THE former Cebu Zoo will reopen soon as the Cebu City Eco-Park.
A P5 million budget has been allocated by the Cebu City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CCenro) for the construction of such facility, which is a “community-mix habitat” for wildlife animals.
Lemuel Felisario, executive director of the Coastal Management Board and Cebu City Eco-Park, told SunStar Cebu on Thursday, October 26, 2023, that the community-mix habitat is a large enclosure where various wildlife animals can coexist harmoniously.
Felisario said the budget will be exclusively used to create five enclosures, each with a height of 24 feet and a total area of 50 to 100 square meters.
“Butangan jud nato og sakto nga butanganan aron maka move around freely ang mga animals nato (We will put enough space so the animals can move freely),” Felisario said.
He said the Cebu City Eco-Park covers an area of up to seven hectares.
As to the timeline, he said they are still looking for more funds for the rehabilitation of the whole area.
“Sa timeline, depende sa jud na sa atoang malikom nga resources, financially and in kind (As to the timeline, that depends on the resources that we can gather, either financially or in kind),” Felisario said.
“Naa tay mga nakuha nga budget (We secured some budget), but it is not that enough, that’s the very reason why we are inviting the private sectors nga tabangan mi, abagan mi (to help us),” he added.
He said there are willing donors for some wildlife animals, but they cannot currently accept them as the facility is not yet rehabilitated.
“But we are having a program called adopt a habitat, that means nga ang usa ka business entity mo adopt siya sa usa ka cage (one business entity will adopt a cage), with a signed agreement that they will maintain it,” Felisario said. (AML)