More Disturbing News out of Phú Quốc Safari
On
the 15th February I wrote and published an article 'Disturbing News out of Phú Quốc Safari' based on
information I was being sent. I saw this in part as a duty to the zoo community
but mainly because I was concerned about the welfare of the animals. This place
was obviously not ready to take in stock, it was running before it could walk.
My informants had
stated that "over 1000 birds and nearly
700 mammals had died and....around 500 monkeys and numerous birds have escaped
into the island".
I believe such
figures would concern anyone and they definitely bothered me. Perhaps the
stated numbers were exaggerated, perhaps not, because I doubt that without the
fullest cooperation of all concerned that we will ever get the true numbers.
What is more I would have written exactly the same article based on the figures
which the VinGroup now admit to.
My article generated
a huge amount of interest from the press, mainly Vietnamese, and I had offers
of radio and press interviews from as far off as the US. I turned all of these
down (I always do) but no doubt mingled among the genuine were those trying to source where I had got
the information. I am not about to give up on my sources.
I
suppose, only naturally, there was a denial from Phú Quốc
Safari and inspectors that any of this was true. Then they came out with a
statement to say “Recent rumors that animals died en masse at Vinpearl Safari Phu Quoc
are false,”
and Vingroup admitted that more than 100 birds and animals died because of the
impact of the long shipping process, which weakened the animals. Also, they
were trying to adapt to the new environment, soil and climate.
The distance from
Singapore is not so far so this would hardly explain the deaths of the
Flamingos.
According to the press release issued on Sunday (Feb.
21), 135 monkeys (originating from Vietnam) weighing between 150gr -200gr
escaped from cages, which were designed for larger monkeys.
Now this is
interesting because elsewhere they state that these were Long Tailed Macaques
which actually weigh around 320gr at birth and 5-7 Kg when adult. So what kind
of cage design are we looking at? Furthermore there was no mention of the
Hamadryas Baboon, Gibbons and others which also escaped and they neglected to mention.
So 135 monkeys (from
Vietnam) escape into an area of forest where they have not previously occurred
is going to have a disastrous effect on the local ecology. If the species does
occur locally then it is going to be pure hell for the social dynamics. 500 or
135…..it is just as bad and simply not acceptable.
They stated that the
twelve giraffes were all fine:
“These 12 giraffes brought from Africa have all
adapted well, and none of them have died as reported online,” zoo manager Pham
Tuan Linh told Tuoi Tre.
I am delighted that
these 12 giraffe are fine but I am told they imported 36. So where are the
other 24? The death of any animal is significant and you simply cannot brush
the deaths of 24 large animals under the carpet and hope they go away.
“The number of animals that died due to environmental
shock is within an acceptable range,” Acceptable to who exactly? They
are certainly not acceptable me and I suspect are not acceptable to any
reputable zoo anywhere.
No endangered animal has died at Vinpearl Safari Phu
Quoc Zoo Park, the southern Kien Giang Province's department of agriculture and
rural development said in its latest report.
said the death ratio of below 5 percent at a new zoo
is “normal."
An interesting
observation which, I imagine, has a basis of truth. However the time frame is
what is significant here. This place has only been open a couple of months. 5%
in one or two years would seem more realistic to me. But of course we really
have no idea what has died because they won't tell us.
What about the
Pangolins? No new zoo should ever move into a species it has no expertise to
deal with. Very few collections have managed to maintain the species long term.
They are not something to play with. How many Pangolins died?
Phú
Quốc Safari are still importing stock. Only recently they
have imported Scimitar Horned Oryx, Gaur, Kangaroos, Lemurs and others.
The story of the
Rhinos was a huge surprise. Who knew that these 14 animals were already in
Vietnam and owned by My Quynh Zoo (a SEAZA member)? This needs a whole new
investigation. Where did they come from? When did they arrive? I have seen another report of 16 rhinos but I will give them the benefit of the doubt that there are 14.
It is very difficult
to get any information because people are frightened to talk out. I reckon I am going to
put any future visit to Vietnam on hold for quite some time.
