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Importing rare animals not easy: Saigon Zoo

Importing rare animals not easy: Saigon Zoo

Monday, December 31, 2012, 13:00 GMT+7

Vietnamese zoos and botanical gardens face complicated problems in the import of rare animals even when they can afford the cost.

“Elephants easily get mad and destroy cages, huge giraffes need more space on vehicles, antelopes easily die and hippos always need water during the trips. Animal transportation and importation is not easy work, requiring not only money but also considerable effort from the whole zookeeping staff,” Bui Hong Thuy, director of Dong Duong Botanical Garden Service Co, said.

Miserably hard trip

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens imported a pair of giraffes from Africa in 2004 for the first time. “It was a hard journey for both our staff and the giraffes,” Thuy said.

To reduce costs, this pair of giraffes was transported with 25 other animals bought by the Thailand Zoo on a redisposed Boeing, whose seats were removed in order to carry the three-meter tall animals from southern Africa to Thailand.

After a few hours of rest, the pair of giraffes and their expert staff continued the long trip through Laos to Ho Chi Minh City on a container lorry. During that four-day trip, the staff had to pick leaves to feed them as well as lift electric wires up above the huge truck every time it ran through.

The two-giraffe import price was USD $45,000, while their freight cost much more than that at USD $100,000.

animal

Two parcels of giraffes were imported from South Africa to Tan Son Nhat Airport in HCMC. Photo: Tuoi Tre.

As a result, right after the contracts are signed, animals are trained individually for about three months in order to become familiar with noise and harsh transportation. If this process is not followed, the animals will die easily in their new home and the zoos will lose not only all of the money but also the effort they put into transporting the animals.

Not only that, when animals are moved within a country, many risks are present. On a trip carrying elephants and hippos from Can Tho to the Hanoi Zoo, for example, people had to mildly sedate the elephants due to the fact that they were grown freely in the jungle and were unable to understand human signals. In addition, since these elephants were not specially trained for transportation, they became anxious and nearly destroyed the container.

Therefore, in spite of high costs, people would rather transport animals by plane, because it is safer than trucks, lorries and trains.

‘Babysitters’ of imported animals

Before the new inhabitants become acquainted with their new home, they need to be taken care of thoroughly by the veterinary department and zookeepers, who accompany them during the trip and always stay for two more weeks to ensure that they are in suitable living conditions.

“Zookeepers need to cooperate together and be very patient when working with new animals,” Thu Huong, director of the Farm and Animal Development Factory, said.

Once, the Hanoi Zoo received a pair of cranes from the Japanese Zoological Gardens in 2011. During the import, zookeepers from both Hanoi and Japan made every effort to relieve the pair, who never stopped flapping their wings and injuring themselves, due to fright and insecurity.

“It’s not an easy job. Sometimes, animals get angry and chase zookeepers when they feed them,” Thu Huong shared.

However, the animals also bring pleasure to the zookeeping staff when they give birth. “Aside from the 21 Indochinese tigers born at Dai Nam Zoo by the nine initial tigers, a baby hippo, born four months ago, is our greatest success so far,” Duong Thanh Phi, director of Dai Nam Zoo, shared.

According to Bui Hong Thuy, zoo associations around the world cooperate together as an united system. “They inform each other about available animals via e-mail and phone. After looking at the animals’ photographs, they sign contracts via e-mail as well, instead of coming to see them directly. Prestige is the most important thing. They also exchange experiences about taking care of animals, especially the newly imported ones and newborns,” he added.

Tuoi Tre

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