CAIRO: Veterinarians and experts criticized the chaos that Giza Zoo witnessed during the first and second day of Eid – the holiday that marks the end of Ramadan – where groups of children stormed the cages of animals and chased them, trying to get them out of their cages and trying to steal a rare species of peacock. As the events unfolded, it was clear security was largely absent and no employee of the park or any member of the security presence at the zoo tried to deter the crazed youth. Giza Zoo has always been among the most crowded spots for families and youth during the Eid holiday and with reports saying that about 73,000 persons visited the zoo on the second day of Eid, Egypt usually deploys additional police to a number of locations, especially at the Giza Zoo in order to combat any possible outbreak of sexual harassment that have occurred two out of the past three holidays. With crowded streets, an already volatile atmosphere was confounded at youth hang outs, cinemas, amusement parks, restaurants and gardens across the country. Sami al-Bisatti, former Chairman of the Zoo, told the daily independent al-Dustour that “what happened is a total farce and a clear form of disorganization,” and stressed that “no one has ever heard of an incident of a group of children breaking into the cages of the zoo, since it was established,” adding that this is a lack of discipline and “an absence of security personnel who are responsible for the protection of animals and their cages. This is also considered carelessness and deficiency of the staff, doctors and the administration of the garden.” Al-Bisatti added that “they [security] are supposed to prevent any interaction or mingling between visitors and animals and birds, because of the high likelihood of disease transmitting from birds to humans, especially in these great days and there is a surge of Bird flu and animals are not able to be chased or played with and they are not accustomed to eating the kind of food given by the visitors.” Al-Bisatti questioned the absence of security: “during this climax of Eid celebrations, any other seasons and holidays, preparations get intensified for the highest degree possible in the zoo and the zoo used to agree with police to intensify its presence to face any crisis.” For his part, Sami Taha, a member of the General Union for Veterinarians, said that the zoo is going through a difficult period and the storming of the public into the cages of the animals is the third incident in nearly a year after the killing of two camels at the zoo. “What if these children managed to open the cage of lions and wild animals? Those animals will come out into the garden and surrounding streets, and the security forces and weapons within the park will not be able to control the situation,” he added. He said there are 221 common diseases between humans and animals that can be transmitted via “contact or closeness or penetrating fingernails” and that the entry of children to cages “can cause the transmission of any of these diseases to them and the zoo management. The Ministry of Health will bear responsibility for any transmission of the disease of animals and birds to visitors.” **reporting by Mohamed Abdel Salam BM
