Goats now dominant animals in National Children’s Park and Zoo
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“Look at the place, it is filthy, the first time we came it was good but now what is happening?” she queried.
“This is a government establishment so people who don’t have money how will they come in here,” she retorted.
Another fun lover who pleaded anonymity said it is a shame if where the animals are kept is called a zoo.
“If government officials travel outside is this what you call a zoo? What animals do you have here?,” she asked, adding that the poorly maintained facilities only rob the park of its shine.
“It is airy and there is security. There are open spaces and facilities. It is a beautiful place but it has to be maintained if they want Nigerians to participate in outdoor activities. This is a place that they should come to but they can’t come to a place and go home with dissatisfied,” she said.
“Once it is a bit dark you can’t stay here, you will see human and horses excreta in some areas,” she said.
A notice at the entrance said the increment in the gate fee was necessitated by the ‘general commodity prices increase and other services.’
Responding, the Deputy Director Wildlife in charge of the park, Aminu Mohammed, said the park had suffered great neglect and not adequately funded it since it was commissioned in 2001.
He said of the expected average annual visitors of 500, 000, had dropped considerately to 113, 000. He said the park lacked some facilities like education resource centre where children are taught more about wildlife and public shelter for visitors during rainfall.
He however said the animals are not underfed and that the staff always ensure that the environment is clean. He admitted that some animals are not in the park anymore due to inbreeding and lack of their social groups.
“We do have giraffe but when you have animals and they are not in a social group you cannot have sustainable population,” he said, adding that the zoo is about 16 years now and some animals have short life span.
“The giraffe came from Zimbabwe which is not same climatic condition with here,” he said adding that some animals die when they failed to adapt to the environmental conditions.
He said the park ought to have elephants, giraffes and lions to be able to pull more visitors to the park.
He also said lack of population servicing affected some of the animals including the impala which used to be at the park.
“The impala started reproducing only female while the giraffe was without a partner; the cheetah needs a vast land with at least three females to reproduce,” he said, while explaining why the animals are not in the park anymore. He said all these factors were not considered when the animals were initially brought into the zoo.
He said the park, directly under the office of the presidency, was designed to be sustainable with funds generated from the gate fees and from donations from individuals and corporate organizations.
“We have a kind of sustainable park what is generated from the fees is used to take care of the animals, pay our staff and other fees, so you can see we can’t really do much with 25 staff, 20 different species of animals with about 200 individuals,” he said.
He listed animals in the park to include tortoise, snake, ostriches, horses and crocodiles. Others are parrot, camel, winged goose, crested porcupine, blue wildebeest, African buffalos and several birds.
“Our problem is the setup; this place is under a presidential committee. The committee was to raise fund and to oversee the activities of the park but since 2013 there was nothing tangible done by the committee,” he said.
He said the Interim Management Committee on National Children’s Park and Zoo is yet to present its report to the presidency after the expiration of the six months’ time frame it was given in 2013.
The Special Adviser to the Minister of Information and Culture, Segun Adeyemi, said the minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed can’t comment on the activities of the Interim Management Committee on National Children’s Park and Zoo since it was set up by the presidency.
But a staff in the ministry who pleaded anonymity said the park ought to be under the supervision of the Ministry of Culture, adding that the committee under the presidency is not ensuring effective management of the park.
He said if the park is managed by the ministry, it would be given the necessary priority and ensure it generated more revenue than it was generating at the moment.
The Presidency has stated that the National Children’s Park and Zoo is not neglected.
The Permanent Secretary of the State House, Mr Jalal Arabi, told our correspondent that the committee inaugurated by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan for the management of the park and zoo had not submitted its report.
The permanent secretary disclosed that the committee had not been is banded as it was still receiving funds.
Arabi emphasised that the place was not abandoned, saying if the committee fails to submit its report by this May, the Presidency would move in and take over it.
“The committee which was inaugurated by former President Goodluck Jonathan has not submitted its reports. We need to look at their reports to know how they have operated. Up till now, they have not submitted the report, but I have given them a deadline of May; which is two years of the present 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,” he said.