LACOVIA, St Elizabeth – While the popular Jamaica Zoo attraction has faced three consecutive setbacks — with the latest being Hurricane Melissa — its operator Paul Fearon says all animals are safe and accounted for, with the facility set to reopen in two weeks.

On Wednesday Fearon was busy leading clean-up crews as he set his eyes on restoring the attraction following a battering by the Category 5 storm on October 28.

Jamaica Zoo is situated on sprawling, mostly underutilised land in the breadbasket parish and houses several unfinished buildings, with roofs caving in and out-of-service stalls. Its attractions include a lion, spider monkeys, yellow snakes, parrots, dining, and fishing for children.

“I’m trying to recover, but recovery on my own from those three devastating disasters [is hard]… Operating a zoo is a perishable item, it is not like operating a supermarket or some other business where you can just close the door, turn the lights off and that’s it, then whenever you open it is like business as usual,” Fearon told the Jamaica Observer.

He said he is now working to repair enclosures in time for a phased reopening as all the animals are fine.

“We [make it] our first priority, in terms of taking care of our animals. We have so much experience when it comes to hurricanes and even…the way in which we designed our buildings we were prepared for disasters like this,” Fearon said during a tour of the facility.

“The back of the building has three walls, so even if for some reason mud or debris hit the building it cannot fall, and behind the building is our drainage. Long before the storm we had a plan on how to put up animals. So…we have to give thanks that all our animals that were secured,” added Fearon.

Although Fearon is optimistic about returning Jamaica Zoo to its glory, he is still reeling from the three recent setbacks.

“Well, it’s a struggle, a real struggle because we are just going off of Hurricane Beryl [2024]…and coming off COVID-19 just a few years behind so that back-to-back [damage] is not anything easy to deal with. When I say I got hit by Beryl, I got really hard, and then now with Melissa,” said Fearon.

He said while he has received calls from some Government agencies, the zoo has been visited by only representatives of the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA).

“It is not looking good, and I know there are other places that are terribly hit when it comes to the human aspect and understand that, but you must have departments within the Government that are supposed to basically be in charge of animals and plants to dispatch them to check,” argued Fearon.

“NEPA, sometime last week, came for an inspection to check up on the animals, which was good, but I’m just looking at the whole aspect, leading from COVID-19 coming up to Beryl leading up to now,” added Fearon.

He claimed that promises were made for Jamaica Zoo to receive help from the State in the aftermath of Beryl, but those pledges were not honoured.

“After Beryl you had Government agencies come, and they said they were going to help, but up until now no help, and then now with [Melissa], I am fixing the roof and fighting onwards. At the end of the day it is Jamaica Zoo and I have to try to keep the flag high to represent my country,” added Fearon as he called for greater priority to be placed on the environment, specifically animals and plant security.

“Sometimes you just have to wonder where some of these heads of Government head space is when it comes towards recreation for kids. The whole environment aspect regarding plants, animals, humans, the whole educational aspect of it,” Fearon said.

Ahead of the planned reopening later this month, Fearon and his team are repairing enclosures at the zoo.

“That is one of the major challenges right now, to get my enclosures back up and running. We’re going to open on a phased basis. We’re looking on December 19 for phase one and then after that we set phase two and three. A few days after the hurricane it looked impossible to [repair the zoo], so where I am at now is a comfortable situation moving forward,” he said while pointing to the manpower and resources used to restore the facility.

“I had 20 power saws working at once and four trucks taking debris from the premises. Where I am at now I feel a little bit more comfortable that we can move around a bit more freely than before,” said Fearon.

Fearon told the Observer that Jamaica Zoo is not just about recreation, but an educational tour for children.

“We get the bulk of our visitors from Kingston, Montego Bay, and Savanna-la-Mar, right across Jamaica, and we have a programme where every March/April for the past 20 years we have children under 10 years old come in free. We have thousands of children who come here for the educational aspect of it, not just for animals, but for plants as well,” he said.

Fearon commended his staff for their work in the aftermath of Melissa.

“They are so committed that even though they have their problem they still commit themselves to come out to ensure that everything is still intact, so I have to give thanks to the committed staff as well,” declared Fearon.

The entrance to Jamaica Zoo in Lacovia, St Elizabeth. Karl Mclarty

Paul Fearon, operator of Jamaica Zoo handling a Burmese python snake on Wednesday. Karl McLarty

Paul Fearon, operator of Jamaica Zoo in Lacovia, St Elizabeth displays an American crocodile on Wednesday. Karl McLarty