A Korean tourist poses for a photo with a Brahminy Kite Hawk or “Banog” on her head while celebrating Valentines Day with her friends in the Cebu City Zoo last February.
The Cebu City Zoo is inviting private companies to adopt or sponsor a zoo animal in order to help cover the cost for their care.
Cebu City Zoo Manager Giovanni Romarate said the program covers the care and feeding of 23 species of wildlife.
“We will take care of the animals,” he said.
The sponsor will get to learn about the diet and attributes of animals, both domestic and wildlife.
For example, Romarate said many people don’t know that only a few species of snakes are venomous.
Once people know more about the animals, d they won’t kill them indiscriminately but want to protect them instead.
“If we see them, we kill them because we see them as dangerous but they are part of the ecosystem.
Rats are more dangerous than snakes because of the sickness they bring like leptospirosis,” Romarate said.
Once an animal species becomes extinct, there will be an imbalance in the ecosystem.
Through the adopt-an-animal program, Romarate said companies can help promote wildlife and fulfill their “corporate social responsibility.”
Romarate said the management hopes that with this program, the zoo management won’t have to repeatedly ask for for funding from the city government.
He said the city government has to prioritize its funds for infrastructure, health care and other social services of Cebu Citys growing population../Palompon Institute of Technology Intern Jay-Ileen Engalla
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