In Nigerian zoos, all animals are not equal

A giraffe in its enclosure at UI Zoo and A camel at UI Zoo

 As a young boy, Anayo Eze always looked forward to visiting the Enugu Zoological Gardens in company with his older cousins.

Recalling those exciting moments, he says, “I cannot forget the first time I saw a lion. It was a full grown one. I can’t forget its eyes and the long hair on its neck. Before then, lions only existed in my picture book and in moonlight tales that my grandma told me. I could have stretched out my hand to touch the animal, but my cousin wouldn’t allow me. He had warned that the lion could bite my fingers off. I was scared. But that didn’t stop me from repeating the visit to the lion’s cage again and again.”

Eze also found other animals at the zoo attractive. He liked the chimpanzees and monkeys most. One day, he came to the zoo with some bananas and fed the apes. “I had felt thrilled by the way they snapped off the fruits from my hand and ate them. After that day, I would come with more bananas and sometimes, biscuits,” he says.

In those days, he adds, many people liked to visit the zoo, which was situated in the Ekulu area of Enugu, right in the Government Reservation Area. Picnics and even parties were common, and there were many animals on display.

“Unfortunately, the zoo is no more. One day, the government decided to destroy it and sell the land. Nobody knows what happened to the few animals that were left. Maybe they were sold off or killed,” Eze says.

Investigation shows that the former site of the zoo has been transformed into an upscale housing estate occupied by the rich and influential residents of Enugu. The place is actually called Zoo Estate.

A plot of land in the estate sells for N50m. So far, only politicians, including the leader of a well known political party in the Southeast, have been able to afford it.

Also, several movies have been shot on location at the estate, which is fast becoming a hangout for Nollywood producers.

The displacement of the zoological garden, no doubt, implies that millions of children in the state have been deprived of an important source of recreation and environmental education.

“It is like robbing Peter to pay Paul. Our children have been robbed of an opportunity to learn about animals and how they behave in the ecosystem. Nothing can be more instructive than a physical encounter with live animals at the zoo. But they have been denied such unique experience,” Eze laments.

Despite such a disorienting development, Nigerians still love to watch animals, either in simulated natural habitats like the Lekki Conservation Centre in Lagos and the Obafemi Awolowo University Biological Gardens in Ile-Ife; or zoological gardens and parks in some universities across the country.

Between two worlds of animals

Inside the Lekki Conservation Centre in Lagos, the first sight that greets first-time visitors is a group of peacocks proudly showing off their beautiful feathers and strutting around a cone-shaped building that serves as an auditorium.

A short distance from the birds, an adult tortoise seems to be quietly enjoying the warmth of the sun on the well-tended lawn around the building. But a closer look at the animal shows that it is actually feeding on the luxuriant grass.

The tortoise is so engrossed in its feeding that it hardly notices other signs of life in the reserve. A sturdy wooden track ushers visitors into about 1.8km nature trail that reveals an expansive stretch of marshland and savannah grassland teeming with wildlife, as well as aquatic flora and fauna.

In the 78-hectare nature conservation, an attempt has been made to save different types of animals, reptiles and birdlife from extinction. The endangered species include monkeys, squirrels, snakes, crocodiles, monitor lizards, duikers, giant rats and hogs.

The animals are evidently at home in their simulated natural habitats. Like the tortoise, they are free and safely out of the reach of human predators. But while squirrels, monkeys or birds could leap or fly from one tree to another at will and enjoy the comfort of their habitat without interference from external forces, especially human beings, their cousins in some zoos located hundreds of kilometers from the resort are not so lucky.

During a visit to the University of Ibadan Zoological Garden on Sunday, our correspondent found that some animals were still being kept in cages.  Despite the instructions of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, the regulatory body for zoos all over the world, the only warthog in the garden, some birds, monkeys and a couple of pigs were all locked up in cages that allowed them little room for movement.

Preparing for the future

Yet, there is ample evidence of concerted efforts to rehabilitate the UI zoo and reposition it for the future.

When she was appointed as the director of the zoo in 2010, Dr. Olajumoke Morenikeji immediately drew up a plan to restore it to its former glory.

“The zoo has been here for a long time. It was founded in 1948 alongside the Zoological Department of the university. Initially there were very few animals. By 1974, it became a full-fledged zoo. More people were coming in to see the animals then. With time, decay set in and most of the facilities in the garden were affected by lack of maintenance. The structures were not good enough and there were not many animals any longer.

