NEWS RELEASE                                                                                            31 October 2001

 ONLY THREE DAYS  TILL ANIMALZONE OPENING 

You’ve only a few days to wait till the Cape’s newest animal world-in-one experience opens its doors on a farm in Klapmuts, half an hour’s drive from the V&A Waterfront. 

AnimalZone, scheduled to raise its flag on Saturday 3 November, Dr Deon de Beer and Dr Gavin Lindhorst is looking forward to welcoming families, school and special interest groups from across the province to their special slice of the animal world. 

Entry is FREE until 9 November and AnimalZone is designed to be a whole lot of fun for young and old alike. 

Gavin, who is a dental surgeon but now imports and breeds the rare alpacas, believes that AnimalZone is the perfect way for families to spend a unique day together while looking and learning about some of the more unusual creatures to be found on this planet. 

“We’ve got our cuddly alpacas here of course,” said Deon, “but there are a whole lot of other animals, birds, fish and reptiles to be seen and touched and perhaps even held while you learn about their care and feeding and natural habitat.” 

Among the creatures he talks about are potbelly pigs, miniature goats, donkeys, a whole lot of snakes, ponds stocked with all sorts of exotic fish and water fowl and some aviaries containing a variety of seldom-seen bird species, including parrots for Africa. 

Set in landscaped surrounds, AnimalZone also offers great picnic facilities, horse and donkey rides, as well as a chance to purchase and take home a new pet from amongst the snakes, parrots and even alpacas on sale.

 The pet theme plays an important part in AnimalZone’s educational tone. 

“We expect families to come here and enjoy themselves,” said bird specialist and veterinarian, Dr Deon de Beer. “But at the end of it, I’m sure that everyone – especially the kids – will not only have learned something fascinating about some of our creatures, but are likely to have a far greater appreciation of the correct care of their particular pet at home.” 

Deon believes that it’s always good to reinforce correct attitudes towards proper pet care, including such areas as animal health, nutrition, feeding, housing and grooming, elementary animal behavioural psychology and of course the issues of breeding and sterilisation.

__________________________________________________________________________