FEATURE - Polar bear feels the heat as Cairo zoo shapes up
Date: 12-Aug-02
Country: EGYPT
Author: Heba Kandil
Huge ice blocks are dumped in his swimming pool throughout the day and he takes regular showers, but who could blame him for still finding the scorching 45-degree Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) heat unbearable?
Hassouna, with his thick, grimy white fur to protect him in the Arctic snow fields, is a polar bear and rather out of his element in his open-air iron cage.
Giza Zoo says it is making every effort to improve the surroundings of its 13,500-plus inmates, but animal welfare groups say conditions at the 111-year-old site near central Cairo remain poor.
"Despite what people must think, Hassouna was acclimatised to the weather since he was imported here 10 years ago," said zoo's veterinarian Saad Moussa, sweating in the summer sun.
CLEANING UP ITS ACT
The authorities have been working to clean up the site, which years of negligence and overcrowding left in a pitiful state, with unwashed and under-fed animals, garbage-strewn paths, and a run-down museum and laboratory.
Moussa is proud of the changes introduced by his boss, Mostafa Awad, appointed in 1995 as inspector for Egypt's eight zoos.
"The work has been non-stop. Animal cages have been enlarged, platforms elevated to display the species properly, and we've improved their nutrition and veterinary care to promote breeding in captivity," Moussa said.
The renovations will soon include a bigger glass-encased cage for Hassouna, who takes regular plunges in his pool to fight off the heat or paces around his cage under a constant drizzle of cool water.
"As a result of these improvements, the sea lion recently gave birth to a cub, and a pack of hyenas has borne three litters since the changes," he added.
It is not only the residents who are enjoying improvements.
Visitors now wander round on neatly swept paths with rubbish bins at every turn. And as they build up a sweat, they can choose from an array of ice-cream and drinks vendors at the nearly 357,000 square metre (3.8 million square feet) site.
But not everyone agrees with the rosy assessment of the zoo's renovations.
"In this zoo, a number of the animals are still kept in totally unacceptable conditions, the polar bear being a case in point, but unfortunately not the only one," the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) said in a statement sent to Reuters from its Kenya office.
But the WSPA, which has been helping Giza Zoo's team provide better conditions, said the zoo was cleaning up its act.
"During the period of WSPA's involvement the lions and tigers, who were severely overcrowded, have been moved to new larger display areas, the hippos have a new pond and some of the smaller animals have had improvements made to their accommodation," the WSPA said.
UNRULY CROWDS
The zoo was commissioned by Khedive Ismail of Egypt's royal family, and in 1891 the Egyptian public caught their first glimpse of its imported flowers, exotic plants and huge exhibition of African wildlife.
The zoo still draws crowds. At 25 piastres (five U.S. cents) a ticket, the park is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment in town, and one of the few places affordable for Cairo's poor.
Even at noon, when the sun is at its strongest, the park is filled with families laying out their picnic blankets under the shade of elegant trees, while children scurry around.
"I come here every few days in the holidays to play and look at the animals," said 10-year-old Rehab, fiddling with her pink headscarf.
Not all of the zoo's visitors are well-behaved.
"We've had cases with people jumping over the dividing fence to feed monkeys spicy koshari (a traditional lentil dish) and cigarettes," Moussa said.
"What more can we do if the people are not disciplined? I don't have enough security guards to place one in front of each cage."
In the meantime, the zoo is doing its best to keep the animals comfortable in the heat.
"Come on Nadia, squat down so I can hose you," zookeeper Ham
