Dearth of animals, low patronage threatening Jos zoos

Plateau State is known as ‘The Home of Peace and Tourism’. A fundamental aspect of the tourism in the slogan is the two wild life parks situated in Jos, the state capital. And with the natural formations of rocks, hills, waterfalls and other splendid sceneries across Plateau, the state is undoubtedly a delight for tourists.

The two wild life parks, which are separately located at Miango Road and Behind the Central Bank in Jos main town, have attracted visitors and tourists alike from far and wide, while they have also become relaxation spots for Jos residents/families, excursion centres for students, locations for birthdays, spots for writers or musicians seeking an environment with inspirational aura. Others are wedding receptions, video/film shooting, pre-wedding shoot/pictures, and so on.

While the Miango Road zoo called Jos Wild Life Park belongs to the Plateau State government, that behind the Central Bank called Jos Museum Zoological Garden belongs to the federal government.

A visit to the Jos Wild Life Park attracts a ticket of N200 for adults and N100 for children. Cars entering the park are charged N50. At the Jos Museum Zoological Garden, the ticket goes for N100, while N50 is collected from hawkers who provide some edibles for visitors to buy and feed some of the animals, especially monkeys.

It is a common sight for people to buy bananas, groundnuts, biscuits, cabbage, etc for monkeys/chimpanzees who practically begs passers-by with their hands constantly out of their cages, while they also dance and perform gymnastics moves to attract/appease visitors.

While the Jos Museum Zoological Garden has two lionesses and one lion, the Jos Wild Life Park has one lion and a lioness. And while the former has one elephant, the latter has no elephant. Both zoos have crocodiles, tortoise, monkeys/chimpanzees, snakes/pythons, birds of different species, among others. Yet, there are some animals found in one zoo and not found in the other.

In terms of size, the Jos Wild Life Park is bigger than the Jos Museum Zoological Garden. Cars can drive in and drive round, while up to three wedding receptions could be held at the same time. This is because it is situated on the outskirts of town.

One of the common characteristics of the two zoos however, is the shortage of animals. Some large cages have fewer animals which is obviously less than their carrying capacity. Other cages are empty and rusty.

Low patronage is another challenge facing both zoos. Our correspondent gathered that the Corona virus pandemic which necessitated a lockdown and shutting down of schools and some businesses, also affected the zoos. And as things were picking up gradually, the #EndSars protests, violence and attendant curfew imposed on parts of the state also came with its own attendant effects.

At the wild life park, our correspondent observed that the park was gradually picking up. Few persons were seen coming in and going out while some intending couples came for pre-wedding photo shoot. Some people were also spotted taking pictures showing several animals at the background.

A staff who took our correspondent round said they have shortage of animals. The staff said they have over 80 staff and they run shifts. He explained that they work five days and have two days off.

He said the animals are however well fed. The lion/lioness for instance are fed with one life goat each, and at one day interval, while the elephant is fed with specific leaves and cabbage. In terms of feeding the animals, they don’t have problem.

The ticket officer at the entry point, Mrs Becky, told our correspondent that the management is doing well in terms of feeding the animals and providing clean water for them. She said during the corona virus lockdown, the management tried its best to ensure that the animals were well fed and government equally provided the funds.

She said restocking of animals is in order, adding that the problem is that whatever affects the government economically or otherwise will have a direct effect on the park as they are depended on the government, especially now that patronage is low.

She said the park is very viable and generates good earnings from time to time before the advent of corona virus. “Then, when one visits the park, everywhere would be jam-packed with different activities.”

Meanwhile, regarding the restocking of the park, it would be recalled that the Plateau State Governor, Simon Lalong, in November last year, said he was is in talks with the Kenyan government on the possibility of restocking the Jos Wildlife Park with additional animals to make it more attractive to tourists.

Also, Lalong had visited the wild life park in May last year to assess the state of things, and he fed the lions himself. The event signified the symbolic Feeding of Animals. He even adopted one of the lions, which implies that he would be providing it from time to time.

Daily Trust Saturday observed that the park is not properly fenced, thus giving room for people to pass the unfenced area to gain assess into the facility.

A resident of the area, who has a provision shop opposite the gate, said the lack of proper fencing has also heightened insecurity in the area as some hoodlums go through the route to raid shops and then escape through the same route.

He however said the situation is now under control as security agencies have been deployed to that spot and they constantly park their cars there.

Regarding the level of business attracted by the park, he said people selling around and opposite the park make brisk business, adding that when there is high volume of visitors, they patronize them outside before going inside, and vice versa.

A veterinary shop attendant opposite the park gate, Florence, said the park has made the hitherto quiet area very lively, “except for now that things are slow.”

At the Jos Museum Zoological Garden, most of the cages were empty though some staff of the garden were seen feeding the available animals. The lion and lionesses were fed a moderate cow lap each.

The man who fed them told our correspondent that they feed them after one day interval. Some days they feed them with goats, other times with cow parts.

There is a trained horse that takes visitors round upon payment of N100. A rider guides the horse and the visitor in going round, especially a visitor who can’t ride a horse.

When asked why there are shortages of animals, another staff told our correspondent that even in the forests, there are shortages of wild animals and even some have gone extinct.