From the Economist:
The Caricuao zoo in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital, is a shadow of its former self. Its last giraffe, Napoleón, died 15 years ago. Ruperta, the last elephant, has been alone for over two years. Gone are the zebras, kangaroos and ostriches. Its director, Carlos Audrines, attributes the decline more to a “crisis of management” than lack of cash, like much else in Venezuela. But thanks to high oil prices and revolutionary solidarity, plans are now afoot to refurbish the rundown facilities and restock the zoo.
Cuba is to supply 19 animals from species of which it now has a surplus. They include a giraffe, two lions, four zebras, a rhino and a pygmy hippo. In what Mr Audrines describes as a barter arrangement (in which the Cubans seem to get the rough end), Caracas will trade them for eight macaws, two tapirs, a puma and four capybaras. Further swaps are planned. Negotiations are also under way with zoos in Moscow and Quito.
Reuters has a slighly different version of the story, involving the trade of pygmy hippoes and other zoo animals for medical equipment.
Oh, and for those who want to read a bit more about pygmy hippoes (as I did), see: http://nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/AsianElephants/factpygmyhippo.cfm
