New item on Kuwait Zoo

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http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NDEwNzI1NDQ3 Friday Times It's

no party for the animals in Kuwait Zoo

 

Published November 20, 2009

By Nawara Fattahova, Staff Writer

 

 

As Eid Al-Adha approaches and the temperature continues to fall, Kuwait Zoo

in Omariya has been getting ready for a surge of visitors - an alternative

option for families willing to spend a day outdoors. However, the growing

expectation of more visitors has also spread the fear that the lack of zoo

manners amongst them might cause further suffering to the animals. " Many

visitors don't care about the cleanliness of the zoo, and they throw

different objects everywhere and in the animal cages, " explains Farid

a Mulla Ahmad, the zoo's director.

 

Speaking with the Kuwait Times, Ahmad explained that throwing food and

objects as varied as socks, bottle caps and keys are common pastimes for the

more offensive zoo visitors. " It is quite dangerous for the animals and

disturbs their digestion, " she explained. " On one occasion, we found socks

in an ostrich's stomach after it had died.

 

In a bid to tackle the problem of illegal feeding of the animals, the zoo's

administration has installed signs all over the cages warning people against

feeding them, but " People do not respect the signs, " said the director.

 

She explained that the zoo also faces a serious problem with visitors who

harm the animals intentionally or unintentionally, explaining that the

animals have a certain food regime. " The animals are fed at a certain time

and should not eat more, but the visitors fail to respect that, " said Ahmad,

calling upon visitors to respect the rules and instructions and keep the zoo

clean.

 

Shelter

The zoo and the animals have still not made it to the priority list for the

Government's budget, with the under-funded zoo desperately needing more

spacious cages and more utilities. There are archaic utilities that need to

be changed. " We need to expand some cages to give more freedom of movement

to the animals, " Ahmad explained, adding that the number of animals is

increasing. The elephants and hippopotami, especially, need more living

space, she stressed.

 

The administration at the zoo has drawn up expansion plans, but its limited

budget remains the greatest obstacle to implementing them. " I aim to make

our zoo the best, especially if there are world organizations visiting us, "

Ahmad asserted.

 

Wild animals brought from desert hunting have created the need to establish

a rescue center, with a number of hunters of wild birds in the desert area

attempting to sell their captured prey to the zoo, explains the director.

" Some people hunt for birds and bring them here injured. When we refuse to

buy them, they just leave them here. We then cure them at the veterinary

clinic and later take them back to the natural protectorate or desert and

set them free. " Ahmad said that, despite the zoo's advice, " The

hunters then go hunting again although we explain to them that they can't

keep such birds at home and feed them bread as these birds eat meat only.

 

Establishing a rescue shelter for animals is one of the plans on the zoo's

list and the administration there has already submitted an official request

to the Public Authority for Agriculture Affairs and Fish Resources, who

agreed to the establishment of an animal shelter. " We're currently searching

for a suitable place to establish the rescue center, " explained Ahmad.

 

Animal exchange

In recent years, the animals' breeding rate has outstripped the zoo's

forecast for growth. In such cases, Kuwait Zoo exchanges these animals with

other zoos around the world. For instance, at the end of last year, Kuwait

Zoo received a batch of new animals from North Korea as a part of an animal

exchange program. " We received sika deer, water deer, lemur and ponies. In

exchange, we sent a mouflon, Barbary sheep, fallow deer, axis deer,

Alexandrian parakeets, rose ring parakeets and pygmy goats, " the zoo di

rector said.

 

When the animals' life cycle approaches its end and get very ill, often

euthanasia is the only solution. " If any animal is still eating and walking,

we keep it with the others, even if it's very old, " Ahmad revealed, adding

that when an animal is incurably ill, the zoo is forced to euthanize it.

Fortunately, Farida observes, the zoo is swine flu-free.

 

Two staff members, Noor Hussein and Jamal Al-Jeeran, gave the Kuwait Times a

tour of the zoo, showing this reporter the diversity of birds, and the

various kinds of reptiles. They also explained how the zoo administration

has installed double cages to keep visitors as far from the animals as

possible in order to protect both, especially from the monkeys.

nawara