The 345ha park serves as a genetic reserve of international conservation importance, housing breeding populations of vulnerable or endangered species \u2013 including black and white rhinos, hippos and jaguars.<\/p>\n
Yet the same crisis that has left workers scrambling to source meat, medicine and water has forced the zoo to curb reproduction programmes and increasingly rely on handouts to sustain its animals.<\/p>\n
During a recent visit by AFP, two Bengal tiger cubs \u2013 one an extremely rare white specimen \u2013 frolicked in their enclosure beneath the watchful gaze of their mother, oblivious to the strenuous efforts made to keep them alive.<\/p>\n
Angel Cordero, the veterinarian in charge of big cats, said the tiger cubs \u201ccould be in better shape\u201d. He revealed he needed to ration their food to prevent it from running out, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s no use giving them plenty if it only lasts three days\u201d.<\/p>\n
Big cats need about 7kg of meat a day per adult, but such quantities are hard to come by. Even when it is available, recurring blackouts of up to 30 hours at a stretch make meat difficult to preserve.<\/p>\n
With fuel extremely scarce, there\u2019s also the issue of how to distribute food in a nature reserve the size of New York\u2019s Central Park.<\/p>\n
Two Bengal tiger cubs \u2013 including a rare white tiger \u2013 are enduring a shortage of food, fuel and staff amid Cuba’s economic and energy crisis. Photo \/ Yamil Lage, AFP<\/p>\n
For now, private donors have come to the rescue for the zoo\u2019s various needs.<\/p>\n
Every Monday, Ana Fernandez, a Cuban-American woman born in Tennessee who has been living in Cuba for nine years, donates meat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe animals shouldn\u2019t have to suffer,\u201d the 50-year-old said, though she added that \u201csome days it\u2019s not enough for all of them\u201d.<\/p>\n
Recently, the reserve went 23 days without electricity, which meant it also lacked running water.<\/p>\n
The staff \u201cdidn\u2019t just sit around waiting for things to fall from the sky\u201d, the zoo\u2019s director Juan Carlos Corella said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe looked for solutions, water trucks were brought in, and we found food for the animals almost daily,\u201d he said, while admitting that keeping the park open has become \u201cvery difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n
An exodus of vets has added to the zoo\u2019s woes.<\/p>\n
More than a third have left for better-paying jobs elsewhere, mostly in Cuba\u2019s burgeoning private sector. Some work for private veterinary clinics while others wait tables in cafes.<\/p>\n
A hippo, water buffaloes, zebras and a rare white rhino are seen at the zoo. Photo \/ Yamil Lage, AFP<\/p>\n
The zoo is home to the only breeding group of black rhinos outside of Africa, as well as a large population of white rhinos, the largest herd of Grant\u2019s zebras in the Americas and hippos that regularly bear calves.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere we have a high genetic value, and one of immense international importance,\u201d Machado said.<\/p>\n
But the crisis has forced the park to slow down its breeding programmes \u2013 each new offspring requires more food, medicine and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t keep increasing the number of animals,\u201d Machado said, adding that he preferred to ensure the current population was \u201cas well cared for as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n
And yet life keeps renewing itself, regardless.<\/p>\n
In recent months the zoo has welcomed baby tigers, hyenas, jackals, and a black dromedary named Esperanza (Spanish for \u201chope\u201d), the first of its kind born in Cuba in three decades.<\/p>\n
– AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 345ha park serves as a genetic reserve of international conservation importance, housing breeding populations of vulnerable or…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608246,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[20299,70359,50,5837,198,536,28277,165839,5972,21818,49159,28622,273,14768,11591,5838,78,5812,17768,3556,11692,111,139,69,7192,299777,11590,147,3649,165,8229,61,3040,71404,11665,3651,299778],"class_list":["post-608245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-20299","tag-abandon","tag-animals","tag-battle","tag-can","tag-care","tag-cuba","tag-cubas","tag-day","tag-desperate","tag-determined","tag-endangered","tag-environment","tag-every","tag-extinction","tag-help","tag-in","tag-make","tag-means","tag-national","tag-nearly","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-risk","tag-sanctionchoked","tag-save","tag-science","tag-species","tag-their","tag-they","tag-to","tag-us","tag-veterinarians","tag-whatever","tag-zoo","tag-zookeepers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608245"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608245\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}