NOTIFICATION to Boras Zoo

Case 06-2015: Surabaya Zoo

NOTIFICATION to Borås Djurpark (Boras Zoo)

On January 21, 2018, the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights communicates with Bo Kjellson, director of the Boras Zoo, following the tragic episode in which this company ordered the murder of 9 infant healthy lions for reasons of space. The press has disseminated this episode as a sacrifice, although the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights confirms that the correct legal classification for these criminal acts would be multiple homicides. Although the Swedish law still does not consider advanced animals as non-human beings with full civil rights, this situation will inevitably change during the 21st century, as is evidenced by contemporary international jurisprudence and the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Non-Human Beings, where the civil rights of advanced mammal animals gradually begins to be recognized.

The International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights clearly considers that the murder of defenseless advanced animals, especially cubs, is violating the sacredness of life and constitutes one of the main violations of Buddhist Law. In fact, in the past, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights has publicly denounced the eugenics programs of the JYLLANDS PARK ZOO, where mass public assassinations of giraffes were carried out. Obviously, these murderous acts demonstrate the profound lack of respect that zoos have toward all forms of life, ignoring and not knowing that in sentient beings the same sacrality of human life is latent: the spiritual or dharmic nature.

In this sense, the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal of Human Rights classifies all the murders carried out by the zoos of the world as criminal, and being nothing more than illegal prisons, thus warning CEO Bo Kjellson of Boras Zoo that in case of persist with these homicidal activities they will be legally denounced, as was done to the government of Australia for the ecocide plan of millions of feral cats.

Finally, the Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights provides total solidarity to all the sentient beings of the world, fighting for the recognition of their intrinsic dignity, especially for their right to life and liberty, which is recognized and protected in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Non-Human Beings. Thus, unconditional and altruistic love is offered to all animals of the world, especially when they are deprived of their life, liberty or health.

With spirit of Reconciliation (Maitri),

H.E. Master Maitreya Samyaksambuddha

President and Judge of the International Buddhist Ethics Committee & Buddhist Tribunal on Human Rights