CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced yesterday a plan to close the City Zoo in Barangay Kalunasan, in preparation for a land exchange deal with the Province.
He wants most of the animals from the City-operated facility to be donated to the Municipality of Amlan in Negros Oriental, whose officials are reportedly planning to open a zoo there.
“My intention is to close down the zoo,” Osmeña said.
“We are going to turn that over to Cebu Province,” he added, when asked if the closure wouldn’t be a loss to the city’s residents.
The zoo is among the properties identified by Osmeña to be swapped with the Provincial Government lots in the city that were declared as socialized housing sites under Ordinance 93-1.
The exchange, which was first proposed more than 10 years ago, would free the Province from a collection problem and give it some commercial properties. Despite extensions, most occupants have not fully paid for the lots their homes are on. In turn, the City will have a direct hand in giving thousands of families another chance to own their home lots.
270 left
In his news conference yesterday, the mayor said he is meeting with the mayor in Amlan, who asked for the donation of the animals from the zoo to their municipality.
“We really want to consider donating these animals to them. Amlan is a beautiful place. My son got married in Amlan,” Osmeña said.
Based on the animal inventory of the Cebu Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Office, there are about 270 animals at the city’s zoo.
Osmeña, however, said he wants the City to hold on to the birds from the facility. He wants them placed inside the Compaña Maritima, which he wants to be converted into an aviary.
“I think it would be more attractive to the Cebuanos. It is a nice structure. You just put a net over it and you have all the birds inside. I think a lot of people would like to see that compared to what it is right now,” he said.
Council’s role
But aside from Amlan, Osmeña said there are others who have expressed an interest in some of the animals from the zoo.
He said that businessman Michel Lhuiller, for example, wants to get some of the birds but he said he wants them be placed in the Maritima building.
According to Osmeña, the donation of the zoo animals to Amlan needs to be covered by a memorandum of agreement approved by the City Council.
Councilor Joel Garganera, in a separate interview yesterday, appealed to the mayor for the City should take care of the zoo animals while the property has not yet been turned over to the Province.
This came after reports that some of the animals are already dying after the executive department terminated the services of their caretakers.
“Para nako ba, spare the animals. Tungod lang sa land swap, biyaan lang nimo. Para nako we’ll take care of the animals...Maybe he is trying to create a situation to rid the City of the zoo kay the animals are already dying there. We appeal to the mayor that in the meantime, before the land swap deal, let’s think about our obligation sa mga mananap (to these creatures),” he said.
Sustenance
Councilor Raymond Garcia, chairperson of the council’s committee on laws, said there are several provisions of the Animal Welfare Act that the City has violated with the current situation at the zoo.
Section 6, he said, makes it unlawful for any person “to torture any animal, to neglect to provide adequate care sustenance or shelter or maltreat any animals.”
Section 7 further provides that “it is unlawful for any person who has custody of an animal to abandon the animal.”
Lastly, he said that Section 8 of the same law states that it is the duty of every person to protect the natural habitat of wildlife. Destruction of that habitat is considered a form of cruelty.
“It is really clear that there is a violation of this particular law. We should make some measures to make some corrections,” he said.
Some councilors will file a resolution during their regular session today or next week, appealing to the mayor to make interventions in the zoo for the animals’ welfare.
