Panda diplomacy: Two giant pandas from China land in Indonesia

Yahoo – AFP, 28 September 2017

One of two giant pandas stays inside a cage as they arrive at the
Sukarno-Hatta airport in Indonesia

Two giant pandas from China arrived in Indonesia on Thursday in an act of "panda diplomacy" aimed at celebrating 60 years of bilateral ties.

Cai Tao and Hu Chun, both aged seven, arrived from Sichuan province and will be housed at a safari zoo in Bogor, a city near the capital Jakarta.

The pandas were lent by Beijing to mark the diplomatic anniversary despite recent tensions between the nations, with a number of clashes between Chinese and Indonesian vessels in the South China Sea.

The delivery is the first time Indonesia has been lent pandas, the country's forest and environment ministry said, making it the 16th country to be gifted with the animals by China.

A safari zoo will be their home for the next ten years once they clear an initial month-long quarantine.

"We hope we can breed them, that Hu Chun and Cai Tao will mate so they'll have offspring while they're here," said Yulius Suprihardo, a spokesman for Taman Safari Indonesia.

The zoo has built a 1,300 metres squared panda home for Cai Tao, who weighs 128kg (282 pounds), and Hu Chun, who weighs 113 kg (249 pounds).

Giant pandas are considered vulnerable and there are only about 1,800 in the wild, according to conservation organisation World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

China's use of giant pandas -- a national icon -- as gifts has a long history and has been dubbed "panda diplomacy".

Indonesia maintains it has no maritime disputes with China in the South China Sea, unlike other Asian nations, and does not contest ownership of reefs or islets there.

But Beijing's expansive claims in the sea overlap Indonesia's exclusive economic zone -- waters where a state has the right to exploit resources -- around the remote Natuna Islands.

The skirmishes have prompted Indonesia to bolster defences there.

In July, Indonesia changed the name South China Sea to North Natuna Sea to show its sovereignty in the waters, prompting criticism from Beijing.

Ministry: Indonesia Has Only Four Decent Zoos

Jakarta Globe, Vento Saudale, Feb 08, 2015

In this file photo taken on April 17, 2013, an ailing critically endangered
Sumatran tiger named Melani is fed from an enclosure at the Surabaya Zoo.
(AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Pasuruan, East Java. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry has given the management of the vast majority of Indonesian zoos a piece of its mind, saying there are only four decent wildlife parks throughout the archipelago.

Indonesia currently has 58 registered zoos, but 54 of them are either deemed improper by the government or are not yet officially accredited.

Bambang Dahono Adji, the ministry’s director for conservation, said that only half of the nation’s zoos had gone through the accreditation process, and that most failed to make the cut.

“Out of those 29 zoos, only 4 received the A-grade, meaning they are decent and appropriate,” he said on Saturday. “While the others were given Grade B [less than decent] or C [bad].”

The four zoos that do make the grade are Taman Safari Cisarua in West Java, Taman Safari Pasuruan in East Java, Taman Safari Gianyar in Bali, and Sea World in Jakarta.

The accreditation process is conducted once every five years by representatives from the government, veterinarians and other experts who look at animal welfare, animal death rates and the zoo’s facilities, among other things.

“We will evaluate from time to time whether [a park's] accreditation result gets better or worse,” Bambang said. “It’s possible for a Grade-A zoo to get a lower grade in its next accreditation. For those with Grade C, if they don’t get their act together, the ministry will recommend that their license be revoked.”

Bambang admitted that state-run zoos have been performing poorly, but he said he expected plenty of improvement in the near future, as the government has been investing in human resources.

Surabaya Zoo is the most notorious wildlife park in the country, for its high rate of animal deaths.

The zoo lost its permit in 2010 over a tug-of-war over control of the zoo by the previous management. The management fiasco resulted in the massive neglect of the animals and dozens of deaths, including of critically endangered species, and the loss of some animals suspected to have been sold into the illegal wildlife trade. But Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini in August last year announced major changes in the running of the zoo.