“When I assumed office, my vision for the garden was to raise it to the international standard. I started going from one company to another soliciting assistance. I made a presentation to the management of the university on how I intend to reposition the zoo. From that year, the Nigeria Bottling Company and several individuals were kind enough to donate structures, cash or animals to the garden. The result is a remarkable improvement in patronage. It is obvious that people like what is happening here and we are encouraged by the kind gestures of our donors,” she says, in an interview with our correspondent.

One of the biggest donors is the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye. He donated N45m for the rehabilitation of the zoo. Also, the Vice Chancellor of UI, Prof. Isaac Adewole, has supported the director’s vision with a lot of donation.

Morenikeji says the UI zoological garden boasts a collection of animals that had never existed in the zoo before, such as the giraffe and spotted hyenas. In addition to this, more structures are under construction in the zoo to replace the old ones.

“We had to pull down the old structures and build new ones. We have had to refurbish facilities that are still good and to upgrade others, such as the Reptile House or Serpentarium, which can compete favourably with any other in the world. We have a buttery, eatery, and shops. A new administrative building is under construction at present. On the ground floor of the building, there will be a library and the educational unit of the zoological garden. The goal is to enable visiting children to learn more about the animals they see in the zoo.

“We have a channel that runs across the zoo. In order to prevent flooding, there is a lot of channelisation going on at the zoo. It has become very necessary to do this because of the rising water table in the world’s,” she says.

As proof of the management commitment to replenishing its stock, every cage in the reptile house at the UI zoo is filled with various species of snakes, crocodiles and water turtles. Although there is no empty cage in this section of the facility, most of the creatures seem to be young.

“We are not only replenishing, our animals are also laying eggs. Due to the enrichment of the enclosures in the zoos, the animals still give birth to their offspring. The water turtles are laying eggs. If you go to the ostrich cage, you will find an egg there.

“The peahen lays four eggs and hatches them on its own. Our lioness recently gave birth to four cubs at once. This does not happen in the wild all the time. We are already sourcing the animals that you can’t find in the zoo, like hippopotamus. They will be arriving very soon,” Morenikeji adds.

A study in neglect

At the Obafemi Awolowo University Biological Garden, the scenario is different. The zoo, as it is commonly known, is situated directly opposite the Faculty of Social Sciences.  It is fenced with wire. A cardboard poster spread across a contraption that serves as the  ‘gate’ welcomed visitors to the facility.

A few metres from the entrance, a well-built female staff of the garden sat under a makeshift shed and fiddling with a booklet and a sheaf of papers on a small wooden table. And just outside a decrepit wooden structure that also serves as a staff office, another woman lay on a bench, obviously idling away.

As always, little signposts pointed the way to the cages and enclosures in the zoo through narrow pathways bordered by tall trees and thick undergrowth. The scenery, enchanting as it seemed, at once reminded our correspondent about D.O Fagunwa’s  Yoruba novel, Ogboju Ode Ninu Igbo Irunmole – translated by the Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka as  Forest of a Thousand Daemons.

The only sounds in this forest were the chirping of exuberant birds flitting from one tree branch to another – and occasional rustle of the leaves on the trees. Otherwise, there was deep silence.

Other conspicuous signposts warned visitors not to get too close or throw food items at the animals or reptiles within the enclosures. Usually, the instructions are written in English and in Yoruba. They are meant to protect the visitor and the animals. A particularly frightening sign outside the enclosure where lions are kept warned in Yoruba that “lions are capable of killing human beings”.

Additional notices containing the names of the animals, their botanical names and histories are attached to the walls of the enclosures or cages.

Empty cages and enclosures

But the visit turned out to be disappointing. The sight of many empty enclosures or cages showed that the zoo had lost most of its stock of animals.

Instead of a wide variety of exotic animals that attracted many adventure-seeking visitors,  mostly students of the institution and other members of the public, in the past, the zoological section of the OAU biological garden could only boast a handful of animals.

Even then, the few surviving animals, such as the lone spotted hyena lazing in the sun and patas monkey left to languish inside a dungeon that is about 20 feet deep, looked like they had not been fed for some days.

Apart from a tiny soft water turtle, a peacock and peahen, a couple of wild geese, a crane, lion and a Nile crocodile, there was no other animal in the zoo. Our correspondent gathered that its enviable collection of primates, birds and reptiles had disappeared over the past years.

