Jamaica Zoo to open branch in Ghana

As a toddler growing up in St Elizabeth, Paul Fearon was able to nurture his affinity for animals and Jamaica's flora. He credits that interest to his father, a veterinarian, who encouraged Fearon's interest and interaction with animals at his daily clinics. That interest grew and led Fearon to own and operate Jamaica Zoo from a 158-acre property in Lacovia, St Elizabeth. For Fearon, going to the zoo is much more than walking around and looking at animals, it is interacting and building a bond with the animals, which creates a memorable experience.

Now, Fearon said that investors in Ghana's capital Accra have approached him to take that experience there, where another branch of the Jamaica Zoo will be opened.

"We have been in dialogue for the past eight months. It's something we are definitely going to do. It's a 100-acre lot and they actually have a waterfall," Fearon related. He explained that pictures of the Jamaica Zoo are shared online and impressed the investors who contacted him.

"Normally, people come to the Jamaica Zoo, and they say they have been to zoos all over the world, in America and other first world countries, and they see the animals and they are bored. They don't get that vibes. Jamaica Zoo has the music, the hype, the animals a run come eat out a yuh hand, snake a wrap themselves around you, it gives you that hands-on feeling and that's what they want in Africa," Fearon explained.

At the Ghana location, he intends to have more lions, hyenas, elephants and exotic birds from South America.

"It will be somewhat identical to what I do here in Jamaica. You have animals in Africa and safari tours where you drive and look at the animals. But my twist to it, I will be training the animals different, to interact with you and they [investors] want me to bring that," he told THE STAR.

Fearon is expected to leave the island in February to start phase one of his project, spending three weeks preparing the property. He told the news team that there will be a gift shop where persons can purchase Jamaica memorabilia and a restaurant preparing authentic Jamaica cuisine.

"This project will be much cheaper than what it would cost me to run a zoo in Jamaica because the animals are already there. So it would be far much cheaper than purchasing from America, and the labour force is far much cheaper, materials are cheaper. It is a definite profit for me, it nuh look bad," he said, adding that entry prices would mirror the ones in Jamaica.

Despite the lost revenue in 2022 - due to a lion biting an employee and subsequent temporary closure ordered by the National Environmental and Planning Agency due to environmental breaches - Fearon said he has moved on from that.

"I am focused on the Africa and Jamaica connection," he said.