Before the mayor stepped in, a lion was found strangled to death in its enclosure after getting tangled in a cable that was hanging loose near its door. And in 2012, the zoo’s only giraffe was found dead with a 20-kilogram ball of plastic trash in its stomach. The plastic was believed to have accumulated from trash thrown into the giraffe’s enclosure by visitors. There was also a case in 2011 of three baby Komodo dragons going missing — presumably sold into the illegal wildlife trade.

Tiger Dies After Rescue From Indonesian ‘Death Zoo’

Jakarta Globe – AFP, Sep 02, 2014

In this file photo taken on April 17, 2013, an ailing critically endangered Sumatran
 tiger named Melani is fed from an enclosure at the Surabaya Zoo. The emaciated
Sumatran tiger, whose plight drew attention to the horrific conditions at an Indonesian
zoo, has died a year after being rescued from the centre where hundreds of animals have
perished, an official said on Sept. 2, 2014. (AFP Photo/Juni Kriswanto)

Jakarta. An emaciated Sumatran tiger, whose plight highlighted horrific conditions at an Indonesian zoo, has died a year after being rescued from the center where hundreds of animals have perished, an official said on Tuesday.

Pictures of painfully thin tigress Melani in an overgrown enclosure, with her fur matted and dull, caused shock when they were published last year and increased calls for action to be taken against Surabaya zoo.

It has been dubbed the “death zoo” as so many animals have died there prematurely in recent years owning to neglect, including several orangutans, a tiger and a giraffe.

After the pictures of Melani were published and officials warned the critically endangered tiger was on the brink of death, she was taken from the zoo to a safari park south of the capital Jakarta in July last year.

She was suffering from a serious digestive disorder after being fed tainted meat at the zoo on the main island of Java.

The 16-year-old was placed in a special enclosure with a vet assigned to care for her.

But more than a year of specialist care was not enough to save her, and she died in her sleep last month, Tony Sumampau, chief of Indonesia’s zoo association, told AFP.

The zoo association originally wanted to put her down in September last year but they changed their minds after a protest by activists.

“But she was truly suffering. You could see it in her face. … It was pitiful,” Sumampau said.

There are estimated to be only several hundred Sumatran tigers left in the wild.

Agence France-Presse

Surabaya Zoo, which is home to almost 3,000 animals, has come under fire
 for its gross negligence and mistreatment. (Photo courtesy of Jakarta Animal
Aid Network).

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Surabaya Zoo Gets Necessary Wildlife Conservation Permit

Surabaya Zoo Gets Necessary Wildlife Conservation Permit

Jakarta Globe, Aug 18, 2014

Young komodos are in a special enclosure at a nursery in
Surabaya Zoo on Aug. 9, 2014. (Antara Photo/Eric Ireng)

Jakarta. Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini has announced major changes in the running of the city’s zoo, notorious for its high rate of animals deaths, after the city administration was finally granted a wildlife conservation permit to manage the facility more comprehensively.

Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan handed Rismaharini the permit on Monday at Surabaya Zoo, dubbed “the zoo of death” by the international media for the high number of animals that die under suspicious and often harrowing circumstances there.

The wildlife conservation permit will allow the city administration, which runs the zoo, to kick off a much-needed overhaul of the facilities to improve animal welfare, which Zulkifli stressed should be the main priority of all stakeholders in the zoo.

Crucially, it will finally allow the zoo to resume its animal exchange program, in which sick or stricken animals can be sent to other, better-equipped zoos and conservation centers where they can get the treatment they need.

The zoo lost its conservation permit in 2010 over a tug-of-war over control of the zoo by the previous management. The management fiasco resulted in the massive neglect of the animals and dozens of deaths, including of critically endangered species, and the loss of some animals suspected to have been sold into the illegal wildlife trade.

Rismaharini, whose administration subsequently took over the zoo but was unable to make any significant changes pending the issuance of a new wildlife conservation permit, said on Monday that one of her priorities would be to expand the total area of animal enclosures, including by reclaiming an existing parking lot.

She also promised to build a new water treatment facility.

