The Emperor Valley Zoo will soon be a breeding area for one of the world's endangered species, the Giant Otter. The announcement was made by president of the Zoological Society of T&T, Benjamin De La Rosa, during yesterday's ceremonial opening of Phase 1 of the Emperor Valley Zoo Enhancement and Development Project. He said the enclosure for the otters had been constructed to mirror their natural habitat which made it ideal for breeding. He said the zoo still needed to acquire additional otters before beginning a breeding programme.
They have one giant otter and several smaller river otters. De La Rosa told reporters that because of T&T's close proximity to South America they had arrangements with other countries for exchanges of animals. The Giant Otter, a new addition to the zoo, forms part of the first phase of the upgrade project for the zoo's enhancement and development. In his feature address, Tourism Minister Rupert Griffith told the audience, including students of the Piccadilly Government Primary School that the first component of the project cost $TT 15.6 million. The first part of the project saw the construction of a Hummingbird garden, an improved Giant River Otter enclosure, a Butterfly Garden, Turtle Pool, a Pink Flamingo exhibit and Fish Pond along with several facility upgrades.
Griffith described the upgrades to the zoo as key to the development of tourism in Port-of-Spain. According to Griffith, phase 2 of the project envisages the construction of an exhibit are for the primates, birds, South American brocket deer and peccary. Phase 3, he said, involved the construction of a discovery centre with state-of-the-art audio visual and educational facilities as well as car parking facilities. He said the entire Zoo upgrade project was scheduled to be completed in September 2012.