Giza zoo under attack
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Giza zoo under attack
How much worse will things become before the wretched place is shut?
Veterinarians and experts criticized the chaos that Giza Zoo witnessed during the first and second day of Eid – the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan – where groups of children stormed the cages of animals and chased them, trying to get them out of their cages and trying to steal a rare species of peacock. As the events unfolded, it was clear security was largely absent and no employee of the park or any member of the security presence at the zoo tried to deter the crazed youth.
Giza Zoo has always been among the most crowded spots for families and youth during the Eid holiday and with reports saying that about 73,000 persons visited the zoo on the second day of Eid, Egypt usually deploys additional police to a number of locations, especially at the Giza Zoo in order to combat any possible outbreak of sexual harassment that have occurred two out of the past three holidays. With crowded streets, an already volatile atmosphere was confounded at youth hang outs, cinemas, amusement parks, restaurants and gardens across the country.
Sami al-Bisatti, former Chairman of the Zoo, told the daily independent al-Dustour that “what happened is a total farce and a clear form of disorganization,” and stressed that “no one has ever heard of an incident of a group of children breaking into the cages of the zoo, since it was established,” adding that this is a lack of discipline and “an absence of security personnel who are responsible for the protection of animals and their cages. This is also considered carelessness and deficiency of the staff, doctors and the administration of the garden.”
Al-Bisatti added that “they [security] are supposed to prevent any interaction or mingling between visitors and animals and birds, because of the high likelihood of disease transmitting from birds to humans, especially in these great days and there is a surge of Bird flu and animals are not able to be chased or played with and they are not accustomed to eating the kind of food given by the visitors.”
Al-Bisatti questioned the absence of security: “during this climax of Eid celebrations, any other seasons and holidays, preparations get intensified for the highest degree possible in the zoo and the zoo used to agree with police to intensify its presence to face any crisis.”
For his part, Sami Taha, a member of the General Union for Veterinarians, said that the zoo is going through a difficult period and the storming of the public into the cages of the animals is the third incident in nearly a year after the killing of two camels at the zoo.
“What if these children managed to open the cage of lions and wild animals? Those animals will come out into the garden and surrounding streets, and the security forces and weapons within the park will not be able to control the situation,” he added.
He said there are 221 common diseases between humans and animals that can be transmitted via “contact or closeness or penetrating fingernails” and that the entry of children to cages “can cause the transmission of any of these diseases to them and the zoo management. The Ministry of Health will bear responsibility for any transmission of the disease of animals and birds to visitors.”
Bikya Masr Staff
24 September 2009
Veterinarians and experts criticized the chaos that Giza Zoo witnessed during the first and second day of Eid – the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan – where groups of children stormed the cages of animals and chased them, trying to get them out of their cages and trying to steal a rare species of peacock. As the events unfolded, it was clear security was largely absent and no employee of the park or any member of the security presence at the zoo tried to deter the crazed youth.
Giza Zoo has always been among the most crowded spots for families and youth during the Eid holiday and with reports saying that about 73,000 persons visited the zoo on the second day of Eid, Egypt usually deploys additional police to a number of locations, especially at the Giza Zoo in order to combat any possible outbreak of sexual harassment that have occurred two out of the past three holidays. With crowded streets, an already volatile atmosphere was confounded at youth hang outs, cinemas, amusement parks, restaurants and gardens across the country.
Sami al-Bisatti, former Chairman of the Zoo, told the daily independent al-Dustour that “what happened is a total farce and a clear form of disorganization,” and stressed that “no one has ever heard of an incident of a group of children breaking into the cages of the zoo, since it was established,” adding that this is a lack of discipline and “an absence of security personnel who are responsible for the protection of animals and their cages. This is also considered carelessness and deficiency of the staff, doctors and the administration of the garden.”
Al-Bisatti added that “they [security] are supposed to prevent any interaction or mingling between visitors and animals and birds, because of the high likelihood of disease transmitting from birds to humans, especially in these great days and there is a surge of Bird flu and animals are not able to be chased or played with and they are not accustomed to eating the kind of food given by the visitors.”
Al-Bisatti questioned the absence of security: “during this climax of Eid celebrations, any other seasons and holidays, preparations get intensified for the highest degree possible in the zoo and the zoo used to agree with police to intensify its presence to face any crisis.”
For his part, Sami Taha, a member of the General Union for Veterinarians, said that the zoo is going through a difficult period and the storming of the public into the cages of the animals is the third incident in nearly a year after the killing of two camels at the zoo.
“What if these children managed to open the cage of lions and wild animals? Those animals will come out into the garden and surrounding streets, and the security forces and weapons within the park will not be able to control the situation,” he added.
He said there are 221 common diseases between humans and animals that can be transmitted via “contact or closeness or penetrating fingernails” and that the entry of children to cages “can cause the transmission of any of these diseases to them and the zoo management. The Ministry of Health will bear responsibility for any transmission of the disease of animals and birds to visitors.”
Bikya Masr Staff
24 September 2009
The zoo should be closed. Completely refurbished. Staff should be trained in animal welfare. All photographers and other hasslers should be chucked out.
Raise the entrance fee quite a bit.
Encourage adoption of the animals. Set up an education centre for visitors with demonstrations.
Make it more family friendly. Have little kiosks where you can buy gifts and snacks.
Offer it as a visitors attraction and add it to tour itineraries.
I'm not a believer in zoo's but if you have to have one then at least do it right.