The animal exchange program will also be resumed, according to Ratna Achjuningrum, the chief director of the city-owned company in charge of the zoo.

Zulkifli said he hoped that with the new permit and the changes it would usher in, the city would be able to reverse the tide of animal deaths at the zoo.

“It’s much better now. Of course there are a few problems that pop up, but the improvements are continuing,” he said as quoted by Tempo.co.

The zoo has come under international scrutiny because of the number and manner of animal deaths there.

Earlier this year, a lion was found strangled to death in its enclosure after getting tangled in a cable that was hanging loose near its door.

In 2012, the zoo’s only giraffe was found dead with a 20 kilogram ball of plastic trash in its stomach. The plastic was believed to have accumulated from trash thrown into the giraffe’s enclosure by visitors.

There was also the case in 2011, still unsolved, when three baby Komodo dragons went missing. They were suspected to have been sold into the illegal wildlife trade.

An adult Komodo dragon was the latest casualty at the zoo, dying on Aug. 7. An autopsy indicated it died of a digestive tract problem.

New Komodo dragon death at Indonesia's 'death zoo'

Yahoo – AFP, 7 Aug 2014

File photo taken on June 2, 2014 shows two Komodo dragons pictured in

an enclosure at the Surabaya Zoo

A Komodo dragon was found dead Thursday at an Indonesian zoo infamous for hundreds of animal deaths, the third of the giant lizards to perish there this year, a zoo official said.

The 11-year-old male Komodo dragon died in its cage at Surabaya zoo, on the main island of Java, said Liang Kaspe, the park's veterinary surgeon.

Two of the Komodos, which are the world's largest living lizards and have a venomous bite, died in February and June at the zoo, which is Indonesia's biggest.

An initial autopsy indicated that the latest death was caused by intestinal problems, said Kaspe, but further laboratory tests will be carried out over the next month to check for other problems.

The zoo now has seven male, six female and 59 baby Komodos. More than 30 eggs have also been laid since the end of July, Kaspe said.

Surabaya zoo has been dubbed the "death zoo" because so many animals have died there prematurely in recent years owing to neglect, including several orangutans, a tiger and a giraffe.

The management of the zoo has been taken over by the Surabaya city administration, but the deaths have not stopped and animal welfare groups continue to call for the zoo's closure.

Komodo dragons, which are native to several islands in central Indonesia, can grow up to three metres (10 feet) long and weigh up to 70 kilograms (154 pounds). They are classified as a vulnerable species.

The moment a giraffe 'says goodbye' to a dying zoo worker

DutchNews.nl, Friday 21 March 2014

The touching moment was captured on film. Photo: Stichting Ambulancewens

A 54-year-old zoo worker suffering from terminal cancer was 'kissed' by a giraffe while on a visit to say goodbye to the animals whose pens he cleaned.

Mario was wheeled around the Blijdorp zoo in Rotterdam in his hospital bed thanks to the charity Ambulance Wish Foundation. While visiting the giraffes, one approached Mario and appeared to nuzzle him.

‘It was a very special moment. You saw him smile,’ the foundation’s director Kees Veldboer told the AD. ‘It was special that the animals knew him and could sense all was not well with him.’

Mario, who had learning difficulties, had worked at the zoo for most of his adult life.

Related Article:

Kryon Q&A

Question: Dear Kryon: I live in Spain. I am sorry if I will ask you a question you might have already answered, but the translations of your books are very slow and I might not have gathered all information you have already given. I am quite concerned about abandoned animals. It seems that many people buy animals for their children and as soon as they grow, they set them out somewhere. Recently I had the occasion to see a small kitten in the middle of the street. I did not immediately react, since I could have stopped and taken it, without getting out of the car. So, I went on and at the first occasion I could turn, I went back to see if I could take the kitten, but it was to late, somebody had already killed it. This happened some month ago, but I still feel very sorry for that kitten. I just would like to know, what kind of entity are these animals and how does this fit in our world. Are these entities which choose this kind of life, like we do choose our kind of Human life? I see so many abandoned animals and every time I see one, my heart aches... I would like to know more about them.

