SANTA CRUZ DE YOJOA, Honduras: An imposingly tall giraffe, powerful African lions and proud Bengal tigers are among the many highlights of a zoo created by wealthy drug traffickers that is like a Garden of Eden in the green mountains of Honduras. But the Joya Grande animal park is now languishing because of a shortage of funds.
The zoo
was allegedly modeled after the Hacienda Napoles the vast estate of the late
Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar by a violent Honduran cartel known as the
Cachiros, which was sanctioned by the U.S. in 2013.
“The
eco-park was very profitable, it was new, we had a lot of investment, but now
we lack the capital that the owners had” since their arrests, biologist and zoo
manager Maria Diaz told AFP.
Guatemalan
Diaz is desperately hoping for government economic assistance to keep the park
going.
Four
months of demonstrations against the re-election last November of President
Juan Orlando Hernandez blocked the main access road to the zoo, sharply
curtailing the number of visitors.
The
facility sits atop a hill 150 kilometers north of the capital Tegucigalpa. A
sign made out of white stones welcomes tourists with the words “Great Jewel
Zoo.”
The
giraffe stretches out its neck to greet visitors, while zebras leisurely munch
on hay in a nearby corral.
Further
down a steep slope are enclosures for deer, camels and big tapirs including a
newborn as well as the pools in which hippos wallow.
Next
come enclosures containing powerful members of the cat family African lions,
Bengal tigers, jaguars and pumas followed by bison, llamas, wildebeest,
ostriches, peacocks and other exotic animals.
Visitors
can rent water bicycles, ride horses or enjoy the zoo’s cafeterias, pools and
restaurants, as well as the 15 cabins for tourists who are sorely lacking.
Honduras’s
Office of Seized Assets (OABI) confiscated the facility from the drug cartel in
April 2014, at which point the biologist Diaz who had been in charge of caring
for the animals managed to obtain a government concession to operate the place
for $7,400 a month.
To
oversee the administration of the park and its hundreds of animals, she created
a firm called Noah’s Ark Veterinarian Services.
The park
was doing well financially until the protests against Hernandez erupted.
At the
same time, the OABI and the public prosecutor’s office seized 200 animals on
grounds of mistreatment, further eroding the park’s allure. Even if no one
comes, Diaz said, “we have to pay our employees and suppliers and the animals
will always have to eat.”
The
salaries of 65 employees, food for the animals and water and electric bills
cost about $42,000 a month. With low visitor numbers, there is no clear way to
pay off the zoo’s $83,000 debt.
Adding
to the challenge, the nation’s economic situation has only become worse,
meaning “people prefer to spend on essentials, and not on entertainment, like
visiting a zoo,” the biologist lamented.
“We are
hoping for a debt cancellation and a reduction of the monthly payment” to the
OABI, said Diaz, who wore a safari suit during an interview in her office.
OABI
Director Jose Luis Andino told AFP that he has lawyers examining whether Diaz’s
requests are “legally possible.”
He added
that his office was “working with the people there to make the zoo
sustainable,” while trying to maintain and improve its facilities. The
eco-park, he added, was not just a tourist attraction but has educational value
as well.
Diaz
said she cannot imagine ever closing the zoo, despite its steep financial
challenges.
“There
are 500 animals that have to eat,” she said. “I love them all ... and they love
me.”
***A
version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Daily Star on
October 08, 2018, on page 11.