The regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo increased by 143% the budget that the National Zoo of Nicaragua will receive during the year 2023, according to the Annual Law of the General Budget of the Republic 2023. This is the largest increase that the institution receives in more of 10 years.
During the time of the administration of Eduardo Sacasa and Marina Argüello at the zoo under the Friends of the Nicaraguan Zoo Foundation (Fazoonic), the dictatorship allocated between four to seven million from the general budget. Next year it will receive an increase of 8.6 million córdobas compared to 2022, when it was budgeted for six million córdobas.
Related news: Regime converts the Zoo into a national park administered by Marena
Since 2018, the center was under economic precariousness that had forced its administrators to request donations and invite citizens to visit the place more frequently, despite this, the dictatorship did not make any increase in its budget.
In 2020, with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, they again requested help due to the lack of visitors and the economic loss that this meant. The cost of feeding the animals amounted to about 28,000 córdobas per week in fruit and 56,000 in the purchase of concentrate every fortnight.
The Zoo was in charge of the Friends of the Nicaraguan Zoo Foundation (Fazoonic) for 25 years, represented by Marina Argüello and Eduardo Sacasa. It had a butterfly farm, successfully reproduced species that were difficult to reproduce in captivity, especially cats, and there were plans to build an aquarium.
The species it hosts range from African lions, lizards, Bengal tigers, pumas, hippos, to ostriches, guardabarrancos, iguanas, monkeys, jaguars, tapirs and chimpanzees.
On November 10, the National Assembly approved with 80 votes in favor the “Creative Law of the National Zoological Park” that turns the site into a national park governed by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (Marena). “With the approval of this initiative, it will be possible to invest in infrastructure, improve the quality of life, care, protection and reproduction of the fauna that is currently in the National Zoological Park, as well as encourage tourism, a rescue center and research. scientists on the site, thus contributing to the sustainable development of the park”, reads the document issued by the Assembly.
It establishes that the National Zoo will be in charge of a director or director who will be appointed by Marena and will have the legal representation of the National Zoological Park with the powers of a general manager of administration, in addition to signing agreements with other zoos, foundations, associations and related organizations inside and outside the country, among others.