Answer: Dear one, indeed the answer has been given, but let us give it again so you all understand. Animals are here on earth for three (3) reasons.

(1) The balance of biological life. . . the circle of energy that is needed for you to exist in what you call "nature."

(2) To be harvested. Yes, it's true. Many exist for your sustenance, and this is appropriate. It is a harmony between Human and animal, and always has. Remember the buffalo that willingly came into the indigenous tribes to be sacrificed when called? These are stories that you should examine again. The inappropriateness of today's culture is how these precious creatures are treated. Did you know that if there was an honoring ceremony at their death, they would nourish you better? Did you know that there is ceremony that could benefit all of humanity in this way. Perhaps it's time you saw it.

(3) To be loved and to love. For many cultures, animals serve as surrogate children, loved and taken care of. It gives Humans a chance to show compassion when they need it, and to have unconditional love when they need it. This is extremely important to many, and provides balance and centering for many.

Do animals know all this? At a basic level, they do. Not in the way you "know," but in a cellular awareness they understand that they are here in service to planet earth. If you honor them in all three instances, then balance will be the result. Your feelings about their treatment is important. Temper your reactions with the spiritual logic of their appropriateness and their service to humanity. Honor them in all three cases.

Jakarta’s ‘Topeng Monyet’ Could Be Released Into the Wild: Joko

Jakarta Globe, Lenny Tristia Tambun, February 6, 2014

Children watch a trained monkey wearing a mask during a “topeng monyet”
(masked monkey) show, a traditional Indonesian street performance, in East Jakarta,
in this file picture taken on April 25, 2011. (Reuters Photo/Beawiharta)

Jakarta. Dozens of masked monkeys seized in the Indonesian capital may be released into the wild after the city’s zoo declined to take the animals into its care, Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo said on Thursday.

The Jakarta administration staged a city-wide crackdown on topeng monyet — a cruel practice where long-tailed macaques are forced to wear costumes and perform for spare change — last October, purchasing the monkeys from handlers for Rp 1 million ($82) each. More than 60 monkeys were seized in the sweeps, putting an end to what was once a common sight on the streets of Jakarta. But the question of what to do with the animals, many of which suffered years of abuse, still hangs in the air.

The monkeys, which are being rehabilitated by the Jakarta Animal Aid Network (JAAN), were initially slated for the city’s Ragunan Zoo. But zoo officials have declined to take in the capital’s street monkeys, arguing that they suffered from diseases and posed a threat to the facilities current animal population.

“The illnesses vary, from hepatitis to tuberculosis, so if Ragunan Zoo doesn’t want them, then that’s OK,” Joko said.

Instead, the city should look to releasing the monkeys into the wild, he said.

“The ill monkeys have to be healed, but once they’re healthy we may release them to the forest,” Joko said.

JAAN wild animal protection coordinator Femke den Haas told the Jakarta Globe that the animals were no longer sick. Fourteen macaques were put down after testing positive for tuberculosis, Den Haas said. The remaining 67 are free of disease and slowly learning to socialize with other macaques — a significant step after spending much of their lives living alongside humans.

“All the monkeys we have now are healthy, so they are ready to be transferred to wherever is best for them,” Den Haas said. “[But] we still have to socialize them [first]… to socialize monkeys who are traumatized and have not spent time around other monkeys takes time.

“That is why we don’t want them relocated now.”

The organization, which campaigned for years to get the monkeys off the streets, has floated the idea of purchasing an uninhabited island in Pulau Seribu — the capital’s Thousand Islands district — to house the animals. The group is now staging a fundraising campaign to buy the small island and establish a topeng monyet sanctuary.

“We at JAAN believe the monkeys are best off on an island,” Den Haas said. “They will be happy on an island… but for Jakarta, for the government, it would be great if they had an enclosure for these dancing monkeys.”

JAAN hoped Ragunan Zoo would reconsider its refusal to accept the monkeys and construct an appropriate habitat and eduction center to show the capital’s residents that the animals are better off after the sweeps.

