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When one thinks of Africa one instantly calls to thoughts its spectacular wildlife, particularly its giant mammals. Whereas the massive 5 are largely related to japanese and central Africa a few of them nonetheless roam within the much less densely populated areas of forest and grassland of the West. The Cote d’Ivoire couldn’t have gotten its title with out elephants and these largest of all land animals function prominently within the conventional oral literature of Ghana. Thus it was with some pleasure that whereas resident in Kumasi within the Seventies one regarded ahead to visits to the zoos in Kumasi and within the capital, Accra.
The go to to Kumasi Zoo passed off early in 1971 when Ghana was nonetheless comparatively affluent. After all, individuals at the moment complained about widespread poverty and a corrupt administration, however in comparison with what lay in retailer a number of years later these have been halcyon days underneath the democratic rule of Prime Minister Dr Kofi Busia. A minimum of they may nonetheless afford to feed the animals. There weren’t too many to feed and what was there appeared to have been donated by zoos in different nations. Hurrying to the elephant enclosure one anticipated to see magnificent creatures from the African plains. The one lone specimen on show was magnificent sufficient however its ears have been too small. It hailed from India, a Gift of the Indian authorities.
Keen to search out some native animals, a search started for one thing that got here from Africa, and particularly from Ghana. Reminiscence has light over greater than forty years however the crocodiles are nicely remembered. Though they have been described as of the range related to the River Nile, they have been mentioned to have been pulled from the waters of the Volta. The quite small specimens crowded right into a congested pond weren’t almost as spectacular because the supposedly tame monsters that entertain vacationers by rising from the sacred pond at Paga on a name and the lure of a rooster. Little question crocodiles are additionally keen on pigs, and the one really native animal remembered from the go to to Kumasi Zoo in 1971 was a wild pig or boar mentioned to be indigenous to the forests of Ashanti. In abstract, Kumasi Zoo at the moment might be described as a courageous try to run a small provincial zoo on a restricted price range in a younger creating nation.
The go to to Accra Zoo was made a number of years later when the economic system had suffered the ravages of kalebule underneath the Acheampong army regime. The impact of the financial decline was equivalent to to current a scenario that left few individuals unmoved and stuffed animal lovers with despair. Maybe the least mentioned the higher, however the thoughts can not dispel the pitiable spectacles of a useless giraffe unfold full size throughout its restricted enclosure and a male lion barely capable of stand with giant pleading eyes and skeletal body. It was clear that at a time when each human being was hungry there was nothing to spare for the animals. If any assets have been being allotted to the zoo, they have been most likely going to feed the keepers and their households. It was astonishing that the zoo remained open to the general public in that situation.
Hopefully, the zoos of Ghana have improved for the reason that Seventies. Nevertheless, the fashionable customer intent on a research of the native fauna is suggested to go north to the Mole Nationwide Park the place the wildlife has been protected over a large space for a number of a long time and there are affordable prospects of seeing elephant and baboon free of their pure habitat. For these seeking a particular thrill there’s all the time the chance to journey to Ghana’s excessive northern border and stroke the final of the dinosaurs on the banks of the sacred pond at Paga.
