movement as well as behavior-appropriate accommodation. Owners must have sufficient knowledge to keep the animal. The authorities would have to examine “every attitude”.
The requirements “will only be met in the rarest of cases”said Tine. She demands that wild animals should not be kept in private hands. If necessary, a permit and clear husbandry specifications would have to be introduced.
The animal protection organization “Peta” criticizes that the old minimum requirements from the Ministry of Agriculture can be interpreted with different degrees of severity by the authorities in Germany. In seven out of 16 German federal states, the private keeping of tigers or lions is allowed.
Prerequisites are registration with the veterinary office and proof from the building authorities that there is a corresponding enclosure. According to PETA, according to the previous federal guidelines, an outdoor enclosure with an area of 200 square meters per animal is sufficient for the supposedly species-appropriate keeping of big cats, and ten additional square meters for each additional animal.