Photographs taken between June and October from various German zoos where birds of prey were kept show that the “rulers of the skies” are literally vegetating there.

With the exception of rehabilitation measures in recognized rescue centers, the animals have NOTHING to look for in captivity – they belong in the wild. That is why tethering birds of prey and owls must be prohibited in Germany! ❌

In many zoos and falconries, birds of prey and owls are chained to present them to the public.
In this so-called tethered posture, the wild birds are usually tied to a block of wood with a short leather strap for hours or even days.
The animals are only allowed to move for a short time during air shows or when the falconers “grant them free flight”.

Everything that defines their life in freedom is taken from the animals.
For many of them, this is probably the main form of keeping for months.

A sad life in chains

The animals spend most of their lives on a leash close to the ground.
When the tethered wild birds try to fly, they are torn back by the leather strap on their feet.
A few short hops between the seats are all you can get around most of the time.
Some animals also nibble on their ankle cuffs to free themselves.

According to the current guidelines for keeping birds of prey and owls in Germany, it is even permissible to only let the animals fly briefly every other day in this type of keeping.

According to a study of air shows with birds of prey in Great Britain, the birds were only able to move freely for an average of 11 minutes during the flight demonstrations, so they were tied up for the majority of the day.

Why are birds of prey and owls tied up?

In this form of keeping, falconers have easier “access” to the tied animals, as the birds do not have to be taken out of the aviaries.
Birds such as hawks, eagles and eagle owls are used in the zoos on sightseeing flights and thus abused for entertainment purposes.

Sometimes the animals also have to serve as an attraction in order to be held or even petted by visitors for selfies.
For the stress-sensitive wild birds, this forced contact with humans is associated with enormous stress.
The research recordings also show that owls, which are mostly active at night or at dusk, are often used for demonstrations during the day, contrary to their natural rhythm of activity.

In Austria, the permanent tethering of birds of prey for air shows is already prohibited, as this represents a massive restriction for the animals.
In addition, birds of prey and owls are abused by falconers to hunt other animals – such as rabbits or pigeons – and thus degraded to living weapons.

Tethering birds of prey and owls must be prohibited

Currently (as of November 2021) a revision of the outdated guidelines for keeping birds of prey and owls is planned (“Minimum requirements for keeping birds of prey and owls” from 1995).
However, tethering, which is cruel to animals, is likely to remain allowed under pressure from the falconry and zoo associations.

In November 2021, we at PETA Germany reported those responsible for eight German zoos with raptors for alleged violations of the Animal Welfare Act.
According to Section 2 No. 1 of the Animal Welfare Act, an animal must be nourished, cared for and housed appropriately according to its type and needs.
In the “falconry” tethered system, birds of prey and owls are considerably restricted in their natural flight behavior.

These zoos with tethering were displayed by us:

Kurpfalz-Park Wachenheim (Rhineland-Palatinate)
Sababurg Zoo (Hesse)
Wildlife and Leisure Park Willingen (Hesse)
Edersee Wildlife Park (Hesse)
Wildparadies Tripsdrill (Baden-Wuerttemberg)
Tambach Castle Wildlife Park (Bavaria)
Wisentgehege Springe (Lower Saxony)
Gangelt Wildlife Park (North Rhine-Westphalia)

We are committed to ensuring that tethering of birds of prey and owls is prohibited in Germany.

With the exception of rehabilitation measures in recognized rescue centers, birds of prey and owls have no business in captivity.
They belong in freedom.

https://www.peta.de/neuigkeiten/anbindehaltung-greifvoegel/

And I mean…Many ignorant, uninformed parents fall victim to the dirty advertising that these companies are selling on the Internet and rush to the “open air” prisons with their children because they see them as part of their entertainment and want to take selfies with the wild objects so that they have the wild objects in the family album
Like many millions of other animals, these wild birds are deprived of their freedom to entertain stupid zoo and park visitors for a lifetime.

Rights and dignity are tacitly reserved exclusively for humans and are seldom granted or even completely denied to non-human animals.

My best regards to all, Venus