Aging zoo animals lose their appeal

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Aging zoo animals lose their appeal

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/27/content_2145078.htm

 

www.chinaview.cn 2004-10-27 15:45:03

 

BEIJING¡¤ Oct. 27 (Xinhuanet) - It is a Saturday afternoon and there

are few visitors to Guangzhou Zoo where animals laze around in the

sunshine.

 

" The situation has been like this for several years, " a ticketing

officer said.

 

Only 2 million people have been visiting the zoo annually in the

past few years, about half the record 4 million in the late 1970s.

 

As one of China's three major zoos after Beijing and Shanghai,

Guangzhou Zoo is facing a serious operating crisis.

 

A visitor surnamed Wang took his son to the zoo, saying it was a

place for children to learn about zoology, even in the center of

Guangzhou.

 

But he found most of the animals looked familiar and suspected they

had been in the zoo for over 10 years, growing old along with the zoo

facilities.

 

Yao Xuewen, deputy director of the zoo, said the zoo regularly

exchanged rare animals with zoos in other countries when it was in its

golden age.

 

The existing African elephants, rhinoceros and hippos were offspring

of the animals exchanged during the zoo's peak.

 

In 1978, two pandas from the zoo went to a show at the Hong Kong

Ocean Park for two months. Two years later, another two pandas went

abroad to Fukuoka, Japan, initiating a new upsurge of panda interest in

Japan.

 

But such exchange programs have been suspended for several years.

 

Many visitors said the zoo's facilities had not been improved in the

past 20 years.

 

The monkey garden was once a popular spot but only a stone hill

remains and all the trees have gone.

 

A keeper said the monkeys were very active in the past, but as

visitor numbers fell, they seemed to be more quiet.

 

The 46-year-old zoo also faces great challenges from new zoos.

 

Guangzhou Panyu Xiangjiang Safari Park and Guangzhou Chime Long

Night Zoo are two large, privately owned safari parks set up in recent

years in Panyu, a suburban district south of Guangzhou. Both are owned

by Guangzhou Chime Long Group.

 

The ticket prices for Xiangjiang and Chime Long Night Zoo are 120

yuan (US$14) and 145 yuan, much higher than Guangzhou Zoo's 20 yuan

entrance fee.

 

However, the two parks have attracted a large number of high-end

consumers, including rich families from the Pearl River Delta and

visitors from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

 

The Guangzhou Zoo's embarrassing finances make it very difficult for

the zoo to get out of its dilemma.

 

The state-owned zoo is receiving only about 1 million yuan for

maintenance from the municipal government.

 

" We have applied to the municipal government for more money, " Yao

said. " We hope finances will be easier next year. "

 

The zoo plans to invite public tenders for shops and restaurants in

the zoo, to raise more non-government finance.

 

(Shenzhen Daily)