Vesty Pakos Zoo, Bolivia - March 2016
And so my flight to La Paz landed in the early hours of the morning and I was in bed at 4.30 am. Less than four hours later I woke up, ate my breakfast and then got a taxi to the zoo.
A bit of background: I was last in La Paz in 2010; we initially spent 4 days there during which I was pretty useless, having contracted food poisoning and developed acute mountain sickness (La Paz is the world’s highest country capital and the dehydration didn’t help me acclimatise). I only felt better when we went to a lower altitude (by idiotically mountain biking down ‘death road’ - the world’s most dangerous route) and I started taking Diamox, which helped significantly. The zoo was over an hour away by minibus, and with my illnesses I still didn't really feel like I’d manage it. A day later we left La Paz for the shores of Titicaca, but then I had a serious biking accident and broke my leg, among other injuries. I came back to La Paz for surgery and a few days in hospital and told my friends to continue to Peru and trek to Machu Picchu, and I would meet them in Lima (Meantime the plan was to try and visit Lima’s zoos and live in luxury for a few days). Overall, La Paz didn’t have enough appeal to me to think that I’d be back within the decade.
And then last Sunday I heard via Facebook that the zoo had received a confiscated Andean cat. This youngster had been captured, apparently for the pet trade and had already been in captivity for 6 days; the plan was to release it as soon as possible. Tests had been performed, and it had been examined under anaesthetic - it seemed well. As I had just been granted time off work and received permission to work in my hospital in Brazil, I was very excited that this news had come at such a convenient time. Andean cats are one of my few ‘drop everything’ species - animals I would try to immediately take time off work and fly out for as soon as I heard they had entered captivity. I was extremely surprised that this isn’t bigger news; despite informing many people and a few zoo news groups, I only think one news group posted the information on facebook (the others feeling that baby kiwis/rhinos are much more newsworthy). This is enormous. The species is not known to have survived more than two months in captivity, if it was ever held at all. I called the zoo daily in the meantime, to confirm the presence/status of the cat, and to try and get permission to either visit the cat or witness the release. A very long shot, but fortunately they were eventually happy for me to visit, and confirmed that the cat would still be there when I visited. Given that I’d be jumping in altitude from London to la Paz in just over a day, I was taking prophylactic Diamox. Even the zoo is over 3000m above sea level.
And so I got to the zoo early on Easter Sunday to be greeted with hugs and kisses from members of staff and to be given very special treatment. The director even came in on her day off. About eight of us went together to see the cat, which is hidden in the veterinary block behind a tarpaulin, with barriers all around and significant attempts to maintain silence. I was very impressed to see the lengths they would go to to minimise stress and human contact (despite it having been captured by humans). Although the enclosure is small (it’s a quarantine enclosure, after all), I don’t really think there’s anywhere better that this cat could be. Staff were incredible. I had to limit my time but of course they were aware I’d happily spend the entire day in front of the cat enclosure, and gave me plenty of space and freedom. A couple of small peepholes in the tarpaulin are all that you can see the cat through; I was allowed to photograph him through one and to observe him through another. He mostly sat quite still in one corner of the enclosure, but I was happy enough. I asked if there was anything else in this area which wasn’t on display, and I was directed to a crested eagle, a band-bellied owl and they brought out an screaming hairy armadillo and a domestic chinchilla for me (they were surprised to hear that I have two at home!)
I had two guides for the large cat complexes, where four enormous enclosures house several jaguars, a lion and a puma, and then one guide for most of the rest of the zoo. Nearby is an enclosure for coati, and then a giant dome aviary for Andean condors also houses some visiting wild mountain caracaras. It was nice to see some of the visiting birds around the zoo included things like tanagers and Andean coot. Near the condor aviary are a series of enclosures for tayra, grison and culpeo fox, with picturesque enclosures for mountain viscacha, pumas and screaming hairy armadillo further afield. The zoo’s famed reptile house (a building shaped like a snake) is no longer in use, with a brighter and larger reptile complex nearby. The zoo’s other reptile house, a pair of giant indoor tortoise enclosures, is housed towards the entrance.
Staff mentioned that the zoo’s biggest issue is public behaviour towards the animals, especially public feeding. The zoo are trying to get round this with informative signage, but are still having some difficulty. I expect that part of the issue is that there are no significant food outlets in the zoo; most members of the public buy food in bulk from the competitive stalls outside the main entrance, and then end up with excess. The extent of this is perhaps most apparent at the lake, where families just pour entire bags of popcorn or potato snacks for the carp to eat. I’m guessing that the limitation of catering within the zoo was actually an attempt to stop animal feeding but I’m not sure how best to remedy the situation.
Another condor aviary and large paddocks for collared peccary and llamas are followed by a surprisingly large agouti enclosure, and a similarly sized enclosure for paca, which apparently are almost never seen by day visitors.
A monkey complex for spider monkeys and capuchins, and a few aviaries for smaller parrots are scattered around this area. Not far away is an incredible spectacled bear enclosure. Enormous and full of hiding places and enrichment opportunities, it is home to an astounding seven bears.
A domestic animal paddock lines the path to the macaw aviary and small carnivores. Here ocelot, Geoffroy’s cat and tayra are displayed. It was very nice to see a lighter coated tayra next to the darker specimen, both very active.
All that’s left of the zoo is another capuchin enclosure, except this one is large, housing a decent group and is glass-fronted, so staff are pleased it stops the visitors from feeding the animals. Nearby is a series of four adjoining aviaries which are arranged so that two are walk-under aviaries. two are for birds of prey, namely a harpy eagle, and the other holds black-chested buzzard eagles and variable hawks.
The other two hold various parrots and macaw, and a guan in each.
I really liked the zoo. Their care of the Andean cat, their dedication to improving the place, and the decent range of animals on display show that this is a very serious place, despite being municipal and entry costing under $1. They are acutely aware that the zoo moved away from La Paz to get more space, and they’re trying to give the animals the best possible deal. The old reptile house was closed down because of limited space and lack of natural light; I suggested they look at small nocturnal animals instead, and they’re already trying to do so.
After my visit to the zoo I walked the 20 minutes to Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon), a geological formation (mostly of eroded rock), that gives the valley an extra-terrestrial appearance.
It was here that I saw my first wild Bolivian hummingbird of the trip. He was amazing and would come when I attempted to call him, allowing for some decent photos. I think this is only the third wild hummingbird (out of many, many sightings) which I’ve ever managed to identify. My current thoughts:
1. If a flower of decent size is being visited by bees in hummingbird country, and it’s not windy or noisy, it’s only a matter of time before a hummer comes along.
2. Hummingbirds don’t tend to fly far and stop frequently, so follow them for photos/ID
These are more rules for the hummingbirds to follow than for me, given that only three have been so kind – to date.
