Zoo celebrates 110th birthday
JOBURG - Joburg Zoo celebrated a grand 110 years of education and conservation in fine style with a big party.
Visitors enjoyed cake, music and various entertainment, while the animals were treated to pamper sessions.
Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo spokesperson Noeleen Mattera said, “In 1904, the land on which the zoo now stands was donated to the people of the city for recreational purposes by the firm of the late Hermann Eckstein. [He] was involved in building the new mining town of Johannesburg, and spearheaded the planting of 3 million trees in an area he christened Sachsenwald, now the suburb of Saxonwold.”
“There was a concert with Thembi Ntaka, Generations actor and musician Naak Musiq, and radio presenter Bujy was the emcee. The Johannesburg Youth Symphonic Orchestra performed the birthday song against a backdrop of a slide show displaying the zoo’s past,” said Mattera.
She added that the celebrations would continue until March next year.
From its humble beginnings, the zoo has evolved into an animal lover’s paradise, and is one of the city’s top spots for a family day out.
More than 5000 visitors pass through its gates each weekend — with numbers increasing year on year.
The zoo spans more than 55 hectares and houses over 2000 animals from more than 320 species.
“There are lions, tigers, elephants, gorillas, pygmy hippos, lemurs, chimpanzees, monkeys, orang-utans, rhino, gibbon, antelope, foxes, polar bears and much more,” said Mattera.
The zoo’s current collection of animals is a far cry from its first collection of one lion, one leopard, one giraffe, two sable antelope bulls, one baboon, one genet, a pair of rhesus monkeys, a pair of porcupines and one golden eagle.
“It has been a leading organisation in animal welfare and zoo architecture, building enclosures to resemble its animals’ natural environments. It prides itself on high standards of animal welfare, nutrition and ethical conduct,” she said.
The zoo partnered with conservation organisations in programmes that include wattled crane recovery, amphibian conservation, ground hornbill breeding and off-site surveys, chimpanzee conservation with the Jane Goodall Institute, and various projects of the Endangered Wildlife Trust.
