Enjoying creature comforts

Jersey Zoo provides animals with the most natural habitat possible, and uses the environment to train the next generation of …

Jersey Zoo provides animals with the most natural habitat possible, and uses the environment to train the next generation of conservationists, writes Sarah Marriott

Crowd-pullers in a zoo are the cute critters that remind us of ourselves in some way - like orang-utans living with their families and nursing babies, or the incorrigibly curious meerkat - but at Jersey Zoo, what founder Gerald Durrell called "the little brown jobs" are just as important.

This is a zoo which puts the health and happiness of the animals first, the convenience of the keepers second, and the enjoyment of the punters last.

"If they had to wait around for a while to see a shy little bird, hiding in the undergrowth, well then, they had to be patient," said the famous author and naturalist, who believed that zoos have a responsibility to save species from extinction by breeding in captivity and working to conserve endangered animals in the wild.

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What Durrell failed to mention is that the pleasure of seeing happy animals living in something close to their natural habitats more than makes up for not being able to see all the wildlife all the time. Even zoo-haters - animal-lovers who cannot bear to look at the clearly miserable inmates of so many zoos - can have a fun, guilt-free day out here.

On arriving at the zoo, it's tempting to rush over to Paddington Bear's cousins, the Andean bears Barbara and Wolfgang, or to the gentle lemurs cuddling their big-eyed babies, but it's worth making time for the short film which explains the work of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the ideas behind many of the unusual aspects of the zoo. Then later, when you see an aye-aye (a small mammal with huge ears, a pointed white face and heart-melting eyes) picking something out of holes in bamboo, you know it is hunting for grubs hidden there for a snack, and when you spot a less-than-cuddly mountain chicken - a giant frog from Montserrat - you know it was in danger of extinction (because locals eat its back legs, which taste like chicken), until the zoo stepped in with a captive breeding programme. The key to the conservation programme is breeding.

Bored, lonely or unhappy animals don't mate, so the keeper-scientists try to make life interesting; recreating native conditions by putting traditional neighbours together and providing diversions known as "enrichment devices". The gorillas and orang-utans both have a huge hilly enclosure dotted with trees, climbing frames, ropes and balls.

Food is important too, but animals don't get everything on a plate. To encourage their natural behaviour and prevent boredom, they have to spend a long time searching for a small amount of food. The orang-utans get the whole radish plant, roots and all (from the zoo's organic garden) so they can spend a few hours picking off the tastiest bits, just as they would in the wild, or, for a snack, they have to poke a twig down an artificial termite mound to get porridge. The tall tree trunks in the Andean bear's enclosure are occasionally smeared with yoghurt or honey, to encourage them to climb up and lick it off. Scatter feeds, such as handfuls of sultanas or grapes spread over a wide area, also keep them busy and happy.

As well as providing a species safety net by breeding in captivity, Durrell's conservation philosophy is about taking animals home. That's why Marco and Leonardo, two Jersey-born black lion tamarins - tiny monkeys with two sharp fangs and backcombed black hair which makes them resemble teddy boys from the 1960s - travelled from the Channel Islands to their native Brazil. In-breeding was becoming a problem there, as only isolated pockets of the tamarins' forest home survived, and it was hoped that the two Jersey males could provide new genes to strengthen the race. Leonardo unfortunately died before he could taste freedom, but Marco now lives happily with two tamarin mates. Inspired by this, local people have started planting a corridor of native trees, to connect the tamarins' forests.

The destruction of animal habitats and the balancing act between the needs of local people and wildlife is a worldwide problem. Burning of reed beds to create rice paddies around Lake Alaotra in Madagascar means the gentle lemur (a primate described by Durrell as a "honey-coloured teddy bear") faces an extremely high risk of extinction in the immediate future. This reed-bed destruction has also had environmental consequences: erosion has clogged the paddies and ruined the fishing. Luckily for the gentle lemur, the reed beds act as a filter that helps to clean the lake and prevent erosion, so some local communities, encouraged by Durrell Wildlife, are now replanting reeds.

However, in other areas the reed beds are still burning and local people still hunt the rare primate. The gentle lemur is not yet safe in the wild but, as the lake recently became a protected wetland, its future looks brighter.

To spread his message, Durrell set up what he called a "mini-university" at the zoo, which has trained more than 1,000 conservationists from 104 countries. These ambassadors carry on Durrell's work in their local communities, animal sanctuaries and zoos, doing anything from teaching children not to dump plastic bags in a bird sanctuary in Sri Lanka to campaigning to save the Philippine crocodile.

Back in the zoo, it's easy to forget the serious business of endangered species and have a fun day out in the beautiful grounds. Some areas have been left wild to attract native Jersey wildlife and wildflowers, while others are planted with exotic plants that bloom in the mild climate, and don't panic if you see tiny monkeys wandering around. The tamarins and marmosets are free to forage for food around the zoo, so their keeper- scientists can learn as much about their natural behaviour as possible. Gerald Durrell would approve.

Aer Lingus flies direct to Jersey three times a week at €90 return. Jersey Zoo is open every day from 9.30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission: £9.50 adults; £7 for children, under-threes free. Tel: 0044-1534860000. Events include daily animal talks and Shakespeare at the Zoo in August. Website:www. durrellwildlife.org