What Jamala Wildife Lodge Can Teach Us about Caring.
Contents
While staying in total luxury at Jamala Wildlife Lodge, Canberra, Australia we learned a lot that we were not expecting. Jamala Wildlife Lodge has been set up to put money back into the breeding program at The National Zoo & Aquarium. It is to give people an up close and personal experience with the animals, and it is unique. We had a giraffe with us while others shared the rooms with lions, tiger, bears, lemurs, hyenas and sharks.
We did meet many of the dangerous and endangered species on earth, and we did learn that we you could help their survival. We also couldn’t help but care about the plight of these animals.
I don’t pretend to be any type of authority on what is happening with endangered species. All I do know is the experience a Jamala Wildlife Lodge made a big impact on us.
It was a little confronting to hear these things, but it means that what Jamala Wildlife Lodge has set out to do, does work.
So this is my experience, and I have included a list of professional sources so that you can read what more authoritative people are saying.
Why Zoos?
This is a very significant thing when you realize that many of these animals are fighting for their lives and their survival. I had a person ask me how I can endorse animals caged in a zoo. After my experience here, my answer is; most do not have a home anymore. It is that simple. Deforestation of the animal’s homes is occurring at a rate that defies understanding. The case of palm oil is to make products for us, and is taking away the animals natural habitats. While we would all like to see animals in their natural habitats, if their natural habitats no longer exist, then what is the answer. At least in this environment, where the animals are given more space than in other zoos, and certainly a lot of love and attention, this is better than being dead. They are cared for, and the breeding programs are aimed to help their continued existence.
The Sumatran Tigers and the Malayan Sun Bear.
The two cases that really struck a chord with me were of the Sumatran Tigers and the Malayan Sun Bear. Of course there were many other stories, but it was a positive experience to see what happens here.
The Sumatran Tigers natural habitat is being razed to the ground to make way for palm oil plantations. Palm Oil is found in everyday products, and the demand for it is growing. Lipstick, toothpaste, shampoo, chocolate for goodness sake. Nestle, Cadbury and Mars are among the global confectioners making efforts to source certified palm oil, and that is a start. However, nothing is ever as easy as it appears.
Be the judge yourself, and read the complex issues involved in this. The chocolate companies on the hunt for a sustainable Easter egg
It is this deforestation in Sumatra and Malaysia that is threatening tiger habitat at an alarming rate. Having the tiger at the National Zoo & Aquarium means that he is alive and is part of a breeding program to help with the survival of the species.
The other case that resonated was a Malayan Sun Bear
The Malayan Sun Bear is the smallest among bears. They have become an endangered species because of forests being converted into farmlands and endless poaching.
Many people believe that the Malayan Sun Bear contains medical healing powers. They are poached and are often farmed for their Bile and to grow them to a suitable size to make Bear Paw Soup. Read this, and it will sicken you. Meet Sydney’s sun bear who almost became bear paw soup and The City Where Bear Paw Soup Is What’s for Dinner
The Malayan sun bear is also suffering from deforestation and habitat loss. We met one Malayan sun bear, which has a neurotic rocking back and forth, from being kept in a tiny cage until she was of a sufficient size to become Bear Paw Soup. While she is happier here, with a husband (?) and a daughter, the trauma of her past means the rocking continues.
Go to Jamala Wildlife Lodge for a totally unique experience. Enjoy the luxury because you will, but know that you will come away from this experience with a hell of a lot more. It is a totally positive experience, and one that does make you think and care, and that is the point.
Links and resources
Palm Oil and Tropical Deforestation
Say No to Palm Oil
How Palm Oil Impacts the Sumatran Tiger
Palm Oil APP’s
The world’s first palm oil product barcode scanner app for iPhone and Android places power in the hands of Australian consumers.
By VentureDNA
Shop responsibly. Use this Palm Oil Shopping App (available in Google Play or the App Store) when you go to the store. Support companies that have joined the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
Fact Sheets
Ethical Consumer Palm Oil free list
Jamala Wildlife Lodge National Zoo & Aquarium
999 Lady Denman Drive,
Weston Creek ACT 2611 Australia
T +61 2 6287 8444 F +61 2 6287 8403
There’s always a bit of a double feeling when animals are being kept in places but I can totally see why in this case, it’s not a bad thing … great photos btw!
Thanks, it is always a dilemma and this is why I felt strongly that this post needed to be written.
Would like to hear more about your accommodation and the giraffe experience?
I have always been torn by the suffering and unnatural conditions animals have to experience in zoos, and the reality that they have no wild habitat left to live in. Sounds like the Jamala Lodge is doing their best to strike a balance between tourism and animal welfare.
James, if you read this post you will find more about the accommodation and giraffe experience, which I highly recommend. https://contentedtraveller.com/sleeping-with-the-animals-jamala-wildlife-lodge-canberra/
I think that Jamala Wildlife Lodge are doing the very best in what are quite concerning conditions for the wildlife, where land is taken at unbelievable rates for palm oil plantations.
Its great to find places like this to care for endangered species.
Yes, they really do care about the animals. And so did we so that was a something we didn’t probably expect.
I appreciate your honest reflection on this wildlife center. I am always very skeptical of animals being used in any way related to tourism, but at the same time I am no authority on endangered species either. It’s great to know that this program exists to help those animals without habitats to go back to. I hadn’t considered that issue. It’s really sad to learn that we are destroying their natural habitats at such an alarming rate.
It was a very big eye opener for me. I didn’t think that I would care as much as I did. Just hearing of their plights really bought home some things that are going on in the world that just are not right.
Great post and very informative. Fantastic wildlife pictures! 🙂
Thanks, it was a big experience for us.
It’s a great informative post. It’s sad that such thing has to be put in place but something the humans have done. I am very much against zoos and will not visit them ever again. A lot of the animals still do have a home and do not deserve to be caged, especially in a climate that is sometimes not favorable to them. It’s a very complicated issue. Thanks for shedding a bit of light on it.
I think that f you visited Jamala, you would see that many of these animals do not have a natural homeland anymore due to things like the palm oil plantations. It is a catch 22, i do understand, but where there is a breeding program as opposed to extinction, I think that there is a place for such a facility.
Even if they unfortunately don’t live in their natural habitat, it must have been such an amazing experience to see all those animals… Such a shame, that we as humans are treating nature so bad 🙁
It is true; it is human greed that has made Jamala and the National Zoo and Aquarium a necessity.
Amazing pictures, loved it!
Thank you, it was a brilliant experience.
Amazing post. Learned a bunch of things about things we can to help with the endangered species and I most especially enjoyed the awesome photos of the animals!
We learned so much too, and it was because we listened to amazing stories from passionate people.
Good article but can i suggest you edit somewhere near the top and add the country. I had to read the whole thing to find out it was Australia and that surprised me. Love the pics !!
Totally valid point and editing now. Thanks for reading it all anyhow 🙂