The historic Zoológico de 26 in Havana is going through one of its darkest moments. The facilities are in significant disrepair, the ponds are dry, the cages are filthy, the animals are visibly malnourished, and there is an overwhelming stench. This scene starkly reflects not only the crisis facing this institution but also the structural collapse of a country where there are no resources left for either humans or animals.
“If there’s nothing for Cubans, what will there be for the animals? This is genocide,” denounced a worker from the zoo, whose statements were reported in a post from the La Tijera page on Facebook.
In the images shared by that platform, dry crocodile ponds and polluted artificial lakes can be seen, while children and the elderly try to navigate the mud, the heat, and the foul smell.
A visitor, who is the grandmother of a minor, expressed with resignation: "They should make it a MIPYME, since everything that works here is private anyway." Her statement encapsulates the feelings of many Cubans in light of the collapse of state services and the informal privatization of almost everything that still (somewhat) functions in the country.
As we have CiberCuba reported on several occasions, the facility is far from its prime. The installations, which were once a source of pride for the city, now show signs of neglect that concern both visitors and the staff.
As you walk through the zoo, the deterioration of the cages is evident, many of which show signs of rust and lack of maintenance. Additionally, there are empty ponds, public areas with broken benches, accumulated trash, and pathways in poor condition.
Forgotten animals in a country that is also dying
The activist Yamilka Laffita, known as Lara Crofts, also joined the denunciations: “These images you see here come from the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) zoo. In these TERRIBLE conditions, animals are kept in captivity under the Cuban regime,” she wrote on social media, attaching shocking photographs of the facilities.
The 26 Zoo, once a point of pride for the Cuban capital, is now a living portrait of a nation's collapse: without medication, without water, without food, without electricity, and now, also, without even the minimum conditions to preserve animal life.
While the regime insists on its triumphant rhetoric and continues to blame the U.S. embargo for all its woes, the Cuban people are experiencing an unprecedented humanitarian tragedy, with collapsed services and an increasingly fractured society. The zoo, turned into a symbol of this decline, is suffering in front of the indifference of those who should ensure its existence.
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