Work has started to modernise the Guyana Zoological Park, which currently functions as a shelter for injured animals or a holding facility at best, but securing funding for the transformation remains crucial.
The park has been in a prolonged state of depression but its resuscitation is one of the pillars of the Three Parks Initiative, which is a collaboration between the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) and the Protected Areas Com-mission (PAC). With the help of a Seattle-based firm that specializes in zoo design, PJA Architects & Landscape Architects, a Guyana Zoological Park Master Plan has been drafted and this envisages the revolutionising of the zoo experience by removing the cages and creating nature-oriented mini-eco-systems in their place. The plan is also intended to increase visits and generate revenue, which will in turn contribute to the modernisation of the entire zoo.
According to the Pro-tected Areas Officer Annalise Bayney, who is also the Officer-in-Charge of the Three Parks Initiative, the zoo in its present state is not a zoo. She said that the zoo currently functions as a shelter for injured animals or a holding facility at best. She related that the animals in the zoo were not captured for the purpose of being there, but were either donated or