Polidano Brothers has responded to criticism that its exotic animals are being kept in poor conditions at the Montekristo Animal Park by blaming the authorities for delays in approving applications for permits on illegalities.

The animal park is hosted on an illegally developed site subject to an enforcement notice issued by the planning authority in 2008 against Polidano Brothers.

Four years later, the planning authority initiated criminal court proceedings against the owner. Last year, the court stopped the authority from demolishing the illegal structures on site.

In a statement, Polidano Brothers said the animal park application was submitted to Mepa back in 2009/2010 but “for some reason all applications of the group were shelved”.

61 species at Montekristo Animal Park are internationally protected

“After the direct action of last year [an enforcement action by Mepa], several meetings were held with the competent authorities and after five years, the processing of the pending applications was resumed,” the company said.

“The management is anxiously looking forward to have the applications processed,” it said, adding it paid more than €126,000 for the application.

When Times of Malta contacted Mepa for its reaction, the authority said it did not wish to comment.

The problems at Montekristo Estates’ park are not limited to illegal development. Mepa told Times of Malta there were 61 species at the illegal zoo that benefited from international protection and the necessary documentation had not been provided for a number of them.

Mepa would not say how many species remain without legal documentation.

The species are protected under Cites (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The aim of Cites is to ensure international trade in specimens of wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival.

The importation of species protected by Cites has to be authorised through a licensing system managed by Mepa. But the authority was not informed of their entry into the country.

The protected species include pumas, jungle cats, Eurasian lynxes, Barbary macaques (monkeys), ring-tailed lemurs as well as a caracal (wild cat), a lion and an ocelot.

If regulations are breached, criminal prosecution is carried out and fines between €466 and €4,660 are imposed on first conviction. Yet Mepa has initiated no criminal proceedings against Polidano Brothers for breaching Cites’ rules.

The Animal Rights Parliamentary Secretariat confirmed the park’s owners had been sent at least two warning letters on the poor conditions at the site; the first was two years ago. Another warning was served last April.

However, reacting, Polidano Brothers said: “Since the last inspection carried out by the welfare authorities, several actions were taken to remedy the situation. However, Polidano Group is waiting for the decision of the authorities to proceed.”

Polidano Brothers said the animal park employed the services of professionals who were specifically recruited to care for the animals.

This contrasts with what Times of Malta witnessed onsite this week, where rats cohabit the confined spaces wild animals live in and the stench was hard to bear.

There was no contact between the carers and the wild cats, save through a large stick used to dump their feed into the cage. The defensive postures adopted by the animals seemed to indicate they were ruled by fear, not care.

The entrance fee to the park was based on “donations” to the private establishment to feed the animals.

Polidano Brothers insisted it was up to the authorities to issue permits to ensure the animals were kept in good condition.