$1M animal hospital being set up at zoo
By Miranda La Rose
The Guyana Zoological Park will be given a boost with the establishment of a $1 million hospital, laboratory and quarantine for its sick animals. An unused building in the zoological park, which will house the hospital is being rehabilitated with funds from central government and is due to be opened shortly. Zoo workers told Stabroek News yesterday that the hospital will take care of sick zoo animals which people have recently complained about. They noted that the majority of animals arrived at the zoo very ill and were nursed back to wellness by them. Meanwhile, the zoo, with the assistance of a primatologist and educator of the Calgary Zoo in Canada, Donna Sheppard, will later this week begin a programme for zoo workers on how to care and address the needs of animals born in captivity. Sheppard, who will be at the zoo for a four-month period ending in February next year through a twinning project with the Guyana Zoo, is also working to establish a corps of voluntary workers to generally assist the zoo in its development programme. The zoo may soon get its first harpy eagle to hatch in captivity. A pair of harpy eagles are at present nesting and visitors are asked to be quiet and not do anything to disturb the birds of prey. The pair were given to the zoo in 1972. An older pair of eagles were donated to the zoo when it was established 47 years ago. Donated at the same time to the zoo were a white neck heron and a king vulture, which are still there. Stabroek News visited the zoo in the Botanical Gardens in response to a number of letters written to the newspapers complaining about conditions at the zoo. The animal population at the zoo at present is 498 and it is expected to increase later this year and early next year. Just recently a savannah fawn and a manatee calf were born in captivity. At present a caiman is also nesting. Jaguars, Petal and Monty, have been given a larger enclosure. The zoo workers are satisfied that the two have been mating and are hoping that Petal will give birth in the new year. Sixty per cent of the animals in the zoo were born in captivity and it would be difficult for them to survive if they are released into the wild. They explained that some time ago they released six cara-cara and the birds never left the environment. They are now nesting in trees above the zoo. An owl, which had been released, found its way right back into a cage. However, at the moment there is a monkey which has escaped and refuses to be cajoled back into a cage. Stabroek News observed the clever primate being fed through the mesh in the skylight by another monkey on Monday at noon. The mortality rate at the local zoo is lower in comparison to five other zoos in the region, a senior zoo official said. Though he did not give a figure, he said that it was far lower than the ten percent to 14% mortality rate of the other zoos in the region. Zoo officials, all of whom preferred not to be named, said that a lot of things were wrong at the zoo, but their policy at present was to improve things one at a time and get the job done well before moving on to another area. The zoo, they said, needs a lot of encouragement and not public condemnation. They noted that the zoo has a number of workers who care very much for the animals as well as animals health assistants and veterinarians who give their service voluntarily. They include Dr Steve Surujbally and Dr Green among other local veterinarians and the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA). Dr Lucy Spelman of the Smithsonian Institute, an overseas-based volunteer, travels to Guyana each year to assist the local zoo. The officials said that the animals in the Guyana zoo are healthy, but it was just that conditions were somewhat cramped. The cramped conditions are as a result of an increase in the animal population. With regard to accommodation for the lioness, Sheppard, said that the animal's facility might appear to be cramped, but that was not so. Contrary to popular perception that a bigger enclosure was necessary for the lioness, Sheppard said that in captivity, lions are content in a smaller area. The four-year-old lioness in the zoo, it was noted, was born with a bone disease and has survived with regular treatment. Four other cubs who were born with the disease were put to sleep because their conditions were more severe. Because of her deformity, the lone lioness does not use the back enclosure, cannot climb any height and prefers the confinement of the cages. The bone disease is common to lions born in captivity. Two years ago there were four lions and three have since died but have not been replaced. A senior zoo official said that the local zoo specialises in native animals because it is very difficult to replace exotic animals from other countries. As regards the sick animals referred to by a letter writer, one of the officials said that the sick macaw was taken to the zoo with a broken wing and was very ill. It was taken to the zoo by a prominent city businessman and zoo workers nursed it back to good health. An owl, they said, was taken into the zoo hurt with tar all over its feathers. Some of the feathers had to be cut off to get the tar out. Many hurt animals including young ones whose parents were shot and killed in the interior or on the Linden/Soesdyke Highway are also taken to the zoo. Generally, the official said, all animals are accepted. Sick animals are placed in what is supposed to be a restricted area, but because it is not fenced people have access to the area and this is mainly the reason for the complaints. The new hospital is expected to take care of this. The animals are given food to last them 24 hours. Marketing for fresh fruit and vegetables is done on a daily basis and the zoo gets a number of donations. Among the donors are the City Council, Banks DIH, the Guyana Sugar Corporation, Palm Court, the Mounted Branch of the Guyana Police Force, Fish Hook, Commodities Inc and Red Comb Hatcheries among many others.
|