Langley Advance

Site updated Friday, August 19, 2005 10:02 AM

Animal welfare: Aldergrove Zoo fights criticism with education

Officials at the Greater Vancouver Zoo in Aldergrove say it is time to stand up to inaccuracies and set the record straight.

by Erin McKay

"We welcome criticism," said zoo general manager Malcolm Weatherston, "but we hope that our responses are listened to."

Weatherston was reacting to an Aug. 17 media release from the Vancouver Humane Society, in which spokesperson Peter Fricker called the zoo's upcoming 35th anniversary celebration a "travesty."

"We remember Tina the elephant's 30 miserable years there, the premature deaths of four hippos, and numerous broken promises to improve conditions at the zoo," Fricker said. "To celebrate a record like that is a travesty."

Fricker said the zoo's treatment of Hazina the baby hippo is the latest example of its failure to keep promises on improved animal care. The hippo has been confined alone in a small barn for 10 months, he said, waiting for construction to start on a new hippo facility.

"The new facility has been promised many times but there's still no sign of it," said Fricker.

That statement is simply wrong, said Weatherston.

"Yes, we are proceeding with the building of the new hippo environment, as I explained to Peter Fricker on the phone last week, before he published his unfortunate press releases," he said.

"We have already built the access road, drilled the water well, ordered the new pump, controls, and connections, contracted for the installation of a new electrical grid/supply for the hippo area, and have completed all the technical drawing and contract specifications for the project," said Weatherston. "Soil testing was also done. The next steps are concerned with the foundations and tech structures."

"This is progress, and the new environment is being built," he said.

Fricker had also criticized the zoo's purchase of a new miniature train, calling it a "frivolous new attraction."

But Weatherston said the second train was added so that guests moving along the zoo's rail line can stop at its Northern Wilds exhibit without causing delays for other passengers.

Weatherston said improvements at the zoo are ongoing, in terms of animal enclosures, land management, and equipment, and that, with more than 800 animals, 120 acres, and 200,000 people visiting each year, it takes "an enormous amount of resources to service and maintain."

The zoo, located at 5048 - 264th St., will celebrate its 35th anniversary this Saturday, Aug. 20, with a treasure hunt, cake, and demonstrations of solar-powered bubble and mist machines and Game Boys.

published on 08/19/2005

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