Sights and sounds of Jos zoological garden
On a rainy morning, the Jos zoological garden looks serene and refreshing, with swaying trees and happy birds chirping and dancing from tree to tree. The big cats hide in their cages, lurking at their caregivers as they clean the surroundings. There are no visitors at this time, only cleaners and an angry looking chimpanzee […]
On a rainy morning, the Jos zoological garden looks serene and refreshing, with swaying trees and happy birds chirping and dancing from tree to tree. The big cats hide in their cages, lurking at their caregivers as they clean the surroundings. There are no visitors at this time, only cleaners and an angry looking chimpanzee gazing straight from the top of a small box like cage. He looked as though he was being punished for something, but a few minutes later, he swung like a pro with acrobatic skills down a much bigger cage and completely ignored me. A few hours later, the gate into Nigeria’s oldest zoo turned busy with children and groundnut hawkers, most of whom wouldn’t mind visiting on daily basis.
The vegetation from the main entrance of the zoo and the sound of a stream gushing below an iron bridge gives an idea of what is to be expected. Happy kids walk in, jumping over the stone carved stairs that lead visitors around the zoo. Groundnut hawkers eagerly pay the N50 gate toll for kids, knowing that once they gain entrance into the animal garden, they were bound to return with empty trays. There are mud huts with thatched roofs, stone crafted huts and fences which are as much a part of the attraction as the animals in the cages. Barbed wire fences and iron gates trap the animals, especially the carnivores but they don’t seem to care. Some of them were born here, never experiencing life in the wild. This is their natural habitat as they know it, the confinement is home.
Historical background
The zoological garden started sometime in 1956 but opened to the public in 1957. The Zoo Manager, Mr. Dibal Musa Adamu, said the zoological garden came up because of the Nok finds by the then Surveyor General which were brought to the area for safe keeping and additional research analysis. “In the process of those findings, animals were brought to the market on market days and the then surveyor general though it will be wise to set up a zoo . Then they started collecting the animals from the villagers and that was how the zoo was set up,” he explained.
Historical records made available to Daily Trust on Sunday show that many of the animals’ sleeping quarters were in the style of traditional granaries of the Plateau people, and the zoo had then contained a few dangerous animals because it had then been intended primarily for children. The zoo had continued to operate as a department under the Jos Museum which was headed by the curator, until it was granted autonomy and now it operates as an independent entity.
From the outside, the zoological garden is surrounded by trees from all angles, exists side by side with the Museum of Traditional Nigerian Architecture (MOTNA) and the Jos Monuments Gallery where historical artefacts are preserved. A little ahead of the animal garden are some of the antiquated vehicles and engines that were either presented to the government of Nigeria or constructed in Nigeria, such as the Locomotive Engine also called Dan Zaria in Hausa which was built in 1921 for the Nigeria Railway, and an antiquated ford car presented to the government of Nigeria by Ford Motor Company, Canada on the occasion of Nigeria’s Independence in 1960.
Still enclosed within the same surroundings of the zoological garden is the ‘100 Steps to Afizere Settlement,’ a stone carved staircase that leads to the top of a hill and is historically said to be the ancestral home of the Afizere tribe when they migrated to what is Plateau State today, from Chawai in southern Kaduna. Joggers are known to frequent the steps in the early hours of the morning or at evenings ,and tourists who wish to have a glimpse of the Jos city centre from the top of the hill also take advantage of the hundred steps.
Studies show that the Jos zoological garden had in 1999 housed 62 mammals of 25 species, 60 birds of 18 species and 39 reptiles of 9 species. But this number has improved according to Mr. Dibal. Though our correspondent had in one of the visits counted about 78 animals on display including birds, chimpanzees, baboons, lions, hyenas, monkeys, crocodiles, tortoise, geese, stork, horses, camel, snake, rabbits, owl, pigeons and varied species of eagles, the Manager says the animals are about 130 including those in seclusion.
Life in captivity
Despite the cordial relationship between zoo keepers and the animals in captivity, the ethics of the zoo, it was gathered does not allow zoo keepers to go too close to the animals no matter how friendly they become . According to Mr. Dibal, “All the animals have names we have given to them and our relationship with them is cordial, but we must keep it in mind that they are wild animals, and you may not know its mood on a particular day.”
