Jersey Zoo's sloth enclosure being "refreshed"

Wednesday 20 September 2023

Work is underway to "refresh the foliage, signage and lighting" of the Cloud Forest at Jersey Zoo – the home to sloths which recently came under scrutiny.

The enclosure updates come after a previous zoo employee shared concerns on social media about the ‘immersive’ exhibit, which is set in the stairwell area of the Andean bears' enclosure, and made up of ropes, poles, an artificial tree and baskets.

The Chief Veterinary Officer visited the Zoo four days later in the company of Durrell's Head of Veterinary Services and said she found "no reasons for concern in terms of animal welfare".

Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust's Board of Trustees announced soon after that Dr Lesley Dickie, who took up the role as Chief Executive in 2016, had resigned.

Now, Jersey Zoo has confirmed that the enclosure is currently being updated and that this work is due to be complete on Friday. However, a spokesperson suggested that this was part of routine maintenance.

Pictured: Dr Lesley Dickie, whose resignation was recently announced, has has been credited for transforming the organisation.

The spokesperson said: "We often adapt the enclosures that are home to the much-loved animals here at Jersey Zoo. Where possible, we try and make all of these updates outside of our busy visitor season.

"Most recently this has included updating Tortoise Tunnel to give a variety of flooring types for our Aldabra tortoises, replacing the netting in our Kirindy Forest aviary and placing bark chip in our orangutan enclosure.

"This week, we are making updates to Cloud Forest, which houses our bears, sloths and warty pigs. Work includes refreshing the foliage, signage and lighting."

Speaking to Express, a spokesperson for the Sloth Conservation Foundation said that they would normally recommend that sloth enclosures have "natural light and ambient temperature and humidity levels similar to the rainforest", but acknowledged that this was "not easy to replicate in Europe or North America".

They noted that sloths are "sensitive animals" and that close and frequent proximity to visitors may be "stressful" for them.

A request made under the Freedom of Information Law regarding the States Vet's visit to the enclosure – which had been flagged as being of concern among other areas in the former staff member's social media postings – revealed that no formal report was produced following the visit on 29 August.

The findings were reported in an email less than 100 words long.

Chief Veterinary Officer Susana Ramos visited the Zoo in the company of Durrell's Head of Veterinary Services. During that visit, she did not individually examine any animals.

In response to a Freedom of Information request, the Government explained the States Vet reported her findings to Animal Welfare at Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust via email.

Pictured: There was no formal report produced as part of the Chief Vet's inspection into concerns surrounding the welfare of the animals in the Zoo's care – she instead reported her findings via this email.

The email – which was 'Sent from Outlook for iOS' – read: "I found no concerning issues on the three enclosures we visited yesterday, also taking into consideration that the animals are under veterinary supervision, and you are constantly trying to improve the enclosures. 

"The sloths, goats and aardvarks looked relaxed and on [sic] good condition."

In the last sentence, Ms Ramos added that she "would rather you don’t volunteer the information about my visit at this stage", but said she is "happy to review that if things get more complicated".

As part of the FOI response, the Government explained that "it was subsequently agreed to release the information at a later time".

Express asked Government for details of the inspection, but it declined to comment officially.

Reporting by Kelly Frost, Christie Bailey and Megan Davies.