Animals at Kumasi Zoo go hungry as Covid-19 lockdown causes food shortage

The Kumasi Zoological Gardens is making a public appeal for fresh meat and foodstuffs to feed hungry animals at the facility.

Managers at the facility say the Covid -19 lockdown has resulted in a shortage of meat for carnivores.

Manager of the zoo, Dr. Paul Ziekah, told Joy News the coronavirus situation in neighbouring countries like Burkina Faso has reduced importation of cattle by the Kumasi Abattoir, which is the main source of meat supply.

Established to conserve nature and display indigenous wild animals in Ghana, the Kumasi Zoo sits on a 1.5 kilometre square land.

Besides offering recreation and relaxation for visitors, it is a revenue generator.

The facility has recorded about 100,000 visits since the beginning of this year, translating into GHS250, 000 Ghana in fund mobilisation.

The coronavirus outbreak, however, has compelled officials to close the facility to visitors.

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“Kumasi Zoo was just picking up. The first quarter of the year saw a lot of visitors coming and that was very promising. We were projecting that we may get about 90 to 100,000 visitors in 2020.  With the shutdown visitors are not coming,” the Manager of the facility told Joy News.

According to Dr Ziekah, feeding over 100 animal species, including lions, has suddenly become a challenge.

“For now we are having some challenges with getting enough meat for our carnivorous animals like the lions and the other wild cats that we have,” he said.

Meanwhile, the zoo recently received a bull from a donor in Obuasi.

The Veterinary Services Division has also made some donation to the facility.

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But Dr Ziekah is sending an SOS message to Ghanaians to support the zoo with meat and other food items especially vegetables for herbivores.

Deputy Chief Executive of the Forestry Commission, John Allotey, who made a brief stop at the zoo over the weekend has said the commission will make available additional storage facilities by providing the zoo with more refrigerators to store more food in the future.

He revealed that the commission has suspended operations of the eco-tourism centres across the country in order to protect animals and patrons from Covid-19.

“We don’t also want to put people who come to our eco-tourism areas in harm’s way so what we have done is that Mole National Park has closed down; Kakum  National Park has closed down and then the Kumasi Zoo and other places where we think we would have the numbers that are likely to adversely impact on the people so far as Covid-19 is concerned,” he said.

Source: Myjoyonline