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Tenerife Weekly - 1st March - 7th March 2013
Loro Parque Takes On New Chimpanzees
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Loro Parque is the new home for a group of 7 chimpanzees, Pan troglodytes, which have been moved to its facilities under the instructions of CITES authority and with the co-operation of the Department for the protection of nature of the Guardia Civil (Seprona), and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Canary Islands Government. The move was done to ensure the welfare of the individuals.
The group, consisting of one adult male, three females and three youngsters, was monitored during the transfer by an experienced team of keepers and veterinarians, which took care of the mammals extensively. Currently, the family is in very good conditions, including the recently born young and, since their arrival at their new enclosure, they have already begun to explore their new environment and interact normally. As soon as possible, this family will begin the integration process with the rest of the chimpanzees which have been homed in Loro Parque since the 1980’s, when they were rescued from the streets of Puerto de la Cruz. To guarantee the quality of
animal welfare, Loro Parque has made several changes to its facilities by adding new termite mounds, waterfalls and trunks, so the chimpanzees can develop further in an enriched environment. This transfer to Loro Parque was within the spirit of collaboration that the park has maintained for years with the different authorities and the Customs Department, CATICE and SEPTRONA, to rehouse rescued animals of various species and contribute to the solution of animal welfare problems. Amongst the different animals who have been rescued and housed in Loro Parque include a shark, which was found at a London airport, in a passengers suitcase, a large group of gorilla males,
for which Loro Parque created the necessary social structure in order to solve the problem of surplus of gorilla males in European zoos. In the year 2008, Loro Parque recovered Humphrey the seal, who was found on the coast of Casablanca (Morocco) and, after being recovered, was released into the waters of the north of Spain. More recently, Morgan, the Orca, was rescued and taken to the Park after almost dying off the coast of Holland. These are just some examples, along with different parrots, penguins and turtles that different authorities, have transferred to Loro Parque as they are regarded as having the best facilities to ensure their welfare.
Foto: Rafael Zamora Padrón
Queens Gala Fire – The Aftermath “You are afraid to go out. It feels that everyone sees you and points at you. Nor do you sleep and if you do, you only have nightmares.” These are the words of Magnolia Cruz Melo, aged 21. She is receiving psychological help after the Queen’s Gala at the Santa Cruz Carnival, in which her friend Saida Prieto, aged 25, was terribly burned. Magnolia was the candidate who wore the dress designed by Willy Jorge, the same dress that featured the pyrotechnic effects that caused the fire.
Magnolia is not well and is unable to forget what happened. And although she knows that what happened was an accident and that she is not guilty of anything, she cannot help feeling responsible for causing suffering to Saida. “I wish it had been me that burned. I feel that everyone looks at me, that everyone knows me; there are those who believe that I am to blame. I have no confidence in myself. I cannot read the newspapers or watch television, it really hurts.” she says. Magnolia does not want any kind of prominence; she stresses this again and again, because she is aware of the situation and the suffering of Saida and her family. In an extraordinary twist, Magnolia revealed that her sister, Nauzet, competed in the Carnival queen competition in 2008, she went on to win it. Magnolia wanted to follow in her footsteps, and live a “wonderful experience”, but her dream became
“a nightmare”. “The dreams of both Saida and me broke down that day”, she says. She adds that her house now has memories of two carnivals, one “to remember thanks to Nauzet” and one to “forget”. Magnolia says that she understands that there is no real culprit for what happened since “it was an accident”.For Magnolia, the Autonomo of Festivals of the City Hall “washed their hands after the Gala” because it already knew that the
designer had permission to use the pyrotechnic effects on the costume. Magnolia adds that this would have not happened if the contest rules prohibited the use of these fires or any other type of effects. On the night of the Gala, Magnolia insists that there was no one in the costume when the pyrotechnic effect fired and insists that only cold fires and nothing more were used, though the police investigation has since determined that other types of tricks
were also used. As Saida struggles to recover from her ordeal in a hospital in Seville, and Magnolia receives psychological help to overcome what happened, in the municipality of the capital city mayor, the nationalist José Manuel Bermúdez, has sacked the Festivals Manager, Francisco Trujillo, for not rejecting Willy Jorge’s request to use pyrotechnics as it came at the last minute. The official investigation into the fire is continuing.
The spokesman of the Popular Party (PP) in the City Council of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cristina Tavío, has said that they have not ruled out requesting the resignations of other Councillors or any other responsible person in the Group of municipal government in connection with the Saida Prieto incident, alongside that of Bermúdez.
A spokesman of the PP said that it had been given various versions about what happened on the evening of the disaster and whether permission to use cold fires was in place, about whether or not emergency services knew the self-protection plan, and on the appropriateness of such a plan. Indeed, in the plenary session of last Friday the Councillors did not even have copy of insurance covering the Gala.