Guyana jaguars for Florida zoo exhibit
Guyana Chronicle
August 6, 2004
THE Iwokrama Conservation Centre (ICC) has entered into an agreement with the Jacksonville Zoo in Florida to develop a model approach to conservation and to raise funds for the rainforest project here, Director of the centre, Dr Graham Watkins, reported yesterday.
He told reporters at the ICC Georgetown office that the accord is based on the new `Range of the Jaguar’ exhibit that opened in March this year at the Jacksonville Zoo.
A Memorandum of Cooperation for the partnership was signed between the Office of the President and the Jacksonville Zoo in November 2002, he said.
A key feature provides for the popular zoo to contribute financial and in-kind resources to improve the management and conservation of wildlife in Guyana, particularly through Iwokrama, the National Zoo and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Watkins said.
He said the amount of funds from the arrangement have not been finalised but estimated that the figure could be about US$30,000 every three years.
He indicated too that US$35,000 has already been handed over to Iwokrama’s Fund Trust Fund for the execution and management of the programme.
It is hoped that Guyana would begin leasing animals to the Jacksonville Zoo by the end of the year, Watkins said, but noted there was much work to be done, including arrangements pertaining to ensuring that the animals are disease-free.
The model being worked on is based on similar longstanding zoo conservation efforts in other countries including the Bronx Zoo Congo, the Brazilian Golden Lion Project and the Madagascar Faunal Group relationship with the Malagasy Government.
The arrangement between the ICC and Jacksonville Zoo is a major public relations strategy as well, he noted, pointing out that the zoo receives 600,000 visitors annually, raking in some US$134M. These figures are for up to 2000, and are likely to have risen substantially by now, he added.
In addition to highlighting the tremendous potential of the Iwokrama rainforest sustainable project in southern Guyana as an eco-tourist destination, Watkins said the `Range of the Jaguar’ exhibit would provide an opportunity for exports of local craft, particularly from Amerindian communities.
He observed that because of the many other attractions nowadays, zoos have to change the way of doing business.
According to the director, the Iwokrama/Jacksonville Zoo programme is based on best practice and is consistent with the laws of Guyana and the U.S., as well as with the international conventions to which these countries are party, in particular, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.
The objective of the programme is to develop ways for Guyana to benefit from relationships with zoos from developed countries, “and move beyond the traditional approaches to the trade in wild animals”, he said.
He emphasised that under the programme provision is made for the Government of Guyana to lease already captive or problem animals to the Jacksonville Zoo for display, education and research, but ownership of these animals and their offspring in perpetuity will be retained by the Government of Guyana while the animals are alive.
Discussions are under way with the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Parks Commission on finalising the programme, which has also been presented to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for approval of import permits for animals, Watkins said.
He also told reporters that for nearly 90 years the Jacksonville Zoo and gardens has been dedicated to inspiring the discovery and appreciation of wildlife through innovative experiences in a caring environment
Starting in 1914 with an animal collection of one red deer fawn, its collection has now grown to more than 2,000 rare and exotic animals and over 1,000 unique plant species.
The zoo is a non-profit organisation accredited by the American Zoo and Aquarium Association (AZA).
Watkins said Guyana is among the few countries with rainforest resources intact and has great comparative advantage in attracting eco-tourists, with its population of rare species of animals, including the jaguar, the Harpy Eagle and the Giant Otter having been sustained, unlike other countries.
However, he noted that the population of the largest fresh water fish in the world, the Arapaima which is only found in Guyana, has decreased slightly. (CHAMANLALL NAIPAUL)