Rescued animals countrywide will soon find a home at a planned petting zoo to be built in the compound of the National Zoo in the city.
Bids for the construction of the facility were on Tuesday received by the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board.
The zoo will be constructed in an area near to the current playground.
Commissioner of the Protected Areas Commis-sion Damian Fernandes told Stabroek News that the petting zoo is aimed at garnering finance for the rehabilitation of the current facility. “It could increase revenue and we need that. Domestic animals, they are very low maintenance, so we don’t ever have to go out and get… this is just one step in a much larger effort,” he said.
Fernandes explained that various domestic animals rescued across the country will call the place home. “It is meant to house rescued domestic animals. It is really to try to have a place where children would interact with animals. There would be goats, sheep, donkeys, ducks—animals like that,” he noted.
Fernandes said that having children feed the rescued animals also creates an opportunity for them to be taught about animal cruelty and its effects, thereby creating in them an awareness of how to treat their own pets. The zoo plans to partner with the Guyana Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (GSPCA) to give awareness classes to children at specified times.
In addition, the Zoo’s management believes that it is time to give patrons an alternative to only viewing caged animals.
With the procuring entity being the Protected Areas Commission, tenders were received from nine companies for the project. They were:
