A French family has taken over the management of the St Maarten zoo
During Hurricane Gonzalo in October 2014, the St Maarten zoo, built nearly 25 years ago, suffered enormous damage. In the absence of renovation work, its abandoned and unsafe aspect was driving away potential visitors.
Alarmed by the establishment’s state of "perdition”, Patricia*, her son Brice Gobert and his girlfriend, Jessica Paupe, contacted the St Maarten Zoological & Botanical Garden foundation in order to offer their help. An intervention which was providential for the Foundation members. “We got our courage together and just straight out asked if we could help them. They replied that ’the Lord had sent us‘ ” remembered Patricia. The hectare occupied by the Zoo belongs to the Sint Maarten Government, which by the way has just given a half a hectare more for a parking lot. The non-profit foundation owns the animals and it used to manage the site. Since its members were all busy with their respective jobs, it had neither the time nor the money for repairing the damage.
The Foundation has therefore entrusted the management of the zoo to the French family on a lease basis since May 1. However, the family had started the renovation work three months earlier. Patricia, Brice and Jessica - who certainly love animals - have therefore invested about 50,000 euros of their personal savings in order to restore a welcoming environment at the zoo: purchasing plants, paint, farm animals, repairing the cages… the companies Allopiscine, Actifroid, Siapoc and the Jacques Peyret Nursery also provided them with considerable material assistance. Some of them even built small wood cabins for the guinea pigs.
Although the work is not yet fully completed, the zoo has already been greatly improved. It now has 300 animals (70 guinea pigs, around 60 turtles, parrots and also more exotic animals like a caiman, a toucan, cotton-top tamarins, a capybara, a sand goanna, white capuchins, green monkeys) to which some "local" species which roam freely in the park can be added.
The new managers have chosen to paint the infrastructure with flashy colors in order to make the place more lively. They also want to make it even more fun. They have also redesigned the green spaces, created shady areas and renovated the Monkey Bar/Restaurant.
"As parents, we realized that apart from the beach, there wasn’t much on the island for the children", explained Brice. That’s why they decided to install several play areas including a Splash Pool and a Lazy River (to float upstream on a life preserver), as well as restoring the pirate boat. Relaxation areas with lounge chairs will be available for the parents.
Brice, who is an electrician, is also in the process of repairing the electrical installations so that they comply with French standards. The family employs the two employees of the establishment, including Lusnor who has been there since the beginning. Some associations for young people with mental disabilities, as well as people who need to complete community service work hours come to help them. The work should be completed within two weeks.
* Patricia manages the Rainbow Café in Grand Case.
