ZOO GOOD BUT TRUE
By Natasha Coker
Features Desk
Express
Section 2
October 4, 2000
Page 1
Years
ago, I obliterated the zoo from my shortlist of fun places to
visit.
It
wasn't that the animals were boring.
Sure, there were some, like the big cats, that were forever lulling off
as if exhausted from an imaginary rendezvous with nearby Savannah
faith-monotony of the visit was the killer.
After
you've eyeballed the animals, waved to the zookeepers, and sweet-talked the
sno-cone man into giving you that extra zap of condensed milk, it's over.
And
I'm not alone. Just one of curiosity, I
asked a friend, "Girl, when last have you been to the zoo?" Her reply, "Whew, a looong time. Ain't nothing to see."
But there is.
From this month, the Emperor Valley Zoo has
introduced a zoo education department.
The services, which are free for the moment, are expected to
revolutionise going to the zoo, as we know it.
"It's no longer just a walk around the zoo, see
the animals and go out," said Deborah de la Rosa, co-ordinator of the zoo
education department. Schools, groups,
families and individuals can now make reservations to join guided tours where
they'll learn about everything from breeding in captivity to endangered species. You even get to pet the animals.
There's also an outreach element called the
"Roving Zoo" and through it, the zoo hopes to take some of its
animals, along with its message of environmental conservation, to rural
areas. It's looking for a sponsor for a
four-wheel drive for this purpose.
Too good to be true, you say? Yep, I thought so too, so I decided to
arrange a private tour.
A smiling de la Rosa greeted me and Express
photographer Steve McPhie in the zoo's office and escorted us across to the
classroom where tour groups will be taken.
When completed, the room will be equipped with audio-visual equipment to
break the humdrum of a lecture.
De la Rosa, who studied zoology at UWI, said the
thinking behind the education programme is not entirely new. A few years ago, she started zoo education-type
sessions during the July/August school break.
Before that, the zoo had an ad hoc programme. The difference is that this new department gives structure,
consistency and professionalism.
"It's something that I loved doing. I just got more and more interested in
it," said de la Rosa, a former science teacher at the University
school. She decided to make it happen.
The zoo budget made no allowances for such a
large-scale programme costing approximately $200,000 per annum. De la Rosa had to find independent
funding. Help came from Bernadette
Plair of the Centre for Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) and the
Conservation committee of the Cincinnati Zoo.
Once that came through, the locally based Friends of the Emperor Valley
Zoo matched it.
Trinidad and Tobago, however, is late in catching on
to the concept of a zoo education department.
These departments developed in the 60s in the United States, and are now
so commonplace that the American Zoo and Aquatic Society would not even
consider an application for membership from any zoo without one.
The funding agency also helped to share curriculum
data. De la Rosa herself had a stint at
Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa Bay, Florida, so she was able to see first-hand how
such a department should run.
Children three to four years will be allowed to do
fun things like be a part of "T-day' where they go around the zoo looking
for all the things that begin with the letter T. in the class-room children get to colour, do quizzes on the
animals, watch videos and feel their way around the "touch table"
which has everything from skins to skeletons.
But it's outside the classroom that visitors are
guaranteed the most fun.
On my tour I met zookeeper Delbert Charleau. Charleau now works with the large and small
mammals. Before, he had spent the last
seven-and-a-half of his eight years at the zoo working with reptiles.
Charleau started me off with the Rainbow Boa, a
non-poisonous snake (all the snakes that visitors are allowed to touch are
non-poisonous) that's common in Brazil and Argentina. It got its name from its ability to reflect the colours of the
rainbow, especially in sunlight.
From that, I graduated to the juvenile caiman, also
called a spectacle caiman, so named because the arrangement of eyes and skull
gives it a look as if it's wearing spectacles.
Charleau said caimans are very shy animals but, "If you step on
one, you are likely to be bitten."
The tegu lizards - the largest ground lizard in
Trinidad - was right up there on my list of "critters that make you
cringe" but there I was stroking the reptile.
Know how to tell the difference between a tortoise
and a terrapin? How do you tell the
male turtles from the females? These
and other mysteries will be revealed to you.
The next lesson in reptile school was that things
are not always what they seem. The two-headed
snake (which is really not a snake), the amphisbaena alba, was an excellent
example of this.
Gulp, then came the baby macajuels. Charleau held 18 of them in his hand. Let's just say it'll be a while before I eat
spaghetti again.
"We always tell the children, if you see a
snake, move away. Don't touch
them," de la Rosa, said. No doubt,
a far cry from, "Johnny, go bring Daddy's cutlass."
But nothing could have prepared me for Mrs. Boa
Constrictor. I wanted to pass out when
Charleau suggested I hold her. But how
could I chicken out now?
McPhie took forever to take that shot. With a mischievous grin, I heard him mutter
something about trying to find the right angle. He got the shot - eventually - and I lived to tell the tale.
What a rush!
I'll definitely be back with friends.
This time, I'll hold the camera.
For reservations, please call the zoo at 622-3530 /
5343 / 4.