Coronavirus: trust us to reopen, there’ll be no monkeying around

The nation’s zoos have quietly ­approached the commonwealth requesting it fast-track their ­reopening.

Hope the chimp keeps up with the latest on the box at Monarto Zoo in South Australia. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt

While our fellow primates join us in binge-watching television to ­relieve the tedium of lockdown, the nation’s zoos have quietly ­approached the commonwealth requesting it fast-track their ­reopening.

The nation’s 70 accredited zoos were surprised and annoyed to learn last Friday that they had been classified alongside pubs, strip clubs and even brothels in the commonwealth’s road map, and have formally written to the federal government asking to be treated in the same way as parks.

The Weekend Australian spoke this week to every major zoo in Australia, all of which have well-advanced social-distancing plans and believe they could reopen immediately, using their combination of vast outdoor space, high staffing numbers and onsite PA systems to provide greater protections than currently exist in ­reopened public parks.

Zoos SA chief executive Elaine Bensted told The Weekend Australian there were strong mental health arguments for reopening the zoos, both for people and the more socialised animals that had grown used to human interaction.

At Adelaide Zoo, remote-control cars are being used to amuse the meerkat colony, staff are talking each day to Cecil the lonely emu, and the giraffes are spending much of the day sticking their necks over the rear fence and staring balefully at a group of workers at a neighbouring construction site.

At Monarto Zoo, SA’s open plains zoo an hour east of Adelaide, bored chimpanzees are being entertained with wildlife documentaries, with Jane Goodall’s National Geographic films proving a huge hit as the chimps have the capacity to self-recognise. Back in the city, Kluet the orang-utan has been watching movies too, with Ms Bensted joking that, like the rest of us, the Sumatran primate had been smashing his Netflix account. “We know that people miss coming to the zoo but many of the animals really miss the people,” Ms Bensted said.

“We were surprised when the framework was released to find that zoos had been put in there alongside brothels, but you need a sense of humour these days, I guess.

“The reality, though, is that it will be quite easy for us to maintain social distancing. We can put in limits at the gift shop and at the cafes and nocturnal house, but the rest of it is outside. There’s no ­reason we shouldn’t be able to ­operate like a park.”

Perth Zoo executive director Wendy Attenborough said her zoo had “very advanced plans” to ­reopen and was hopeful the day would come soon.

She said Perth Zoo had been keeping up its regular routine for the wellbeing of the animals, ­including getting non-uniform staff to visit the enclosures to ­engage with the animals and playing announcements over the PA to keep them conditioned to the sounds.

The zoo has also escalated its online learning component to compensate for its closure, with 14 per cent of WA’s science students normally visiting the zoo each year, and Year 12 classes in ­biology and psychology normally being offered onsite but now managed remotely.

“We have been deep in planning for a COVID-safe opening, which will involve a range of measures including social distancing, hand sanitising, limiting numbers in congested areas, but this is predominantly an outdoor zoo too, so we will be ready to go,” Ms Attenborough said.

Taronga and Melbourne zoos said they were awaiting word from their state governments about their proposed reopenings and had already come up with their own plans to keep the public safe.

The peak body for Australia’s state, council and privately run zoos, the Zoo and Aquarium ­Association, confirmed it had formally approached the commonwealth asking for a rethink.

Executive director Nicola Craddock said it was “ludicrous” that the 70 member zoos had been lumped in with strip clubs and brothels.

“We really do feel that we should be more closely allied to parks and botanic gardens because we have got the same space and are in an even better position to control crowd behaviour and maintain hygiene,” Ms Craddock said.

“At a time like this, the contribution zoos make to the community should be celebrated.

“They help keep us connected to the environment.”