World Wildlife Day: Cebu zoo to be recast as wildlife park

CURIOSITY. Schoolgirls from barangay Cantipla try interacting with a python in the Cebu City Zoo in barangay Kalunasan. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

A hesitant 11-year old Noemi Bastida was trembling when she was about to hold a python at the Cebu Zoo yesterday.

But a few minutes later, the grade six student from Cantipla Integrated School was smiling from ear to ear while carrying part of the snake’s body.

“Dili na ko mahadlok. Buotan ra man diay sila. Dili mamaak pareha sa mga salida,” she told Cebu Daily News.

(I’m not afraid anymore. They are kind. They don’t bite unlike in movies)

Over a hundred kids from Cantipla Integrated School, Parian drop-in center and the Community Scouts Youth Guidance Center were the star of yesterday first ever World Wildlife Day Celebration of the Cebu City government.

Cebu Zoo manager Giovanni Romarate said they want to educate the children on wildlife conservation.

“It’s always good to start with the children. It’s important to help them realize our biodiversity and then need to protect it to the next generation,” he said.

March 3 was declared as World Wildlife Day by the United Nations General Assembly in December last year to “celebrate the many beautiful and varied forms of wild fauna and flora and to raise awareness of the multitude of benefits that conservation provides to people.”

The date was chosen in accordance with the adoption of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) on March 3, 1973. CITES is a critical international treaty that works to ensure that global trade does not threaten the survival of species in the wild.

JOINT EFFORT

The Cebu Zoo will soon be changed into the Cebu Botanical Garden and Wildlife Center.

Councilor Nida Cabrera who heads the City Council committee on parks and playground, wildlife, ecology and environment said they are now starting a series of meetings with the Cebu Provincial government on the facility’s development.

“The city and the province are one in the protection of the environment and wildlife. The province is supporting the move to change the name of Cebu Zoo,” said provincial board member Miguel Antonio Magpale.

Magpale said they are set to meet with Gov. Hilario Davide III and Cabrera to finalize plans on the development of the Cebu Zoo.

Cabrera said there is already an approved P10 million budget for the zoo’s development which would include the construction of staircases in the 7.6 hectare property which is down slope, fencing, water systems and bigger cages.

With its redevelopment, Cabrera said the zoo will be more interactive. The animals’ cages will simulate the real habitat of the animals.

According to the Cebu Uniting for Sustainable Water (CUSW), a member of the Parks and Playgrounds Commission of Cebu City, it’s important to highlight the indigenous species of wildlife and plants in the zoo.

“The development should simulate habitats of the wildlife to be brought here. We should plant indigenous trees,” said Casiano Catapang of CUSW.

Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) 7’s Biodiversity Management Bureau regional technical director Al Arolfo said they’re planning to work closely with the city government in developing the center.

“We’re working on accrediting this facility for it to be able to receive and house wild animals that may be confiscated by DENR,” he said.

NO MORE SNAKE MASSAGE

Meanwhile city officials want the snake massage offering in the zoo to be stopped.

According to Cabrera and Dr. Librado Macaraya, executive director of the Cebu City Parks and Playgrounds Commission, they will talk with the zoo management in stopping the activity.

“We can’t allow it anymore. We are just anticipating that there will be complaints on that because it’s not natural for the snakes to get so much human interaction,” Macaraya said.

But according to zoo manager Romarate, the purpose of the snake massage was to educate people.

“We just wanted to explain to people that snakes are not slimy and scary,” he said.

He added that the term “snake massage” was given by some foreigners who visited the zoo. He said they want visitors to interact with the animals which are mostly feared by people.

Romarate added that the snakes are trained to human interaction.

He said they’ll respect the commission’s decision.

“Maybe we can change the term. But it’s really a chance to educate people,” he said.