Online petition to halt $56m zoo expansion nears 25k signatures

AN online petition calling for the ongoing $56 million expansion project at the Emperor Valley Zoo to be halted has over 22,000 signatures just three days after its creation.

The Change.org petition is titled Demand Adequate Care and Independent Animal Welfare Investigation at Emperor Valley Zoo. TT citizen Seranna Ramlochan organised it in collaboration with Project I'mpossible, a non-profit organisation (NGO) that rescues abandoned dogs.

The description says concerned citizens of TT are currently "deeply distressed by the conflicting reports surrounding the recent passing of Kangaroo Jack at Emperor Valley Zoo."

This follows the zoo breaking its silence on Jack, a red kangaroo, last Sunday after a Newsday story detailing futile attempts to get an update on the animal's health for months. In a press release after the story went viral on social media, the zoo said he died on May 3 from cardiomyopathy – a disease of the heart.

Photos and videos of Jack looking emaciated went viral in March, which sparked public outrage, but the Agriculture Ministry investigated and deemed him to be in "fair health."

The petition's description continues, "Concerns of inadequate care and the lack of transparency around his health have raised alarming questions. Only after public concern was voiced through the persistence of Newsday's reporter Narissa Fraser did the zoo issue a statement surrounding his ill health and eventual demise.

"We cannot, in good conscience, allow for the expansion of a facility that might not be providing the warranted treatment and living conditions for its resident animals. We, therefore, call on the relevant authorities to halt the planned expansion of the zoo's entertainment facilities until an independent investigation is conducted."

It says the investigation is meant to ensure the zoo is "meeting its obligations" under the Animals (Diseases and Importation) (Amendment) Act, 2020 to establish standards for animal welfare.

In May, Newsday broke the story that the budget for the expansion project is $56 excluding VAT.

Proposed upgrades to the facility – all for visitors, not the animals – were first announced in 2019.

These include a cinema, ice cream parlour, cutters bar, restaurant, exhibition centre, conference/meeting rooms, offices, an information centre, shops, kiosks, an amphitheatre and a play area for children.