GoodHeart | Hope and heart at the zoo after Hurricane Melissa
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The cutest snapshot of the two African spurred tortoises being wheeled back to their enclosure.
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General curator at Hope Zoo, Joey Brown, poses with team members Shaneek Lewis (left), animal care supervisor, and Dr Szarianne Khan (centre), veterinarian.
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The Capuchin monkeys, kept safe in one of the bathrooms during Hurricane Melissa, were finally able to return to their open enclosure on Thursday.
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Valerie Juggan-Brown, director of Hope Zoo.
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Before a tree fell in the collared peccary enclosure, damaging nearby fences, the ostriches and wild boars had already been relocated. All animals are safe and injury-free.
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It was all hands on deck for this post-hurricane cleanup, with Euklin Davis, one of the drivers at Hope Zoo, lending a hand.
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Sheep and goats enjoy sunshine and food after being sheltered during the hurricane.
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UWI students Iyanu Small (right) and Angel Bailey, part of two student groups volunteering in the post-storm cleanup, smile as they pet a goat.
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We caught Dr Szarianne Khan (left) and Shaneek Lewis mid-relocation of the flamingos back to their home.
As Jamaicans across the island rally to support one another in the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, which hit the country on Tuesday, the team at Hope Zoo in St Andrew has turned their attention to their most vulnerable residents. Led by the zoo’s general curator, Joey Brown, GoodHeart spent Thursday afternoon witnessing how a mighty team of vets, zookeepers, landscapers, and gardeners came together to ensure the creatures many have come to love were safely settled back into their homes ahead of the zoo’s reopening today.
Moving animals of different sizes and with various needs is no small feat. On the creatures’ hurricane checklist, space, temperature, humidity, comfort, food, and water are all carefully accounted for to keep them safe. Luckily, having already established and practised a hurricane protocol, Brown explained that the team was able to move each animal efficiently.
“This hurricane was an exceptional case, given that it was moving from a Category 4 then a Category 5 as it made its way to Jamaica. And then, late last week, it was projected to have a greater impact on Kingston [and St Andrew], and that’s when it became imperative that we got all the animals into concrete, structurally safe buildings,” Brown told GoodHeart.
These sturdy shelters included the on-property bathrooms, where animals like the flamingos and Capuchin monkeys were relocated. Brown also noted that the larger animals, such as the lions, were already secured in built-in concrete, hurricane-proof barns within their enclosures. As for the animals on exhibit, ranging from turtles to birds, they were placed in portable cages and moved into interior buildings.
While the parish did not experience the worst of the system like the western and southern parts of the island, broken branches and uprooted trees were among the damage Hurricane Melissa left behind. Adding though with a grateful heart, Brown reported that there have been no injuries or casualties of the animals.
As the team moved the last of the capuchin monkeys from the Lion and Lioness bathrooms back to their enclosures, Valerie Juggan-Brown, director of Hope Zoo, rode up on a golf cart to check on the relocation progress and couldn’t help but sing praises to her team.
“We have a great curator and a great team, and we made adequate preparations which resulted in no harm to the animals,” Juggan-Brown said, adding, “We’re reopening on Saturday to allow for the kids to get a little break from being locked in at home during the hurricane.”
The entry fee has been discounted for the day to $1,000 for both adults and children two years and older, starting from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Mental break
Chiming in on what he hopes the reopening day will bring to the community, especially during this time of recovery and restoration, Brown believes it will be a good way to ease the overwhelming and stressful feelings, particularly for the kids and parents, to get outside and take a mental break.
“I know everyone is completely overwhelmed and stressed right now, especially the kids and parents. Hence, it would be nice for everyone’s mental health as well, as long as it’s possible to take a few hours and come outside, and explore the gardens and the zoo to see some animals, and just give your mind and body a break,” he said.
Rounding out the afternoon tour, two tortoises were wheelbarrowed back to their enclosure by Brown and animal care supervisor Shaneek Lewis, as one of two groups of volunteers from The University of the West Indies, Mona campus, were seen petting animals and helping to rake leaves.
Interestingly, this group had gathered among their peers to assist with the cleanup effort in the aftermath of the hurricane.
Iyanu Small, a marine biology major originally from Trinidad, said she and her peers were simply happy to lend a hand.
“We’re just here to volunteer and help in any way we can. I created a WhatsApp group inviting people who were interested to join, and then we coordinated transport,” Small explained, adding that she’s most excited to interact and spend time with the animals.
rollesha.laing@gleanerjm.com