20 years after inauguration, Abuja zoo still wears disappointing look

Animals exposed to harsh weather The first phase of the National Children’s Park and Zoo in Asokoro, Abuja, was inaugurated by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 with many wild animals. Twenty years after, the planned second phase that was intended to bring it to world standard has not only remained a failed hope, […]

• Animals exposed to harsh weather

The first phase of the National Children’s Park and Zoo in Asokoro, Abuja, was inaugurated by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001 with many wild animals. Twenty years after, the planned second phase that was intended to bring it to world standard has not only remained a failed hope, the existing one is begging for urgent attention.

As you walk in through the only gate of the zoo, Aso Rock, the seat of power, stares at you.

Our reporter was received at the gate by the deputy director in charge of the zoo, Mr Aminu Muhammad Beli. We were shortly joined by the zoo’s veterinary doctor, Dr Badaru Abubakar. We all walked round the facility, which was devoid of other human presence. The animals enjoyed their solicitude, or so it seemed, until the donkey began to bray.

Daily Trust on Sunday was told that the park and zoo had seen better days, but the situation later changed, even as the COVID-19 pandemic made the situation worse for the facility, which was designed to be self-sufficient through revenue generated from access tickets.

In spite of the seeming decay, it was still recording appreciable patronage from members of the public as it is the only of such facility in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Our first point through the well-manicured walkway was the Africa buffalo enclosure. There are only four of them, the youngest being two years old, the deputy director, Wildlife, Beli, told our correspondent.

As the deputy director called “Romeo,” a huge beast reluctantly began to trudge closer, after a long stare at us. I thought I wasn’t welcome, but thankfully, the barrier gave us a measure of safety. The animals picked up the leaves thrown at them and chewed gleefully.

The next stop was the lions’ den. There are two of them, named Jimmy and Danjuma. They were part of the latest acquisitions of the zoo following a series of disappointment and complaints by visitors.

The zoo, which had lost many species of animals in the past, such as giraffe, cheetahs, wildebeest, zebra, impala, among others, presently houses about 23 species, comprising of buffalos, lions, hyenas, crocodiles, monkeys, tortoises, snakes, ostriches, horses, donkeys, birds, kangaroos and antelopes.

Although the park does not have an arboretum, it has indigenous species of trees like mahogany, shea butter, locust beans, azalea trees, truculia Africana and many other native trees with economic values.

The zoo, which is embodied with wildlife, natural lake and rock, is divided into two sections, where the animals are kept, and playgrounds for visitors, Beli told Daily Trust on Sunday.

The park, which is managed by a special committee under the State House, was mainly established to impart knowledge, aside connecting to nature.

“Majority of our visitors are children. But at weekends we usually have other groups, where adults come to connect to nature because the park is out of the city, where people can come and relax,’’ he said.

While noting that before the COVID-19 lockdown, they used to have a lot of schools coming for educational visits, Beli also said that during festive periods they were always overwhelmed with visitors who came for picnics and to connect with nature.

Visitors often go around to see the different types of animals available in the zoo and are educated on why they should conserve plants and animals because they work together to balance the ecosystem.

He said, “We educate them on reasons they should not destroy their environment for future generations, especially looking at the manner in which plants and animals are destroyed in the country, which has led to the extinction of many of them.’’

Why the zoo has not experienced enough changes

Since the establishment of the zoo in 2001, there has been little or no upgrade in the animals or structures. The managers are forced to only work to maintain what they have on ground, which are not sufficient.

Also, the park is run on a self-sustaining model, with no funding from the government to pay salaries and feed the animals, except there’s a major problem.

Beli explained, “We have been sustaining activities through the revenue we generate from charging N400 for adults and N200 per child as entry fees.”

Schools often receive discount as their visits are considered more important. “We take more time to take them round and educate them to encourage them to come back,” he added.

Why the zoo has not kept pace with modernity

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that over the years, the authorities in charge of the project have not paid attention to making it close to what is obtainable in other parts of the world.

Also, the zoo’s veterinary doctor, Abubakar, expressed regret over the constant neglect of the facility, saying that visitors, especially foreigners, often feel disappointed as it does not meet their expectations, in terms of the number of animals, and lack of proper facilities.

