One year after, Jos Wildlife Park replaces lion killed after escape

About a year after the management of the Jos Wildlife Park in Pla­teau State killed a lion that escaped from its cage during a routine feeding, the popular park now has a new lion.
This was made known by John Doy, General Manager of the Pla­teau Tourism Corporation shortly after delivering the lion to the park in Jos. According to him, the acqui­sition of the lion, which now be­longs to the Jos Wildlife Park, was made possible through a trade by barter with the Sanda Kyarimi Zoo­logical Park in Maiduguri, the Bor­no State capital.
‘’We were able to replace the lion we lost last year through a trade-by-barter transaction with the Kya­rimi Zoological Park in Maiduguri. We gave them a giant eland which is a unique specie of an antelope in exchange for a one-and-a-half-year-old cub.”
In announcing the arrival of a new lion, Doy said the park made brisk business by bringing in a few other animals in the process.
“The park also procured two jackals, (male and female), as well as a male python from some ven­dors last week,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Plateau State Commissioner for Tourism, Peter Mwankon, said the purpose of ac­quiring a variety of animals is to boost the state’s internally gener­ated revenue and developmental projects.
He assured that the manage­ment of the park has put modali­ties in place to ensure animals can­not escape from their cages within the park, noting that efforts are still ongoing to equip the park with a variety of animals for the benefit of tourists.
“The administration of Gov Si­mon Lalong is poised to ensure the escape saga of last year does not oc­cur again and more varieties of an­imals are acquired. The state gov­ernment is also working toward getting tranquilize

rs in quelling animals when an escape incident occurs.
“Such drugs require some bu­reaucratic process to get because of (their) functions,’’ he said.
Mwankon said that more per­son­nel would be trained on captivity skills, animals’ husbandry and oth­er related skills to build their ca­pacity in discharging their duties. -culled from The Authority