The zookeepers at Cuba's National Zoo are especially proud of Ale, a pudgy, gray-brown baby white rhinoceros born earlier this month on the outskirts of capital Havana. For starters, he's cute. Baby rhinos look similar to adults, but have a stub in place of the horn and thus, are more docile in appearance. A newly-born white rhinoceros follows its mother (not pictured) at the National Zoo in Havana, Cuba, June 24, 2022. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini But the white rhino is also a threatened species, and zoos the world across have been asked to reproduce them in captivity in the hope of creating a gene bank that will help preserve the species should it go extinct in the wild. "It is a great privilege for us to be able to contribute to the rescue of a species as threatened as the w...
Read MoreTag: Havana
Cuban tourism operators breathed a sigh of relief this week as the first tourists in months returned to sip mojitos and snap selfies in vintage cars in the capital Havana, providing a much-needed shot in the arm to the Caribbean island's ailing economy. Communist-run Cuba has vaccinated nearly its entire population with home-grown inoculations, prompting authorities last week to re-open the country's borders to tourism after a nearly two-year hiatus during the coronavirus pandemic. Tourists from Russia walk in downtown Havana, Cuba, November 24, 2021. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini New infections have dropped off sharply across the country in recent weeks, according to official statistics. The Bodeguita del Medio, a restaurant-bar that claims to be the birthplace of the mojito co...
Read MoreTrumpeter Carlos Sanchez serenaded tourists in Old Havana for 30 years, earning handsome tips - until the coronavirus pandemic hit and Cuba closed its borders a year ago on April 1. Now the 57-year-old ekes out a living repairing fans. The global vaccination drive is sparking hopes worldwide of a tourism rebirth this summer, yet Cubans like Sanchez are not holding their breath as the Caribbean island goes through its worst outbreak yet and enforces tight travel and lockdown restrictions. Instead, they are practicing the Cuban philosophy of “resolver” - finding a way to get by despite all the obstacles - used mostly in relation to the burden imposed by U.S. sanctions and a state-run economy but also, now, the pandemic. Trumpet player Carlos Sanchez announces his fan reparations se...
Read More
You must be logged in to post a comment.