September 15, 2005
By Rose Setshoge
FIFTY monster crocodiles will soon be crawling around their new home at the Johannesburg Zoo.
Still under construction, the new crocodile enclosure should be ready for its new inhabitants by the end of October. They are coming from Hartbeespoort Dam, in North West province, and Croc World, in Durban.
The crocodile home forms part of the zoo's Southern Safari zone, and is to be named Crocodile Country. At the moment there are just two of the scary beasts at the zoo, which "are not plenty for visitors to see", according to Dominic Moss, the curator.
People want to see more of the prehistoric reptiles, who inhabited the earth alongside dinosaurs about 248 million years ago. These reptiles dominated life on land throughout the Mesozoic era, which is also known as the age of reptiles.
Entrance to Crocodile Country will be included in the zoo's normal entry fee.
The Crocodile Country project began in July, and the target date for completion is the end of October. Departments involved in this venture include animal collection, education, technical, horticulture, pavements and walkways.
The education department will set up a feeding display programme on certain days for visitors to see how and what crocodiles eat. Meat of different animals will be fed to them.
For security reasons, there will be double fencing around the enclosure - so that there is distance between visitors and crocodiles, and to stop visitors from trying to feed the crocs.
There will be 3m high walkways around the crocodiles to ensure a clear view of them, with concrete reinforced between the walkways' foundations and the crocodile home as they often dig.
Inside Crocodile Country, there will be trees, a hill and three pools with a drain to clean them regularly.
The project is part of the five-year development plan to enhance and redesign the zoo. Its theme is "Explore our wild places" and it includes specific zones, namely Heart of Africa, The Spice Route, Southern Safari, Extreme Environment and Amazonia.
A proposed site plan for the redesigned zoo is available on the Johannesburg Zoo website.
The purpose of the theme is to attract more visitors and remove the old mindset that it is "the same old zoo with the same animals and activities".
"The animals at the zoo are currently slowly being moved to the themed zones. The objective of the zoo is that by the end of the year almost every animal will be in the correct zone," Moss said.
A total of R5,2-million is being spent on the redesign, with Crocodile Country costing R600 000.
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