Community comes together for animals at Joburg Zoo

The Johannesburg Zoo briefly closed its doors due to employees going on strike on 4 March.

Following the strike, management of the zoo took to social media and urged the community to come together to volunteer to assist the few staff members who were still working in making sure the animals were fed and cared for.

And the community really stepped up to the plate.

Upon arrival, volunteers were given the opportunity to choose which group of animals they would like to look after. They were then divided into groups and taken to the respective enclosures under the supervision of curators.

“I volunteered at the chimpanzee enclosure,” said volunteer Terusha Naidoo.

“It was such a great experience and I will definitely come back and help. It’s amazing to see so many people with their whole family come and help out. The workers at the zoo really do work hard to make sure that the animals are well looked after.”

She added that the first thing that they had to do was to sort the food out for the chimps. Vegetables and fruits were separated, and the chimps were given vegetables for breakfast and the fruits were snacks during the day.

Volunteers then proceeded to clean the chimpanzees’ enclosure followed by the gorilla facility.

Details: www.jhbzoo.org.za