Canary Islands teachers launch a campaign for educational centers not to visit zoos

A group of teachers from Infant, Primary, and Secondary education from different educational centers in the Canary Islands has launched the campaign No es Centro para Zoos (Not a Center for Zoos), an initiative that asks educational centers in the archipelago to declare themselves free spaces for visits and collaborations with zoos or entities that keep animals in captivity.

The proposal suggests a change of direction in how schools relate to the knowledge of nature and living beings, aligning educational practice with the curricular, ethical, and environmental values outlined in the decrees regulating Early Childhood and Primary Education in the Canary Islands. The initiative already has the approval of several centers in the archipelago and is aimed at the entire educational community, as teachers, students, and families can request this declaration in the school councils of their educational centers.

"The Canary school of the 21st century cannot continue teaching to love nature from a cage," state Teachers from the Canary Islands for Respect for Animals and Natural Heritage. "Learning about living beings must stem from respect and direct observation of the environment, not from the exhibition of animals in unnatural conditions."

The group emphasizes that visits to zoos "not only lack real pedagogical value but also contradict the objectives of the Canary curriculum itself." The regulations governing both primary and secondary education emphasize the knowledge and appreciation of the archipelago's natural heritage and the development of respectful attitudes towards living beings. According to the teachers, the complementary activities promoted by some zoos "normalize animal captivity" and present a distorted view of wildlife.

The proposal argues that true environmental learning should be linked to the territory: field trips, local fauna observation projects, collaboration with animal recovery centers, and alliances with entities that research and protect Canarian biodiversity.

The teachers recall that Canarian educational legislation requires promoting habits respectful of the environment, animal welfare, and the archipelago's nature. In this regard, they maintain that organizing visits to zoos or marine parks with animals in captivity contradicts the principles of sustainability and empathy that the educational system itself claims to foster.

Cases such as shows with orcas, dolphins, or other large mammals, they point out, transmit a message incompatible with the values of respect, justice, and ecological awareness that should be worked on in the classroom.

Call to School Councils

The campaign encourages the School Councils of each center to approve a resolution declaring their center "free of zoo visits." This declaration, symbolic and practical at the same time, would represent, according to the group, a firm step towards an ethical, critical educational model consistent with the Canarian and global context.

The initiative is open to the adhesion of educational centers throughout the Canary Islands, at the proposal of any member of the educational community: teachers, heritage coordinators, families, students, and groups that share this vision. The centers that join will receive support to present the proposal to their School Council, with all the steps to follow and support materials, and, once the declaration is achieved, they will receive a sticker as a seal certifying the achievement, in addition to graphic material and access to complementary resources and activities aligned with the campaign.