Only 2 days left at the zoo :(

July 8th, 2009 by Jessica Marshall

Today was my 2nd day volunteering at the zoo here in Cusco. It is owned, run, and located in one of the main university here in Cusco. As expected it isn’t the greatest, probably the poorest zoo I’ve ever seen. With a lack of funding, space, education, and veterinarians it is the best I think it possibly could be at this point. Today, 2 other volunteers and myself helped rinse off 18 turtles they have and placed what I think/hoping was saline solution or some opthalmic medication into their eyes. Over half of them have some sort of infection that is preventing them from opening their eyes. I can only assume this was caused by the turtles sharing the same space as the peacock, parakeats, and a few other birds. Like past jobs I’ve had at zoos, I also cleaned habitats and chopped up fruits to be dispursed to the animals. Although I enjoy being able to get much closer than I ever have to many species here, I know it’s more because of the lack of space. Along with myself, guests of the zoo can almost as close as I can which, to me, could be a hazard. ´’m hoping my last 2 days there I’ll be albe to help more than the average student/volunteer does to try and make a difference. Supposedly they have been able to raise enough funding to move the zoo/animals to a new location outside of Cusco. – Jess