An atmosphere of pandemonium overtook the Imo zoo in Owerri over an alleged relocation of the zoo’s animals to Jos, the capital of the plateau.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Correspondent who visited the zoo at about 4.00 p.m. on Saturday, reports that staff members of the zoo watched helplessly as persons alleged to have come from Jos took the animals away.
Some of the staffers protested the efforts of the visitors, lamenting the non-payment of their salaries for a period of 10 months.
They wondered why the zoo, which is the lone zoo in the southeast geopolitical zone, would be emptied without adequate explanations from appropriate authorities.
A member of staff who pleaded anonymously said: ” This is the only zoo in the southeast. The only means of preserving wildlife in the entire geopolitical zone. It beats my imagination that this has to happen”.
Another member of staff said: ” We have not been paid for 10 months. Since we weren’t paid while we kept the animals, who knows what will become of us now that the animals are no more ?”, she said.
The Zoo Keeper, Mrs. Nkiruka Onyeagocha, who declined comments, however, watched rather gloomily as the animals were taken away.
NAN however reports that there was a heavy presence of armed policemen at the zoo as the animals were taken away using trapping equipment.
Some of the animals being taken away included ostriches, three lions, hyenas and pythons among others.
Lagos Panorama gathered that in 2021 Starvation hit Imo State Zoological Garden and Wildlife Park claiming the lives of over 250 animals valued at over N38 million.
The park, located at Nekede Anicent Kingdom in Owerri West Local Government Area (LGA) of the state, houses different species of animals including three lions.
Sources close to the garden disclosed that the surviving animals are near death due to hunger.
It was learnt that it cost more than N1.2 million to feed the about 500 animals in a month with some government subvention which is no longer forthcoming. This is now threatening the extinction of the Zoological Garden established in 1976.
