Purebred Australian Dingoes Euci and Maple are just about ready to introduce themselves to Saskatoon.
Their exhibit at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo is set to open Friday. The pair needed to undergo a mandatory 30 day-quarantine from the Canadian Food and Inspection Agency, and the wait gave the zoo time to put some glass they had laying around to good use.
“I noticed in the corner there was a bunch of glass sitting there, and I asked one of the maintenance folks, ‘what’s all that glass?’ and they said, ‘oh that’s been there for years, and it’s come from some hockey arena.’” zoo manager Tim Sinclair-Smith said.
Using the glass not only got rid of some unused materials they already had, but it makes things easier for visitors to photograph the dingoes.
“It should be with more of the enclosures,” said zoo-goer and fellow Australian Martin Vloedmans, “because if you want a photograph and see them properly looking through glass, its actually one of the better ways.”
Sinclair-Smith hopes those attending the zoo get a clear view of their new exhibit through one of the most Canada ways possible, with hockey glass, but he also hopes that the people viewing Euci and Maple can learn about the treatment of dingoes in Australia.
“We want to raise the profile of the, and I know it’s a strong word, but the persecution of dingoes back in Australia, we want them to be, the Australian government, to change their status to being a native species. They’ve been in the country, you know, 12,000 to 16,000 years, it’s been long time. It’s long overdue that we recognize what they contribute to the environment in Australia.”
Season pass holders at the zoo can get in for a special preview from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. the day of the exhibit unvieling.