He said the zoo would serve as a unifying tool for different ethnic groups in the country, as well as bring in foreign tourists, irrespective of the security challenges in the country, if properly attended to.

The slow pace to modernise the park lies in the failure to upgrade the zoo with sufficient animal population.

“You have to save the population of animals by introducing other species to diversify the genes, which is not done here. It is just like any other living thing. You cannot just bring animals and keep them for 20 years without introducing others to diversify the genetic makeup,” Beli said, adding that animals have a short lifespan.

This means that the animals will go into extinction due to the absence of genetic drift – when there are only females, without males to ‘service them.’ For sustainability, animals are supposed to be brought together in social groups, whether from Kenya, Namibia or anywhere. Having four – one male and three females – is not something that will last for long.

“Instead, bring like 20-15 females and five males – to have sustained population that will last longer because the gene bank is a bit rich,” Beli advised.

Our reporter observed that most of the animals in the zoo were in twos or threes, with the monkeys being the only specie in multiple numbers.

When the animals are sick

The vet doctor also said lack of standard clinic and laboratory made it difficult for them to treat animals or take the needed analysis where necessary.

“We normally embark on preventive treatment mostly, or we look at the animals and the common diseases that are likely to affect them and treat them on a quarterly basis,” Abubakar said.

Challenges to address

The comatose committee, which is the statutory body saddled with the responsibility of raising funds for the park, can be said to be at its biggest undoing.

In international best practice, the committee, which serves as the board managing the facility, also engages corporate organisations and individual animal enthusiasts to donate animals or build more facilities.

As the coronavirus pandemic rages on, the meager income from tickets, which the park depends on, is heavily affected and now makes its condition grimmer than before, with the increase in prices of food.

Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that many challenges have hindered the zoo from achieving its desired goals, such as lack of funds, education centre, accommodation for animals and staff, training, inadequate animals, among other things.

The zoo is meant to impact on the society through educational activities, but according to Beli, “We don’t even have an educational centre to get the children seated and talk to them after going around. We are supposed to have a kind of formal class, which is very vital.

“More animals are needed to attract more visitors. The mistake made in bringing the existing animals need to be looked into and fixed with proper accommodation if we must achieve the same result as found elsewhere in the world,” he said.

The entire park does not have a public shelter for humans when they visit, no standard office building, but containers that were converted to temporary offices.

The park is named after children, but their needs are not catered for sufficiently, as many facilities for the playground are not available, it was observed.

The park has all the natural endowments to accommodate renovation and expansion into a world-class facility. For example, there is a huge land for safari, which is meant for multiple animal display; a very big enclosure where zebra and kangaroos and other animals that live in harmony with one another can be developed.

Also, the lake, which lies desolate with the embankment in ruin, was meant to launch boats into it for the pleasure of tourists and visitors. Our reporter gathered that a boat has never rowed there for the past two decades.

The imposing famous Aso Rock sits beside the park with a lake to boot. These are rare combinations across the globe, but are right here in Abuja waiting for the right decisions to be made before they become a paradise of a sort.

Beli also disclosed that the space for rock adventure ground, which would have attracted more people, was never utilised due to lack of fund and materials to clear the area against dangerous reptiles.

He said that going by the population of Abuja, he expected the zoo to attract at least 500,000 visitors annually as against the 115,000 it gets at the moment.

In 2017, Daily Trust reported how the zoo was neglected, and the Presidency, through the then permanent secretary in the State House, Mr Jalal Arabi, said the zoo was not neglected and that the committee had not been disbanded as it was still receiving funds.

Arabi had said, “Up till now, they have not submitted the report, but I have given them a deadline of May, which is two years of the administration to submit their report. If they don’t, we will move in swiftly, take over and move forward. We just don’t want to do so arbitrarily. It is not that the place has been abandoned.”

Yet, three years after, nothing has been done to improve the zoo.

When contacted to speak on the state of the park and zoo, the present permanent secretary in the State House, Tijjani Umar said, “I am new. I am yet to be briefed.”