East London Zoo, Beaconsfield Road E London East Cape

Its more like an internment camp
Than a flourishing healthy zoo
Poor behavioural enrichments
Barren concretes do
Little to enhance the lives
Of animals alas
Neglected obviously hungry
Sickly there enmasse

Cages dark and dingy
No fresh water around
It clearly is substandard
Thats what most have found
Friends of the East London Zoo
Apparently must see
That this old zoo is failing
And that ZOo’s are history

Wild animals need space
And at Queens Park that is bad
Its close to the city centre
But the animals have had
A dreary life for certain
They are under nourished and
In their segregation
Do not understand

So much deterioration
Its inadequate to say the least
Formless interrupted
No place for man or beast
There is a lack of discipline
Among the keepers there
And the animals are suffering
They show you their despair

Its slovenly and untidy
Shambolic I can say
There isnt sufficient money
Unkempt uncombed dismay
Disharmony you feel it
It falls into disarray
Clearly very messy
Increasingly each day

A certain air of madness
Its upsetting when you see
Pacing and head bobbing
And stress so blatantly
Confusion misdirected
For me the end is near
Live animals need love and care
And its very very clear

That quality is lacking
The staff dont seem to care
And the animals are suffering
And how can that be fair
Since 1880 its been there
A gathering of souls
Clearly beyond its sell by date
Having lost its goals

Many looking underfed
Old before their time
You can feel their vulnerability
Their unsteadiness to climb
A frailty and infirmity
Ill health its there to see
Inactivity and prostration
Its smacks inadequacy

On their last legs, some of them
The place falling apart
Limping hobbling hamstrung
Its lost all its heart
Its dormant and its passive
The apathy abounds
Many vegetating and making
Ghastly sounds

Animals need space
And clearly here it isnt right
Its no more than a prison cell
Without sufficient height
Nothing for them to play with
As boring as it can be
You can see they are running short of funds
Materiality

Its clearly non existent
Forgetfulness and oversight
Carelessness and unobservant
Oblivious which can’t be right
There is a don’t care attitude
A laziness about
The animals are uncared for
And thats without a doubt

It comes down to sloppy thinking
A lack of vision too
Clearly a lack of money
Unsure of what to do
Wrong headed and unseeing
Intolerant as well
A zoo thats clearly failing
For the animals is hell

This place needs to be closed down
And the animals transferred to facilities
That will look after them and give them
More behavioural enrichments.