Annelise Sorg wrote:
Dear Editor,
Let's hope the park board doesn't loose its nerve under pressure, and actually goes ahead and replaces the old petting zoo with the ecology society. That would be great news for Vancouver, and certainly for the animals.
The Stanley Park Ecology Society teaches people to respect animals in their natural habitat. On the other hand the petting zoo, just like the aquarium next door, wrongly teaches people that animals like being caged and that they are "happy" to perform for our entertainment. Your article quoted George Saab who showed the classic brain-washed mentality of a zoo and aquarium visitor when he said, "I don't think we're doing [the animals] any harm. I'm sure they enjoy us as much as we enjoy them."
Please, don't deceive yourself or your children. Non-human animals, just like human animals, are not "happy" to be imprisoned. Nature made us all that way.
Sincerely,
Annelise Sorg, Director
Coalition For No Whales In Captivity
Vancouver, BC V6G 3B7 Canada
Tel (604) 736-9514
Fax (604) 264-0653
E-mail cfnwic@whaleprotection.org
THE PROVINCE
Latest News
Park zoo may be put out to pasture
Parks board holds secret meeting to consider closing program
Matthew Ramsey, with a file from David Carrigg
The Province
Thursday, February 10, 2005
CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province
The Johnson family from St. Catharines, Ont., walks past the zoo yesterday. From left: Anne-Marie, Dane, Nathan and Derek.
The beloved Stanley Park petting zoo faces possible closure to make room for an ecology centre.
Officials are examining the impact of shutting down the 44-year-old farm, getting rid of the 200 animals and using the buildings to house the Stanley Park Ecology Society.
The decision to look at the zoo's closure was approved in secret during an in-camera Vancouver parks board meeting.
"We're looking for a new home for the ecology society. [The zoo] is one of the logical sites," said Stanley Park director Jim Lowden.
Alan Regan, supervisor of the Children's Farmyard, said he first heard about the proposal two weeks ago and described closure as a "worst-case scenario."
"There should be input from all sorts of people. It's still up in the air, but hopefully, it'll stay," said Regan, adding the zoo costs more to operate than it earns.
Regan said he is close to retirement age and if the zoo closed he would continue to work as the supervisor of the miniature train.
Lowden said the idea is to expand the ecology society's programming for children. The zoo would become a kind of eco-centre.
The Vancouver parks board is reluctant to build any more buildings in the park, so the zoo's buildings are being eyed, said Lowden.
The society is currently housed in the dining pavilion offices with a small "nature house" at Lost Lagoon.
The discussion leading to the planning process was done in secret, Lowden said, because there is a potential impact on staff at the petting zoo. The Children's Farmyard employs eight people, two full-time and six part-time.
"It's not a done deal," stressed parks board chair Eva Riccius, who described the planning as an "exploratory phase" where questions such as "can it be better, can it be different, can it be more relevant," will be answered.
Riccius insisted the board is not biased in favour of closing the zoo.
"We're just checking things out . . . We're not leaning anywhere. We're standing straight," said Riccius.
The idea of closing the zoo came under fire from park visitors yesterday. "It would be a shame to see it go away," said George Saab, who was visiting Stanley Park from Maple Ridge with his four-year-old daughter, Angelina. "I don't think we're doing [the animals] any harm. I'm sure they enjoy us as much as we enjoy them."
The Johnsons from St. Catharines, Ont., were also upset to hear about the potential end of the zoo and the relocation of its 200 creatures, 70 of which are farm animals such as goats and sheep.
"It's so good for kids to see animals, especially in a city. How often do kids get to see animals?" Anne-Marie Johnson asked.
According to Lowden, more than 210,000 park visitors bought tickets for the miniature train and the farmyard in 2004. Of that number, 30,000 bought farm-only tickets.
Lowden said the farm has traditionally served as a backup attraction for the mini-train. When lines for the pint-sized puffer are long, parents take their kids to the farm to pass the time, Lowden said.
But the farm is a money loser, he said. Gross expenditures for the train and the petting zoo were $955,000 in 2004. Ticket sales recovered $770,000, most of which were joint train and farm tickets.
Park zoo may be put out to pasture
d out more!
"The vast majority of that [$185,000 shortfall] lies with the farm," Lowden said.
The Ecology Society's Stanley Park programs include exploring wetlands, looking at forests and beaches and the animals that live in them, and learning about mammals.
- Finding a home for the petting zoo's 40-year-old Shetland pony, Samantha, and her 10-year-old daughter, Brandi, could prove a challenge for zoo supervisor Alan Regan.
"Samantha is fairly docile most of the time but she can be pretty lively at times too and tends to romp around. She boards with [Brandi], so we would need to find someone prepared to take both animals. We couldn't separate them."
Regan said the potential closure would end a long-time relationship between the zoo and Rare Breeds Canada, an organization that tries to maintain rare livestock breeds.
The zoo keeps some of those breeds, like the spotted sheep and the Barbados black-bellied sheep, and tries to breed them where possible. "We should be able to find homes for the sheep pretty easily, I think, because they're all registered and rare breeds," Regan said.
Unfortunately, it might not be so easy to find someone to care for two deformed iguanas the zoo has housed for several years after they were found nearly starved to death. There's also some large turtles that will need a home as well as several love birds and cockatiels.
- - -
STANLEY ZOO HISTORY
The possible closure of the Children's Farmyard in Stanley Park is the latest in a series of moves that have sent animals packing from Vancouver's landmark attraction.
In 1994, city residents voted in favour of closing the park's outdated zoo. The zoo's animals were phased out by the end of the year. The petting zoo is the only remnant of that facility.
Bjossa was the last orca to swim the killer whale tank at the Vancouver Aquarium. She was shipped south to SeaWorld in San Diego in April 2001. Bjossa died in October of the same year.
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