July 31, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
A NEW spacious tiger enclosure for the Johannesburg Zoo's furry orange and black striped big cats is to be officially opened in September.
With a swing of activity taking place at the zoo, the tiger enclosure is one of six to be opened as part of a five-year renovation and upgrade.
In 2004, the zoo went ahead with its grand five-year plan to upgrade and renovate its facilities with seven distinct zones - the Spice Route, Heart of Africa, Southern Safari, Extreme Environments, Amazonia, a farmyard and an entertainment area - bringing different parts of the world to Joburg.
"We are on track," says marketing co-ordinator for the Johannesburg Zoo, Senzo Ngcobo, explaining that the upgrading process on both the tiger and pygmy hippo enclosures began in May.
The zoo's tigers will soon have a new home
The tigers will get an extra 4000mē of space when they move to Tiger Mountain, where night rooms will be available to weigh the animals, with a separate indoor and outdoor area for cubs or sick animals.
In addition, a hidden lookout platform facility with a window will allow visitors to view tigers in the night rooms.
The pygmy hippo enclosure will move next to the reptile house and will acquire two side-by-side enclosures to cater for the solitary behaviour of the male and female hippos.
According to a Johannesburg Zoo e-newsletter, the enclosure will also house a small antelope and tortoises. The ponds will be fronted with glass to provide an exclusive underwater view of the hippos and other varieties of fish and terrapins.
It is hoped the work on the two enclosures will be completed by the end of August.
Other enclosures to be upgraded include the bear enclosure, which will see two groups of bears getting a massive newly designed area with trees and swimming pools to live in. The enclosure forms part of the Amazon Zone, where the spectacle bears come from.
As the Amazon precinct shapes up, concrete rocks in three of the enclosures have been removed and netting is being installed to transform the baboon mountain into a ruined Amazon temple. The netted enclosures will house spider monkeys, the coati, tamamdua and armadillos.
Another enclosure will be prepared for the puma, and a large rock structure installed for the mountain lions.
Two years into the revamp, other upgrades have been implemented as part of the huge redesign of the zoo. The major projects include the improving and expansion of the Ape House and the building of a new living area for the crocodiles - the Carnivore Curve.
With the recent opening of the meerkat enclosure, Ngobo says the scheduled 2009 deadline is looking good. "We are almost there, as 60 percent of the work has [already] been done."
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