Raise the entrance fee quite a bit.
Encourage adoption of the animals. Set up an education centre for visitors with demonstrations.
Make it more family friendly. Have little kiosks where you can buy gifts and snacks.
Offer it as a visitors attraction and add it to tour itineraries.
I'm not a believer in zoo's but if you have to have one then at least do it right.
- Hurghadapat
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Best idea is don't have one at all in egypt as most egyptians are not animal lovers.Zoo's should only be kept if used as a breeding programme with other zoo's for endangered species or as a rescue centre for animals being mistreated and with a view to rehabilitating them if possible to the wild.like Monkey World here in England which does an excellent job rescuing primates from all over the world.
End of! I don't think that a zoo is the way forward anywhere really except for a very few refuges and especially in a country like Egypt that struggles to care for its children let alone animals!The zoo should be closed
Some naturalists even believe we have to accept the inevitability of planet destruction as it seems unstoppable, and many species threatened with extinction due to destruction of their natural habitat eg polar bears orangutangs pandas should be left to die out.
Sad but realistic as the human species continues to outnumber all others
- Horus
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I agree although I do frequent zoo's on occasion, they are always the ones that go in for conservation and have a good record of keeping animals in good conditions. Even so I am often really saddened to see any animal kept in a restricted environment, they should be free and there should be a place for them. However in this imperfect world the best we can ask for is an attempt to conserve and protect what animals we have in the hope that we will still have them in the future, when maybe we can reintroduce them back into the wild again. However, I would rather see an animal dead than to be kept in a cage and subjected to ridicule and ill treatment as so often happens in the type of culture that does not respect other living creatures.
- Horus
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EB wrote:
Admittedly there are some animals and birds that can be kept in captivity and are more like the domesticated version of the wild animal, as all they have ever known is a zoo environment. Providing that these animals are kept in large suitable enclosures and NOT penned up in cages they can live a happy life. It is a fact that the lions in UK game parks breed more readily than in the wild, a sign of a healthy pride of animals, they are quite content to have their food brought to them and like most members of the cat family, once they are well fed they prefer to sleep all day.
It is inactivity that destroys most captive caged animals, pacing up and down in a small cage is a sign of madness brought on by boredom. All good conservation zoo's will put the animals welfare first and allow us humans the privilege of only being outside observers of their domain, if we catch a fleeting glimpse of a Jaguar in it's jungle enclosure, then we are lucky, but it must never be put in a cage for us to stare at.
Edit: Just added a couple of pictures to show what I mean, these were taken from an aerial walkway where three Cheetah brothers lived in very natural surroundings. (They were captive bred by the way)
No we don't, especially if the definition of 'zoo' is somewhere for uneducated people to go to and ridicule and poke sticks at captive animals. Only conservation parks for endangered species should be allowed, with public access for educational purposes only.Really we don't need zoo's do we?
Admittedly there are some animals and birds that can be kept in captivity and are more like the domesticated version of the wild animal, as all they have ever known is a zoo environment. Providing that these animals are kept in large suitable enclosures and NOT penned up in cages they can live a happy life. It is a fact that the lions in UK game parks breed more readily than in the wild, a sign of a healthy pride of animals, they are quite content to have their food brought to them and like most members of the cat family, once they are well fed they prefer to sleep all day.
It is inactivity that destroys most captive caged animals, pacing up and down in a small cage is a sign of madness brought on by boredom. All good conservation zoo's will put the animals welfare first and allow us humans the privilege of only being outside observers of their domain, if we catch a fleeting glimpse of a Jaguar in it's jungle enclosure, then we are lucky, but it must never be put in a cage for us to stare at.
Edit: Just added a couple of pictures to show what I mean, these were taken from an aerial walkway where three Cheetah brothers lived in very natural surroundings. (They were captive bred by the way)
This is the unfortunate thing it just won't be possible, given the massive scale of the destruction of natural habitats ....rain forest, bamboo groves, savannah river marine environments etc the rise in hunting and poaching, and the ever increasing human population, once these are gone they are gone forever and one reaon many naturalists advocate allowing them to die out instead of trying to keep them...for our benefit more than theirs.when maybe we can reintroduce them back into the wild again.
We have to face up to the damage that has been done to natural habitats is non-reversible, and to attempt to conserve the species in captivity is self defeating and serves the animal no good whatsoever but may make the humans feel better
beautiful pics Horus. Thanks for that.
Wildlife safari parks are the best places. Before we left Uk we went to a great one, bloody hell I can't remember the name now. Not Windsor although we went to that one too..............?
Damn what was it's name???
North of london, up the motorway, damn can't remember which one now?? My mind is slipping....
Beautiful park with the most beautiful animals.......
Woburn!! that's the one.
One of the best bits was the little house where you go in and feed the birds nectar out of little cups! OMG that was so lovely
If you are near Woburn, you must go and see it. A brilliant day out
Wildlife safari parks are the best places. Before we left Uk we went to a great one, bloody hell I can't remember the name now. Not Windsor although we went to that one too..............?
Damn what was it's name???
North of london, up the motorway, damn can't remember which one now?? My mind is slipping....
Beautiful park with the most beautiful animals.......
Woburn!! that's the one.
One of the best bits was the little house where you go in and feed the birds nectar out of little cups! OMG that was so lovely
If you are near Woburn, you must go and see it. A brilliant day out
- Horus
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- Horus
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