São Paulo – Starting in December, the Brasília zoo will have two new residents. They are two camels donated by Luxor, in Egypt, in the first action of the agreement that made Brasília and Luxor sister cities.
According to Raul Gonzalez, the CEO at the Brasília Zoo Foundation, this is the first time that the park receives a donation of animals from an Arab country. The zoo has already had a couple of camels, resulting from an apprehension made by the Brazilian Environment and Renewable Natural Resource Institute (Ibama) at a circus. However, the bad treatment the animals had lived prior to arrival at the zoo caused the female to die and also made it impossible to show the male in public.
"We are greatly interested in having a couple of camels that we can show," said Gonzales. "The Federal District has never had a couple of camels to show, and this is the animal identified with the Arab community," finished off the director.
He explains that the animals will be shown alongside others from Africa. To the director, the presence of camels in this area should remind audiences that the Arab countries are not just in the Middle East, but also on the African continent. Currently, the Africa area at the zoo has 30 animals, among them elephants, giraffes and addaxes, among others.
In total, the park has over 1,300 animals of 300 different species and all parts of the world, distributed in an area of 139 hectares. Each year, the Brasília zoo receives over one million visitors.
Sister cities
The agreement that made Brasília and Luxor sister cities was signed on Monday (22), in Egypt, among the deputy governor of the Federal District, Ivelise Longhi, and the governor of Luxor, Samir Farag.
According to a press statement by the deputy governor, the partnership should make possible cultural, tourist and information exchange about preservation of assets between both cities. The invitation to sign the agreement was made by Farag in July, during a meeting of the committee of World Assets at the Unesco, promoted in Brasília.
Still according to the press statement, the Egyptians were interested in learning more about the challenges that the Brazilian capital faces on balancing the development of the city with preservation. "Apart from agreements related to our efforts in expansion of sustainable tourism, we also hope to promote the typical folk dance of Luxor in Brasília," said the Egyptian governor during the event.
Ivelise pointed out the importance of exchange of experience in the conservation of protected areas and in providing incentives to cultural tourism between both cities. "We may identify the care that is granted to Luxor and by its governing parties and population. We noticed the structure and organisation for the receipt of tourists all year long and, especially, the concern and care in preservation of monuments by those working at the main tourist sites," said the deputy governor, according to the press advisory.
*Translated by Mark Ament
