Name section of National Zoological Park after slain volunteer

Feb 10, 2014 News

– say family, friends

Trevor Julius Fung was a promising student and a lover of nature. But two young killers cut his life short on Valentine’s Night, ten years ago.
Since his passing, Trevor’s family and close friends have been trying to preserve his memory, and they believe that one fitting tribute would be to have the Aquarium section in the National Zoological Park named in his honour, when it is rehabilitated.

Trevor Julius Fung

Fung, an 18-year-old former student of St Stanislaus Collage, and a former volunteer at the National Zoological Park, was knifed to death by two young robbers on February 14, 2004, while walking with a female friend in Arakaka Street, Bel Air. His killers were never apprehended.
His mother, Devi Fung, recalled that her son had excelled at the CXC Exams and, along with some close friends, had started to do voluntary work at the National Zoological Park.
“They would go every Saturday and also have meetings to discuss ways and ideas of improving the Zoo and caring for the animals. Because of his dedication he stood out; he was putting everything into it.
It was his love for animals that motivated him to become a volunteer; having set his heart to become a veterinary doctor after his Advance studies at St. Stanislaus, and his love for aquatic life.
“He often talked of opening an aquaculture farm on the highway after he completed his studies; his father had already started looking into obtaining a plot of land for the aquatic farm.”
Mrs. Fung explained that it was his fellow volunteers who came up with the suggestion of naming the Aquarium Section after him.
“At his funeral, in their tributes, they spoke of him always coming with ideas for resuscitating the Zoological Park, at times they have to tell him ‘Slow down, you have amazing ideas but you are going too fast for us, let get everything documented so we can follow up on it.’ He was most passionate about the Aquarium and at the time of his death he, along with another volunteer, was working on a project to come up with ideas to get it back to its former glory or even better.

The Aquarium was once a popular site for visitors to the zoo

“After his funeral, some of his friends told me they are working on honoring his memory by dedicating an aquarium to him, they had already pinpointed one which would be at the entrance and they would have his photo painted either at the back as a background or on top of the cover. They would have his name written on it. I was so touched to know these young friends would want to do this for him and I thought it would be very fitting, since it was the last place he left to go before he met his death and last time I spoke with him, he had left to go there on that fatal Valentine’s Day.
“But then I found out that the volunteer program is no longer in existence, it has been stopped by management, everyone has moved on with their lives.”
Last year, the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment unveiled an ambitious plan to modernize the national Zoological Park. Some $150M has been committed to the project. Some of the changes planned, include reorganisation and transformation of some of the existing cages into walkthrough exhibits.

This puma is one of the few remaining ‘big cats’ at the zoo

The Zoological Park when completely modernised will have a coastal wetland for aquatic animals, a savannah area for deer, tapirs and other related animals, mountainous highland for the small cats and a rainforest area for the harpy eagles.
At present, the National Zoological Park is in a sorry state, with many empty cages, while the Aquarium Section, where Trevor Fung and his friends did volunteer work, is now closed.