There are about 30 persons that keep the zoo going on a daily basis including veterinary assistants, zoo keepers as well as other admin staff. Therefore when an animal is brought to the zoo, it undergoes several examinations and is secluded and observed before being put on display. The animals are also trained to know when it is time to clean their cages and where they are expected to move to at such periods.
“The chimps learn every day .Except for when they have mood swings, they know when it is time to clean and if you ask them to move, they move. Sometimes they are relaxed and they don’t want to move but with a little shouting they move. As for the lions, when they are new we lure them with a bait ,but after undergoing training they know when to move. The two lion cubs are following the same training because when they see the mother move into her cage for the cleaners to do their work, they follow her,” said the zoo manager.
Our correspondent observed the animal cages being cleaned by workers who say clean water is served to the animals every morning after the cleaning. The primates are served fruits in the morning and beans and sweet potatoes pottage later in the afternoon, while the carnivores are served cow or donkey and are fed four times a week. However, when there is sufficiency, the carnivores are fed every day except for a day.
Although it is not unheard of to hear of accidents between man and wild animals, the zoo manager says such accidents have never been fatal. He explained that, “We have had accidents between animals and humans because of mood swings you know .Even between husband and wife they do fight, but thankfully it has never been fatal.”
The zoo has lost a number of the animals from natural deaths and other illnesses, but lives have equally been celebrated as some of the animals have reproduced while in captivity.
Mr. Dibal says thanks to the proximity of the National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) which is also located in the State; the animals have received proper attention. He said “there are issues of the animals’ sickness that we cannot handle. We liaise with NVRI because the fact that they are here is an advantage to us. If we have been treating the animals for one ailment or the other and the animal is not getting better, we call them and they take samples, analyse and tell us what to do.”
Chimpanzees are crowd pullers
In 2012, Bobby and Paulina, two famous female chimpanzees celebrated their 50th birthday in a ceremony then described as the first of its kind in Africa. The two chimps had shared a cage in the Jos zoo for years and lived peacefully since the death of their husband Peter, a few years back.
Paulina and Peter were pioneer animals of the zoo and her 50th birthday with Bobby was to mark her years in captivity. Now Bobby sits alone in a cage she once shared with Paulina as Paulina had taken ill after the birthday and died. She has now been embalmed and sits in the natural history gallery waiting for the day she will be exhibited.
Beside Bobby’s cage now are two noisy male chimpanzees who were either not familiar with the intrigues that made Bobby and Paulina famous or are just indifferent. A few meters opposite the male chimpanzees is another social and energetic female chimp.
Many tourists visit the Jos zoological garden to see the four chimpanzees. They are the most friendly, curious and intelligent animals. They exhibit a striking human characteristic and seem to understand certain instructions especially when a tourist is holding a treat. Caroline Ango is a fan of the chimpanzees. The 28 year old banker said she had been visiting the zoo since her days as a student of the University of Jos. “I always buy groundnut or bananas whenever I am visiting, because the first time I came to the zoo I felt bad because I didn’t come along with anything. The two chimpanzees entertained us with their dance and then stretched their arms out for a treat, and I felt bad because I didn’t have any. Now I buy biscuits, bananas or groundnuts whenever I come in and I go straight for the chimps,” she said.
She expressed sadness that Bobby looked lonely in her cage without Paulina, adding that “she looks lonely in there. She had a companion but I learnt that she died. I would have preferred that she had another companion in that cage especially the other friendlier and energetic chimp close to the pigeons. I think they will get along very well, while Bobby looks aged, the other chimp is young and energetic and both of them love to dance.”
A fascinating experience with Bobby was when she saw another visitor sipping a bottle of soft drink and she picked an empty bottle of Swan water from her cage and approached the visitor, stretched her arm through the cage apparently asking for some. The visitor threw the soft drink bottle with its remaining content at her and she picked it like a pro, opened it and began to sip from the bottle. The male chimps beside her immediately got agitated and started to hoot uncontrollably. They grunted and drummed at their chest, pacing round their cage to register their displeasure that the visitor had given Bobby a treat and left them out. They were eventually consoled with some groundnuts.
