Cuba to send animals to depleted Venezuelan zoos

By Esteban Israel

HAVANA (Reuters) - Venezuela sends oil to Cuba and now Cuba will ship zoo animals to Venezuela, giving a new dimension to ties between the socialist allies.

Officials at the Havana National Zoological Park are preparing to transport animals to Venezuela next month to replenish the South American country's zoos, depleted by years of neglect.

Just as Cuba sends doctors to Venezuela in a barter arrangement for 92,000 barrels a day of oil, Venezuela will give medical equipment to Cuba in exchange for the animals, Havana zoo director Tomas Escobar said in a recent interview.

"We strengthen both: they complete their collection of animals and we get equipment," said Escobar.

The list of animals is still being negotiated but among the 10 or so expected to go are a giraffe named "Evo" for Bolivia's leftist leader Evo Morales, a lion, a pygmy hippopotamus, two hyenas, an antelope and an ankoli African cow.

A white rhinoceros may be sent later, Escobar said.

The animals are being evaluated for their fitness for the trip, but Escobar said Cuba has a reputation for giving its animals good care, despite economic hardships on the island.

The zoo was hit hard by the economic crisis that followed the collapse of Cuba's then benefactor, the Soviet Union, in 1991 and even now has to recycle needles used to medicate the animals.