A senior lecturer in the Department of Zoology at the university, on condition of anonymity, blames the situation on a number of factors.

“First, what we have is quite different from a zoological garden. In a typical zoological garden, you want to see all the varieties of animals. But this is a biological garden that deals with varieties of life, in terms of animal life and plant life. We have a botanical section, zoological section and the ecological forest, which is a virgin forest untouched by human beings. Students go there to carry out all kinds of research. If it were to be a zoo, you would just look at the animals and go away.

“It was during the military era that universities ran out of money to feed the animals. Many of the animals were sacrificed. It was painful watching them die because there was no money to feed them. The sacrificed animals were preserved and kept in the Natural History Museum for the public to view.

“Many of the big game were sacrificed because there was no money to feed them. It was so bad that to pay the salaries of the members of staff of the garden was a problem. At this point, many of the enclosures in the zoological section became empty,” he says.

Also, giving reasons why some cages and enclosures at the UI zoo were empty and big game such as leopards, elephants and hippopotamus were absent, Morenikeji says, “Just like human beings, animals also grow old and die. The last elephant we had died over 25 years ago. It grew old and died. Just like our gorillas, elephants have to die when they grow old. Right now, we are sourcing for another elephant to fill the vacuum. I know that before the end of the year, it will be here in the zoo. This is why we are renovating the enclosure for elephants. Also, some zebras are on the way. That is why we are rebuilding the zebra enclosure.”

Depleting wildlife in Abuja zoo

When one of our correspondents visited the National Children’s Park and Zoo in Abuja, he made a shocking discovery. Apart from the fact that the facility bore visible signs of neglect, its collection of big game, which included lions, cheetah, elephants, tigers and leopards, was depleted.

Although the zoo was leased to a private firm for 10 years before the Federal Government recovered it in 2013, it seemed to have seriously deteriorated within that period.

A guide at the park told our correspondent that some of the animals were either dead or taken away to replenish neighbouring zoos.

“The only lion at the park has been taken to the zoo in the Aso Rock Villa. The only surviving cheetah died a few years ago and ever since, it has not been replaced,” he said.

The few animals left in the zoo include a buffalo, a camel, porcupines, a giraffe, zebra, two horses, ducks, geese, a tortoise, an ostrich, monkeys, crocodile, eagle, donkey and goats. The only parrot could not talk because it was not trained to do so.

Investigation shows that the zoo is not well funded. In addition, the workers are poorly remunerated and not motivated. The highest paid worker actually receives a paltry N26,000 per month, while a new graduate member of staff receives less than N20,000.

The animals are so hungry that two adult Nile crocodiles once gave birth to 10 young ones and ate up all but two for want of food.

A contrasting picture

However, the University of Ilorin Zoological Garden, which was established around August 1985, stands out clearly as one of few facilities of its kind that is hardly threatened by inadequate funding and staffing and sundry challenges.

Just like the UI zoo, it started with only five species of animals, including a python, anubis baboon, patas monkey, tortoise and crocodile. With time, the number increased. Now it boasts about 47 species and the total number of animals is 240.

Although the zoo gets its funding directly from the university, a sizeable chunk of it goes into feeding of the animals. Compared to their counterparts in the OAU zoo and the Lekki Conservation Centre, animals in UNILORIN zoo feed well and regularly.

“Our animals are fed every day. We buy prepared food and also supplement it with grasses which our zookeepers cut from the bush. We use wheat offal and cassava peels and dry groundnut leaves to feed horses, donkeys, moles and giraffes. The zoo keepers supplement these items with grasses. They put the supplied feed on one side and the grasses on the other side so that the animals will feed on whichever one they want.

“On the average, the carnivores are fed every other day. That is if we give them food on Monday, the next day for their feeding will be on Wednesday. In the jungle, the carnivores do not feed every day. The lions are fed with either goats or cow foetus. Most of the times we use cow foetus. But if there is no foetus at the Yikpita Market in Ilorin, we feed them goats,” Abdulkareem Yusuf, assistant curator of the zoo,  says.

In the last three years, about five animals died in the zoo. They include an ostrich, a giraffe, stripped hyena, one giant eland and a python.

The hyena died of snake bite. A snake from outside the zoo came into the enclosure and bit it. While the giant eland was said to have died out of stress, the ostrich and giraffe fell victims of harsh weather.