Guyana Zoo to be greatly improved

Aug 21, 2011 News

Guyana is a land with a large rainforest containing some of the world’s most impressive species of indigenous flora and fauna – a variety of the radiant flora can be found in the Botanical Gardens in Georgetown.
Adjacent to the Botanical Gardens is the Guyana Zoo, a sanctuary for lost and injured animals, and an exhibition site of the diverse species that dwell in and out of the illustrious tropical forest.
The zoo displays almost all of the classes of vertebrates.
Even though there appears to be a reasonably large amount of exhibits, it is obvious that there has been a significant decline over the years.
Many members of the public have expressed their disappointment at the current state of the zoo. They believe that it can be more visitor-friendly and intriguing.

The entrance to the Guyana Zoo

The older among us, if they ever visited the zoo many years ago, would be able to reminisce on the beautiful, outstanding exhibits that existed at that time. They will be able to tell the tales of the elephant and the wide varieties of snakes, caimans, birds, monkeys, etc…. and even the environmental appearance.
When Kaieteur News spoke with the General Manager of the National Park/ Guyana Zoo, Yolanda Vasconcellos, she said that she is well aware of the improvements needed, and added that there are long term plans to rehabilitate the facility.
Vasconcellos made reference to a letter that was published recently titled “Why is it so hard to create a vibrant zoo and botanical gardens?”
She stressed that Guyana’s zoo should not be compared with that of “San Diego, California”. She believes that instead, it can be compared with those in countries around the Caribbean and South America.
Vasconcellos admitted that there is much more that can be done to make the zoo more visitor-friendly and interesting but she stressed that there is the need for corporate funding.
The manager explained that if one should research, it will be gathered that almost all of the zoos across the world are supported by corporate bodies. She added that it is very costly to maintain a zoo and very difficult when left up to the government officials alone.
Vasconcellos disclosed that whatever her organization asks the government for with regards to maintenance and enhancement of the zoo, it tries its very best to make it possible.
At the same time, she too had her reminiscent moment on the state that the zoo used to be and what it is now. She made mention of the elephant and noted that she would love to see that animal in the zoo again. She stressed however, that to import an elephant is very costly.
Vasconcellos cited how economical it would be to put the money that would be used to import an elephant to better uses since it costs the zoo more than half a million every month to provide nutritious meals for the animals.
The manager also said that while there is a desperate need for more exhibits, the organization does not encourage the buying of animals. She noted that they welcome any donation of animals. This newspaper was also told that natural reproduction is also encouraged among the animals.
Vasconcellos disclosed that among the many long term plans, a harpy eagle cage 100x40x60ft is expected to commence in about two weeks. In addition, there will be a viewing gallery as tall as the cage that will facilitate better viewing of the birds.
The large cage will be built with trees enclosed, which will allow for the birds to fly freely as though it is in their natural habitat.
There are plans to rehabilitate the aquarium which is one of the sections in urgent need of repairs. It will be made more exciting and at the same time, very educational.
Vasconcellos is also working her way towards making the animals as comfortable as possible by creating cages that resemble their natural habitats.
It is believed that many Guyanese don’t appreciate the efforts of the government to make the zoo a better place for the animals, but according to Vasconcellos, the public can be assured that everything possible will be done to improve the facility.

2 thoughts on “Guyana Zoo to be greatly improved”

Rambharat August 21, 2011 at 1:49 pm

GUYANA SHOULD NOT BE COMPARED WITH THE CARIBBEAN ISLANDS THEY HAVE BEAUTIFUL BEACHES TO ATTRACT TOURISTS AND NOT INTERESTED IN ZOOS AND GARDENS GUYANA NEED LOT OF TOURISTS LETS PROMOTE THE ZOO .BOTANIC AND PROMINADE GARDENS LIKE WHEN THE ENGLISH USED TO RUN THE COUNTRY PEOPLE ABROAD LOVE ANIMALS AND FLOWERS AND THE CLIMATE JUST PROMOTE THE COUNTRY NATURNAL BUTIES.
dreaddy August 22, 2011 at 1:26 pm

As the only “Caribbean” country on the mainland, Guyana should’ve had a much better stocked zoo than the current excuse. And I’m not blaming the manager since he/she can only provide according to the funds made available. I’m more concerned about the gardens itself. I recently visited the area and while it’s still one of the best places where one can go and relax in GT a few things can be done to improve this activity. There need to be more benches available under shaded areas. The few available (I counted about 10 and a half) include several that are in disrepair. They also need to do something about panhandlers roaming the gardens, disturbing and begging people. And my pet peeve is that the area around many of the benches is filthy. The sanitation dept. for the gardens need to do a more thorough job. More so, people who use the gardens need to keep it clean and not throw garbage around. There are a few bins available. What does it take for them to be used; a manual? Finally, some of the benches are surrounded by low areas which, in the rainy season, leave said benches as islands and render them unreachable. During the dry season these low areas can be filled with dirt. The same dirt dug out recently when the waterway in the vicinity of the “kissing bridge” could have been used to build up the areas around these benches.
Final word about the zoo, no elephant should be brought there unless it has a mate. I saw the poor sap that was living there and was so sorry for the guy. One elephant and no mate. I wasn’t surprised when I heard it died (electrocuted? I smell suicide there). Funny we have so much blackout and this guy died of too much current. And that’s my $20 worth.