Families flock to Pretoria Zoo
Visitors have been flocking to Pretoria’s National Zoological Gardens over the holiday period.
|||Johannesburg - Visitors have been flocking to Pretoria’s National Zoological Gardens over the holiday period, with 65 000 coming to see the animals in December, taking the number of guests to more than 500 000 for the year.
The zoo is especially popular with families at this time of the year. Craig Allenby, business development manager at the zoo, said: “It’s a great family destination - a safe environment where you can come with the kids and bring a picnic basket.
“In addition to several picnic areas, there is a braai area and there are a number of restaurants on site.”
Lions, elephants and bears remain the most popular animals with youngsters throughout the year.
Reptiles also attract the crowds, despite being feared. “People have a strange attraction to the reptiles - they are scared of them but they want to come have a look,” said Allenby.
In all, the zoo is home to about 5 000 animals, with more than 600 species represented, offering a great variety for visitors to enjoy.
The year 2015 has been a great success for the zoo, with research and breeding programmes seeing good results. Three Cape Vultures reared at the zoo were successfully released into the Magaliesberg earlier in the year as part of a collaboration with vulture conservation group VulPro.
The zoo also launched the African Pangolin Working Group earlier this year. The project aims to protect pangolins, said to be the world’s most trafficked animal.
This year also saw some new arrivals at the zoo, with three lion cubs born. Two ragged-tooth sharks that arrived from the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town this month are proving to be a hit with visitors.
“They are the only sharks which do not have to keep swimming to be able to breathe,” said Allenby.
Perhaps the most exciting new residents are two chimpanzees, which came from Israel in October. The zoo has been without any of the animals, which are humans’ closest relatives, for three years.
They remain in quarantine, Allenby said, but “they are adjusting to their new environment well and we are adapting the structures for them”. Visitors can expect to see the primates early next year.
The zoo’s plans for 2016 include the opening of a new forensic laboratory in March, working with the police to investigate poaching as well as continuing the monthly fun run/walk, when people can complete a 5km course around the zoo on the third Saturday of each month.
Pretoria News