Now Even Elephants Are Fleeing Tunisia

-Analysis-

TUNIS — Tunisia is a major transit hub for illegal migration to Europe, and Tunisians are among the largest group of people migrating to Europe from the North African country — evidence of Tunisians’ desire to leave their country due to the lack of decent living conditions. While the situation has received international media coverage, what many do not know is that even animals no longer have a place in Tunisia.

The regime’s tyranny and neglect have extended beyond humans to animals, and perhaps soon to plants. Everything living in this country is threatened with oppression and abuse if it does not clap for Tunisian President Kais Saied and praise him.

It may seem like a joke, but the country has become inadequate for its people, and is now inadequate for animals due to the financial challenges and restrictions imposed by the ruling authority and Saied’s policies.

The new rulers of the country have no time to address these issues; they are busy inaugurating the “eighth wonder of the world,” the Belvédère Park municipal swimming pool. Meanwhile, animals alike humans, are pushed to the brink by the neglect and mismanagement of resources.

The financial deterioration has reached Friguia Park in Sousse province: After 23 years there, the zoo’s three elephants — Achtaum, Kani and Mina, aged 28 to 29 years — have been relocated to the Vantara rescue center in Jamnagar, India. The Tunisian park found it difficult to provide adequate dietary needs, housing and veterinary care for the elephants, according to a statement from Vantara.

Chronic negligence

Now there are growing concerns that Saied will blame those he describes as traitors, conspirators, and foreign agents for the transfer of the elephants to India. This rhetoric mirrors how he has blamed others for the lack of oil, sugar, rice, flour and many other basic necessities.

In May 2023, Mohamed Attia, a tamer participating in movies and TV series, used his personal connections to bring an elephant from France to the Belvédère Park in the capital city of Tunis. There are growing fears that this elephant may soon face the same fate as the three elephants from Friguia Park.

Tunisia has a significant number of zoos and parks, but in recent years most of them lost their attraction given the chronic negligence, which sometimes is a result of financial difficulties. In some cases, zoo visitors themselves have endangered animals.

Endangering animals

In 2017, before Saied became president, a video surfaced of children climbing on a rhinoceros without any supervision. Visitors to the Belvédère Zoo stoned crocodiles, killing one due to a head hemorrhage caused by the attack. The plight of stray animals is another issue that highlights Tunisia’s struggle to care for its animals.

If these animals could migrate, they probably would.

Stray dogs are frequently shot on the streets under the justification of protecting citizens, with little thought given to humane alternatives such as regular vaccinations or cleaning the streets. Their lifeless bodies are often left to rot in the streets, violating basic public health guidelines that require burying them in deep graves with lime to prevent infection and decomposition-related diseases. These guidelines are rarely followed in Tunisia.

If these animals could migrate, they probably would, much like the Tunisians boarding makeshift boats in search of a better life. In some instances, cats have been seen accompanying their owners on such perilous journeys, escaping the same dire conditions.