The Harpy Eagle flight cage at the Zoological Park, Georgetown is set to finally become a reality, with the award of the contract for its construction.
According to a press release issued by the National Parks Commission, the contract for construction of the aviary has been awarded to JPM’s Construction and Engineering Services through the national tendering process. The release revealed that the construction time of the project is expected to be approximately four months, at a cost of $8,888,030.
The announcement has come eight years after the Mayor of the city of Odense and the Chairman of its zoo, Anker Boye officially handed over US$30,000 towards the building of a giant cage at the back of the National Zoological Park, near where the old elephant cages were located.
The Parks Commission release said that facility will have a length of 100ft and will be 60ft wide and 40ft high. The Harpy Eagle is over 3ft tall in height, with an average wing span of 6 ½ ft, and it weighs over 25lbs. In Guyana, it has its home in the Pakaraima and Kanuku mountain ranges.
In addition to the inner features of the aviary, there will be an elevated walkway around the cage for visitors to view the eagles at the top of the trees. Also there will be a quarantine area situated in the main cage, which will serve when the eagles need to be treated or when maintenance needs to be performed within that area. A safety area is also on the agenda for the zookeepers, in both the main cage and the quarantine area.
The mission of the Zoological Park entails promoting a wildlife centre for the combined purposes of conservation and preservation, meaning that the animal and birds should be able to be in a setting that is as similar as possible to its natural habitat, while visitors can be able to observe them. The release said that the design of the exhibit will facilitate trees being incorporated into the architecture, which will allow the aviary to carry the dimensions and landscaping features that are as near as possible to the natural habitat of the Majestic Harpy Eagle.
This is yet another project in the series of initiatives to support the Zoological Park, the release said.
