16 April 2013
Pigmy hippos and lions are likely to "fullfill their destinies'' in Indonesia after the signage was taken down marking the end of an era at Shambala Animal Kingdom.
Preparations are in hand to close the site at Koah in what owner Elaine Harrison says will arguably be the biggest transfer of zoo animals in Australian history.
It may not be of quite the same Biblical proportions as Noah's Ark, but in a way Ms Harrison feels that she too has ensured a safe haven for the exotic species under her care.
Within a month or so the zoo's 24 lions, the largest pride in Australasia, as well as a variety of tigers, hippos, cheetahs, rhinos, gibbons, limas, monkeys and other animals will be transferred to zoos and wildlife parks in Australia and Indonesia for conservation and breeding programs.
"It is important that I was here as a steward to move them on to safe and viable places,'' Ms Harrison said.
The Sydney solicitor with a passion for animals bought the Cairns Wildlife Safari Reserve, as it was then called, a year ago.
Under previous owners it had lurched from one financial problem to the next.
Ms Harrison now recognises that "for whatever reason" the zoo was simply nonviable.
"I have pursued my dream and my life-long passion but it hasn't turned out the way I thought it would.
"I feel good that I have made sure that these animals have a home, and if it meant that it didn't turn into Far North Queensland's biggest wildlife park, so be it.
"It is someone else's gain.
"At least I know that they have not been sent to places they should not have been or that they have been destroyed.''
She said that normally zoos only wanted younger animals but she had negotiated to secure places for older animals as well.
"Hopefully in two years I can go to Taman Wild Life Park in Indonesia and see some pigmy hippo calves and lions fulfilling their destinies in a refuge where the old ones can live out their lives, which is what they deserve," Ms Harrison said.
"I hope that some good can come out of the nightmare, that this will ensure the survival of some of these species, because the way we are destroying the planet, they won't have a home in the wild."
While the animals were being prepared for transport, a last minute proposal fronted by wildlife campaigner Jennie Gilbert and her vet husband Rod, emerged to turn the zoo infrastructure into an animal sanctuary for rescued or older exotic and native species, but that required the public to stump up $800,000 and they only have a few weeks to scrape the money together.
Yesterday Mrs Gilbert acknowledged she didn't think they would get enough investors to make it work.
Meanwhile, Ms Harrison has been dealing with the bureaucracy of sending the animals to their new homes.
They have been undergoing blood tests and vaccinations, export licences are needed and import licences as well, and all the CITES rules and regulations have to be complied with.
The animals are being slowly acclimatised to the crates they will be shipped in by putting their food inside so that they have familiar surroundings and are not stressed when it comes time to leave.
Now it is time to put them in quarantine, ready for the journey.
Before the holiday break Ms Harrison encouraged people to go to the zoo over Easter.
"This may be their last chance to see the lions and tigers.
"It will be the last roar of the lions in FNQ," she said.
I found 1 half of the property listed as sold on real estate. I understood some of their animal such as the cheetah and the tiger were actually owned by other zoos, so do they get them back or what?