“They should make as mall museum to show the pictures we have of these monkeys when they were still working on the street,” Den Haas said. “It could be very educational for Jakarta citizens. They could learn about them and see that the monkeys are now happy and living in groups. I think it is good to educate the public.”

The capital’s move to ban performing monkeys has been wildly successful, Den Haas said.

“We don’t see any monkeys on Jakarta’s streets anymore,” she said. “We used to get phone calls every day, but now we don’t get phone calls about monkeys [in] Jakarta.”

The organization still receives word of topeng monyet performing in the West Java cities of Bandung and Bekasi, but the measures taken by Joko’s administration seem to be catching on, she said. The local government in Bandung is currently preparing for sweeps of its own.

“We think other cities will follow,” Den Haas said.

Related Article:

Jakarta Ramps-Up Efforts to End Masked Monkey Performances

Komodo Dragon Found Dead in Surabaya Zoo

Jakarta Globe – AFP, February 1, 2014

Plain clothes police hold a dead komodo dragon at Surabaya zoo, in
East Java, on Feb. 1, 2014. (AFP Photo)

A three-year-old komodo dragon has died at an Indonesian zoo infamous for scores of animal deaths, zoo officials said Saturday.

A zookeeper found the dragon dead in its cage on Saturday morning when he came to feed the giant lizard.

“I moved its tail, but it didn’t respond and when I checked, its eyes were already shut,” said zookeeper Suraji, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.

The zoo was conducting an autopsy to find the cause of death, zoo spokesman Agus Supangkat said.

The Surabaya zoo, the biggest in Indonesia, has seen 105 animal deaths since July 2013, Supangkat added.

The komodo dragon is the fifth fatality at the zoo since the start of the year, following the death of a deer a day earlier, he added.

An 18-month-old African lion died earlier in January after getting its head caught in cables in its cage.

The management of the zoo has been taken over by the Surabaya city administration, but the deaths have not stopped and animal welfare groups continue to call for its closure.

The komodo dragons are native to several Indonesian islands, where their habitat is protected, and are considered a vulnerable species, with only a few thousand left in the world.

The world’s largest monitor lizards, they can grow up to three metres and weigh up to 70 kilograms

Agence France-Presse

A young girl looks at a Sumatran Tiger at Surabaya Zoo in Surabaya, East
Java, on Jan. 11, 2014. (EPA Photo/Fully Handoko)

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Surabaya Zoo to Be Finally Handed Over to City
Forestry Minister to Hand Control of Surabaya ‘Nightmare Zoo’ to City’s Mayor

Surabaya Zoo Management Reported to KPK

Criticism of Conditions at Surabaya Zoo Escalates

Forestry Minister to Hand Control of Surabaya ‘Nightmare Zoo’ to City’s Mayor

Jakarta Globe, Ezra Sihite & Amir Tejo, January 22, 2014

A young girl looks at a Sumatran Tiger at Surabaya Zoo in Surabaya, East
Java, on Jan. 11, 2014. (EPA Photo/Fully Handoko)

After years of dispute over the management of Surabaya Zoo, the central government on Tuesday said it would officially hand full authority of the controversial zoo to Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini, ensuring substantial changes in its operations and its treatment of animals.

“This definitive license will be given to the mayor this week,” Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said following a meeting with Rismaharini and President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

The Surabaya Zoo is Indonesia’s oldest zoo and was held the widest collection of animals in Southeast Asia, with 351 species in its care. Zulkifli conceded that management problems had long been an issue, with dispute over control of the zoo dating back to the 1980s.

In July last year, the city administration unilaterally took over the running of the zoo from a temporary management team that was appointed in February 2010 by the Forestry Ministry following the disappearance and suspicious deaths of several animals.

Rismaharini, in justifying the takeover at the time, claimed that the caretaker team had done little to stanch the spate of animal deaths and that its plan to invite private investors to help in managing the zoo was a ruse to demolish it and build a hotel on the city-owned land.

Zulkifli said that the under the city’s care, the zoo’s management would be replaced with new individuals with no conflicting interests.

