March 10, 2016
It is all happening at the zoo. I took a taxi to the Cebu Zoo that is at the top of a hill just on the edge of Cebu City. The road is a 1-1/2 lane road with small shacks of businesses all along the route. The people and scenery watching was, like always, fascinating.
The zoo is very small with the old style cages instead of natural habitats. The staff is very motivated and dedicated to turning the zoo into an educational hands-on learning center. At the time of my visit there was a camera crew with two television personalities being filmed. The crew was from a national news station from Manila.
I had a chance to talk to the Manager (owner?) of the zoo, Giovanni Stephen C Roharate. We had exchanged pleasantries earlier when he asked me where I was from. I stated “California” and replied “Me too, San Pedro”. I told him I had a MS in Wildlife from HSU and that I appreciated what he was doing.
He told me that the politics in the area were really tough. Most of the staff give parts of their paychecks back into the zoo. Funding is variable for the zoo, but Giovanni is on a mission. He stated that when wildlife is encountered in the Philippines, it is killed either by rich people getting a trophy or poor people for food. His frustration is that all parties don’t understand the concept of an ecosystem, where the loss of one component can disturb or destroy the rest. For example, the hawks are being killed by farmers for attacking chickens. The reason the hawks are taking the chickens is because the rats have been poisoned by the farmers to increase their crop yields.The loss of habitat is also a big concern as he owns the last remaining parcel of forest in the city.
Giovanni’s goals are to: 1) Develop an educational hands-on environment for school aged children; and 2) To conduct captive breeding for the endangered species in the area. Giovanni is also looking for sister zoos to try to help his lack of funding. I told him that I would talk to the Eureka Zoo and if nothing else, hopefully get a letter of support for his zoo.
Back to the zoo. The zoo is a little interactive right now:
The Crescent Serpent Eagle??? Seems too small for an Eagle…some kind of hawk???
The Brahminy Kite
The Saltwater Crocodile
And, one reason I came to the zoo was to see the Snake Massage. The television stars were filmed with two of the snakes on them. After they were all done, I had to have my turn…..and I got all 4!!
It was wonderful and felt like a bunch of puppies rubbing their bellies on me (I imagine). I was a little nervous when the albino snake almost kissed me.
Now, the cool part. Since I had all 4 snakes on me, the camera crew asked if they could film me. Of course I said yes. When it was over I was interviewed by the crew. I may be nationally televised throughout the Philippines.
After I told the entire poker room at Blue Lake Casino about the snake massage I could not chicken out. So, all in all, meeting the manager of the zoo, being filmed for national tv, and getting my picture taken with two birds of prey and a crocodile….the adventure has truly begun.