Zoo animals are starving to death at Venezuela's zoos
Fifty animals have starved to death within the last six months at Caricuao zoo, one of Venezuela's main zoos.
"The story of the animals at Caricuao is a metaphor for Venezuelan suffering," Marlene Sifontes, a union leader for the employees of Inparques, which oversees zoos, told Reuters.
Officials are forced to feed lions and tigers mangoes and pumpkins to make up for severe meat shortages.
Three animals died in May at a zoo in Paraguana. The six bears at the zoo are eating only half their required portion of food for the day.
A number of Vietnamese pigs, rabbits, tapirs and birds died at the Caricuao zoo after starving for two weeks.
The plight for animals in zoos outside the capital is far worse.
At a zoo in western Venezuela, zoo administrators solicited fruit, vegetable, and meat donations from local businesses to feed starving animals.
"We are doing all that is humanly possible to ensure the zoo continues to function," Oslander Montoya, an accountant for the local municipality which handles funding for the La Laguna zoo, told Reuters.
President Nicolas Maduro attributes Venezuela's problems to an "economic war" waged by the United States and other opponents.
Others say the country's dependence on oil is to blame.
Zoo animals aren't the only ones struggling in Venezuela
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