Zoo De Oliemeulen in Tilburg can no longer receive animals. “We can no longer handle the offer,” says Patricia Neuteboom, spokesperson for the animal park.
According to the spokesperson, the zoo receives daily calls and emails from people who can no longer care for their animals. “We try to help people as much as possible. They are often male animals and you can’t just put them together. The animals all get their own pen and at some point it’s ready. Then there’s no room left. November last year and December we were offered an average of five animals per day.”
Dozens of animals can fit in the quarantine area of De Oliemeulen. “But we can’t all use them for shelter animals. We also need those pens for our own animals that need care and attention.”
The flow of shelter animals started at the end of last year when energy costs started to rise sharply. “People could no longer make ends meet. We really noticed that. People mainly offered reptiles, snakes and lizards such as the bearded dragon.”
According to the spokesperson, the providers of the animals are often beginners who do not know what it takes to keep a reptile. It takes quite a bit to heat, for example, the terrarium of a bearded dragon to 30-40 degrees. There are many extras involved, such as heat mats and heating lamps.”
De Oliemeulen is working on a new and larger location, but Neuteboom does not want to say much about that yet.