Sharukh one of the two tiger brothers saved from the Bloemfontein Zoo last year now at the Lions Rock big cat sanctuary in Bethlehem, Free State, 11 December 2021. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Across a plush park with green lawns and a garden on Henry Street in Bloemfontein lies a deserted and invisible property, hidden behind tall grass, weeds, and shrubs.
This was the once the well-loved and highly popular Bloemfontein Zoo, a wonderland in the heart of the city which attracted families and busloads of school children on educational outings.
Built in 1920 and receiving 130 000 visitors per year, the 27 hectares also housed historic monuments such as the first tarred road in Bloemfontein and the first train ticket office.
But in March 2020, 256 animals at the zoo had to be evacuated following numerous warnings by SPCA inspectors regarding mismanagement of the zoo which saw animals malnourished, and living in faeces infested cages and enclosures.
The situation eventually came to a head when dozens of sick animals and several carcasses were found in enclosures around the zoo.
The Free State department of economic, small business development, tourism and environmental affairs (DESTEA) decided to permanently shut the zoo’s doors.
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Currently the zoo consists of nothing but empty cages and enclosures, with overgrown grass due to the recent rains. Weeds had managed to pierce through the bricked paving, including the cemented braai areas.
What was once the reptile section was filled with cobwebs, empty glass cages, and a random empty tortoise shell
Benches where families and children would have often sat are now hidden under unkept and overgrown bushes and hanging trees.
What was also left behind at the abandoned zoo were 11 buffaloes, some peacocks, rabbits, meerkats and dassies.
The buffaloes, which were seriously malnourished prior to the zoo’s closure seemed to be in better health, being fed by the zoo’s staff members who remained employed by the municipality despite its closure.
DESTEA’s head of department Dr Mbulelo Nokwequ said the buffaloes had to remain quarantined at the zoo, as their movements have to be restricted to avoid the risk of disease.
Due to the buffaloes being at risk, a series of permits were required to relocate them, he explained.
“The movement of buffaloes is strictly controlled, if you appreciate issues like foot-and-mouth disease. They have remained quarantined on the facility themselves. [Mangaung] is bringing grass and feed them from the zoo.”
“Moving them is going to be too risky. A lot of our corridors here are agricultural corridors and we don’t want to be moving those animals to those corridors. So, we thought that if we removed others and the buffaloes can be quarantined there with due care,” he told The Citizen.
On the day of relocation of the animals, tiger brothers Shevar and Sharukh were found shivering in the rain atop a hill of rocks as their enclosure was flooded, blocking their access into the sheltered night enclosures, said the Bloemfontein SPCA.
Manager and senior inspector Reinet Meyer said the tigers were forced to swim in the floodwater in search of food, which was thrown over the enclosures fence by zoo staff.
It took a long two days before the tigers could be safely removed, but before this they were forced to swim through the floodwater if they wanted to eat.
“We struggled most with the tigers. The escape barriers are deep and they were flooded with water. It took us two days to drain the water and night-enclosures were under water, so there was no shelter for them. They had to stay in the rain under the thunder and lightning.
“The workers couldn’t clean the enclosures and they had to throw food over the fence, which would land in the water. The tigers would have to swim and go down into the water to get the food,” said Meyer.
Sharukh and his brother Shevar along with three jackals were among the five animals moved to the Lionsrock Big Cat sanctuary in Bethlehem by the SPCA and organisation Four Paws.
Here the brothers are engage in several enrichment activities, such as an interesting one which has taught them to enjoy different scents. According to Four Paws, the tigers love Chanel No 5 perfume and Rajah curry spice.
“They weren’t found in a terrible condition. They weren’t malnourished. But they seem much better here. They have picked up a bit of weight too,” said Four Paws spokesperson Daniel Born.
The SPCA were responsible for relocating the carnivores, reptiles and the birds, with the reptiles taken to a sanctuary in Johannesburg and the birds moved to Plettenberg Bay.
But the morning before the birds were to be transported, 20 exotic birds, some being among the most endangered, were stolen in the middle of the night, in what remains an unsolved mystery.
Based on Meyer’s description of what they found, this did not seem like an ordinary burglary.
“That morning we were going to load them and take them to Plettenberg Bay but they were stolen overnight. Like the Cape Parrot, which are highly endangered. We don’t know who stole the birds. The padlocks were unlocked and not cut and specific birds were taken from specific cages,” said Meyer.
While a case of theft was opened by the SPCA, Meyer said they’ve heard no word from the police.
According to Freedom Front Plus ward councillor Elizabeth Snyman-van Deventer, who has been intimately involved in the zoo saga, the rhinos were moved to Maria Maroka Game Farm outside Thaba Nchu, where they subsequently died of hunger.
“They died of starvation because they were not used to the wild and finding their own food,” she said.
Two giraffes found a new home at the Kwaggafontein game park, which was intended to be the new zoo. Snyman-van Deventer said one of the giraffes got its head entangled in an Eskom overhead wire and died.
The second giraffe, according to the SPCA, has not been seen in months.
DESTEA’s Nokwequ could not confirm the giraffe’s death, saying he would have to consult with scientists who have a comprehensive report compiled by veterinarians.
“Let me check with the scientists. I am not sure of a giraffe dying. But some of the herbivores, we did move them to some of our [nature] reserves. I know there is a comprehensive report that the vets compiled.”
“But ordinarily, when it comes to game capturing and movement, sometimes animals react differently when you tranquilise them. In a normal course of things, sometimes it happens. It’s not common but it does happen sometimes,” he said.
One of the zoo’s most famous animals was Charlie, the chimpanzee that was taught how to smoke and would ask visitors for cigarettes.
Snyman-van Deventer recalls how Charlie would clap his hands together then stretch out his hand, indicating he wants a cigarette.
“Visitors would light their cigarettes and throw them over and Charlie would take them and smoke them,” she said.
While Charlie was the only chimpanzee left at the zoo during its operation, he once had a friend, who had also picked up on the smoking habit.
Meyer said the friend died of a lung disease. Charlie, who was an elderly ape, also later died but the cause of his death was not known.
The rest of the apes and monkeys are now in Pretoria, Knysna and KwaZulu-Natal, said Nokwequ.
“I know those monkeys and apes were not taken all to one place. It all depended on the type of ape. All of them have been properly relocated.”
While newly elected Mangaung mayor Mxolisi Siyonzana told The Citizen last week that he plans on reopening the zoo, this would only happen if the municipality meets the necessary requirements to obtain the required permits from DESTEA, Nokwequ said.
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“It is not our decision to make on whether to open or otherwise. The amended regulations on what it takes to have and keep a zoo comes with many pieces of legislations on the conditions, the types of cages and land sites required, requirements like full-time vets. To get those permits, you have to comply with the requirements.”
“Whether the zoo opens or not depends on whether the facility meets the standards and whoever wants it and meets them can run the zoo.”
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