They may not have filed into a ship two by two and they most certainly weren’t moving across the globe to ensure the future of their species but over 135 animals from 23 species, have just made a ginormous journey from Namibia to Cuba in what has been dubbed “Noah’s Ark” or “The Cuba Project”. These animals were free living in Namibia’s protected areas and were in no need of human intervention but were removed from their families, be them clans, or prides or matriarchal groups so that they can be viewed by Cuba and its tourists.

Why?

 

Last century, Cuba was involved in Namibia’s fight for independence which lasted from 1966 to 1990. In good news Namibia gained its independence from what was then known as the South-West African Administration on March 22, 1990. So for their part in the war Namibia decided to thank Cuba which probably didn’t cause problems initially. But last time I thanked someone it was with a card and a box of chocolates (admittedly they didn’t go to war for me so I guess I shouldn’t feel too stingy), Namibia however, took gift giving to a new level. Enormous facilities including bomas (large livestock enclosures such as that used for rhinos) and cages were built to house the animals during the veterinary check and captivity-training phases. Then the government went out and collected over 135 animals. This included elephants of varying ages, white rhinos, and black rhinos alongside spotted and brown hyena, lions, honey badgers, leopards, buffalo and cheetahs.  Then, once the animals were given the go-ahead they boarded them onto a Boeing 747 cargo plane for a 14-hour journey. Most animals were transported in September and the last lot, the elephants and rhinos, have just gone over during December. I’ll just stop you here to mention that no, this was not anything like Operation Dumbo Drop even though that is all I can picture every time I hear about elephants on planes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This whole situation is a contentious issue from the obvious concerns over animal welfare to the financial consequences of a task like this. Why is this problem for animal welfare you might ask, particularly if you are eternally optimistic about the conditions in, and benefits of, zoos. This project has taken perfectly healthy animals out of natural environments and cohesive social units for human amusement. While I applaud zoos for raising awareness and often funds for conservation programs I have to wonder why we can’t do that without affecting perfectly healthy animals. Why couldn’t we stock zoos with animals from conservation/welfare groups that house animals unable to be released rather than take wild animals from dwindling populations? Then there is the money. Namibia is a country with serious wealth inequality, but, instead of spending money on education or health services their government has just spent millions of dollars to send their native and endangered animals across the world to live out their lives in a zoo. The locals don’t seem impressed - during my entire stint in Namibia the newspapers kept a running commentary on the project, tour guides from all over the country would ask what I knew (in the hopes that I’d dish the dirt on this mammoth story), and it was a common discussion point in the Etosha tea club. At this point, it is probably worth me saying that a lot of what is in here can be found online. As part of the Etosha community it is likely that a lot of what I have heard is for public consumption and I am not about to let any “secrets” slip but frankly, the more I hear about Noah’s Ark, the more disheartened I get. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                  

Being in the park while this project was going on gave me a good insight in to large scale operations. I got to see the facilities that were in use for animals housing, I got to hear about the capture process and by getting to help feed the porcupines I can now say with certainty that they are sweet tooths (sweet potatoes and apples are always chosen over carrots and potatoes) and more like me than I realised (if given 2 items of favoured food and an array of boring food they will eat the tasty food first and last, hiding the boring food in the middle of the meal). No mention of wildebeest you say? Fortunately they, along with warthog, zebra and other species weren’t approved as a result of veterinary issues. Wildebeest- thank your lucky stars.