Close to the pigeons is the fourth chimpanzee, a social female chimp who loves to entertain tourists. As visitors threw boiled groundnut at her, she quickly threw it into her mouth and stretched her arm, begging for more. Two young girls shout at her, “dance, dance” and quickly she jumped off the rock she had been seating on, finds a space and does some acrobatic display to the amusement of her audiences. She quickly returns and stretches her hand for a treat. She is offered groundnuts but the girls insist she dances again. She rushes into a hut and just when it looked like she has had enough for the day, she comes out apparently to change her dance steps and tumbles over, then leaps at her swing and shows off some dance steps.
Donations to the zoo
There are six lions in the zoo including two cubs. Two of the oldest lions were brought to the zoo from Niger Republic as part of a collaboration between Nigeria and Niger. The now adult lions were brought as cubs in exchange for two ostriches. Mr. Dibal says the Nigerian embassy in Niger had then facilitated the exchange using their trucks to convey the animals to their new habitats. The zoo according to Mr. Dibal is in touch with several organisations, royal fathers and communities that can assist with exotic animals shot by their hunters.
“Instead of killing and slaughtering they should bring it to the zoo for posterity. It is very difficult now to go to the bush and see some of the animals. But when you come to the zoo you see them.”
Recently, the Mai of Potiskum also donated a jackal to the zoo. He said the Mai had conveyed the jackal from Potiskum to the zoo because of his interest in the animal garden, adding “we have other royal fathers too that anytime the hunters in their domain get something like this they contact us.If they cannot bring it, we go to get it.”
‘Jos without the zoo would be odd’
The zoo was set up primarily for education, entertainment, training and amusement according to the Manager. “Especially during the school period, you see schools bringing their students to see animals they have been taught about in the class. You find students of industrial training from University of Maiduguri, Owerri, ATBU Bauchi and many more,” he said.
The zoo serves as a cooling centre for families especially on weekends. Mr Joseph Agambi who was at the zoo with his wife and three children said he decided to bring his family to relax and have a picnic at the zoo since the children were on holidays. Mr. Agambi said “we have been to the zoo more than 10 times with the kids, yet whenever they are on holiday they want to revisit ,especially since my youngest son is fascinated by the lion.”
Mr. Dibal said the city of Jos would be odd without the zoo adding “the zoo serves as a cooling centre for families.After the hustle and bustle of the week, you come here during weekends and you find families coming to find a relaxed atmosphere. When it comes to festivities, there is no other place on the Plateau that you see such crowd and commerce taking place like the zoo. You see the women frying akara and yam, the indomie people, the meat sellers, women will set up fire to fry all sort of things, they pay a token to the Museum and they make some gains too.” The peak periods for the zoo are during festivities such as Sallah and Christmas, as well as during school season when pupils are taken round the zoo on a tour.
However, despite the large turn out during festivities, it was gathered that the visits to the zoo has dropped drastically due to fears connected to crisis in the state. Mr. Dibal admits that the greatest challenge for the zoo had been the insecurity. According to him, “once there is bomb blast people do not want to come to the zoo and the last terminus explosion was not far from here so this has affected the zoo. Then I will say encroachment is another challenge, people are coming too close and taking over the forested area.”
Living on past glory
The Jos zoological garden is known both locally and internationally because of its historical antecedents. In recent years however, the zoo has not made much progress in exhibiting new species of animals. Tourists believe the zoo has not changed for many years and the animals remain the same. Though always clean in the mornings, there is less excitement for frequent visitors who expect to see new varieties of animals once in a while. “It would have been nice if they can spice up the place after every three or four years by bringing exotic animals, animals we haven’t seen here like the elephants, tiger, giraffe or zebra. But we keep seeing the same animals over and over for years, it is not encouraging even to the children, imagine the turn out if they were to bring a giraffe or zebra? Just imagine it” said
Mr. Agambi: The empty cages in the zoo indicate that the garden still has room for more animals. Next to the Chimpanzee’s cage is an empty cage big enough to house at least two other carnivores. Mr. Dibal confirms that the zoo is spacious enough to accommodate about 200 to 250 animals ,and shares tourists’ enthusiasm to see the zoo grow. According to him, “there are plans to make the zoo a world standard structure .We want this zoo to be the best in this country or in the West African sub region , so that when you come in you won’t have to visit any other zoo ,and we are doing this through strong contacts so that we can get a variety of animals.”