Accra Zoo to relocate

... Children become losers

The Ministry of Tourism has begun preparations to relocate the zoo to a privatized Shai Hills safari park within five years. The Deputy Minister for Tourism, Mr Abubakar Sadique Boniphace, however admitted that; ?the children (of Accra) would lose a lot? as he revealed his plan to close the city?s zoo.

Head of the Accra Zoo, Dr Richard Suuire was shocked when he heard the Ministry of Tourism?s plans, which would dramatically reduce the ability of the capital?s school children to study wildlife at first hand.

According to the zoo?s figures, almost 58,000 school children and students visited the Accra zoo last year. The education centre was recently renovated, and would probably stay open.

However, it was difficult to imagine attendance remaining high with many of the zoo?s main attractions departed to the Shai Hills.

Dr Suuire emphasized that his primary objectives were to improve education and conservation. He felt that ?you cannot put value on education? and that the government must ?sacrifice? in order to safeguard the future of scientific and ecological education.

Dr Suuire hoped students would continue to visit his education centre in the future, while Mr Boniphace envisaged the children of Accra making the long and expensive journey to the Shai Hills.

In terms of conservation, the move to the Shai Hills also posed a serious threat. The Accra zoo had recently successfully bred the endangered White Crown Mangabey monkey. This development was the result of a long-term project designed to cater for the appetite of tourists.

When questioned on the Ministry?s commitment to protect the ecosystem of Ghana, Mr Boniphace could only promise that they would ?be able to replace the animals and plants that tourists require?, not those necessary to maintain ecological balance.

The prospect of a major redevelopment in the Shai Hills itself was unexpected as the area is a protected reserve. Plans for accommodation, shops and improved road networks may disrupt the carefully balanced ecosystem.

This significant change in policy was a result of the involvement of the Ministry of Tourism in a domain previously overseen solely by the Department of Wildlife and Forest Conservation.

The Ministry is determined to increase the income from tourism in Ghana. It is no surprise that the Ministry of Tourism sees wildlife as a saleable product, subject to the capitalist dictum of ?supply and demand? and will provide the wildlife desired by visitors to Africa. The Accra zoo is not sufficiently appealing to these tourists.

The lure of private investment to finance this project means that the animals of the national zoo would soon become the property of a profit-led and tourist - based private enterprise.

Dr Richard Suuire worried that; ?when a private man comes in, he is first interested in money? and was concerned that the level of conservation and education in Ghana may come under threat.

There were also fears that a private company may raise the price of entry to the Shai Hills to a level unaffordable to most Ghanaians.

The move to the Shai Hills will radically improve the plight of the animals currently housed in the zoo.

A source associated with the zoo for more than twenty years, told The Chronicle that they had been informed by a figure at the Department of Wildlife ?with a smiling face? that there was no money to feed the animals this year.

Dr Suuire denied this but agreed that the zoo had faced a steady decline in recent years. No money was available to repair the dilapidated facilities or replace the dying species.

The funding problem was best exemplified by the housing of the lions. They had arrived in Accra, 13 years ago, on the condition that their concrete cells were merely temporary homes, but the proposed new enclosures were never built.

It was in the saddest of circumstances for Accra that these lions would finally be given the home they required.

The demise of a zoo struggling to repair the enclosures of its dwindling population would be a time for celebration for those concerned for the health of these animals.

However, the people of Accra will surely ask why funds were available to invest so heavily in the Shai Hills and yet money could not be found for the relatively modest task of increasing funding for the existing zoo.

A difficult decision has been taken. Tourists? dollars have been chosen ahead of the education and conservation of Ghana.