“The management will oversee the maintenance of animal pens and their food, among other things. There will also be an audit in a partnership between the mayor and Airlangga University on the issue of animal overpopulation,” he said.

He added that if audit results concluded that the zoo had more animals than it could adequately care for, the government would transfer some of the animals to other zoos and conservation facilities — a policy that the caretaker team had put into place since 2010, but which Rismaharini claimed was a guise for selling the animals on the black market.

“The president has called for a solution to avoid more animal deaths,” Zulkifli said.

Tuesday’s meeting was also attended by East Java Governor Soekarwo and Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya.

During the meeting, Yudhoyono said he had received plenty of reports from the public about the poor conditions in which animals at the zoo were kept.

“They reminded me that the deaths in Surabaya Zoo had become the focus of the international community and feared that such an issue would give outsiders the impression that we don’t care about our zoos,” he said.

“Let’s find the best solution, and when it has been formulated, explain it to the public. Of course we will not forget the events that have occurred. There is always a way out or a solution.”

Soekarwo expressed appreciation for the government’s decision to officially hand control of the zoo to the city, which has been the de facto operator since July, but emphasized that improvements would take time.

“This is no magic trick, it’s a long process. That is why we need to wait,” he said, adding that he hoped the zoo’s new management would be able to provide a better environment for the animals.

Tuesday’s decision was also welcomed by Wayan Titib Sulaksana, a former official at the zoo.

“We were always in support of having the city administration take over the zoo,” said Titib, who is also a lecturer at Airlangga University’s law school.

He suggested that the mayor order the zoo’s employees — some of whom were retained from the different regimes that ran the zoo — to work together for the betterment of the zoo and set aside any rivalries.

Titib said Surabaya Zoo should also reorganize its hiring system to bring in fresh officials without prejudiced views about the running of the zoo.

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Surabaya Zoo Management Reported to KPK

Criticism of Conditions at Surabaya Zoo Escalates

Surabaya Zoo Management Reported to KPK

Jakarta Globe, Rizky Amelia, January 20, 2014

An orangutan at Surabaya Zoo on Oct. 10, 2013. (AFP Photo)

The scandal at Indonesia’s notorious “zoo of death” took another turn on Monday after the mayor of Surabaya delivered a file to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) detailing allegations of graft.

“There have been several groups [in the management] of Surabaya Zoo. The team isn’t solid and some action needs to be taken immediately,” Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini said before a meeting with anti-graft officers. “We hope the KPK will help us.”

The move by Rismarahini to approach the KPK marks a sharp turnaround for the mayor, who has attracted criticism for her administration’s management since it took over the zoo after the horrendous conditions were revealed.

KPK spokesman Johan Budi said investigator would study the file.

“We will study the report — similar to our treatment of reports from other members of the public — to see if there is any indication of corruption or not,” Johan said.

It could not be confirmed on Monday which people in the temporary management team Rismaharini had reported to the KPK. It is understood that the report claims that officials in the zoo’s management team were complicit in the black-market sale of animals.

The zoo is home to approximately 3,000 animals, 420 of which are protected species. The mayor suspects that at least two endangered species were stolen and sold.

“Each small Bali myna is worth between Rp 50 million ($4,100) and Rp 100 million,” Rismaharini said. “A Komodo dragon may sell for between Rp 600 million and Rp 900 million; two are missing.”

Rismarahini said that an independent study of the zoo had revealed that officials may have received cars and other items as part of deals to sell zoo animals.

“This according to the Airlangga [University]’s audit… of the zoo,” Rismaharini said.

Related Article:

Criticism of Conditions at Surabaya Zoo Escalates

The number of deaths at Surabaya zoo, including a lion earlier this month,
 have alarmed wildlife conservation groups, but the mayor has denied allegations
of negligence. (EPA Photo/Fully Handoko)

Change Yet to Arrive at the ‘Zoo of Death’

Jakarta Globe, Vanesha Manuturi, January 6, 2014

An orangutan soaks in an artificial river at the Surabaya zoo in Surabaya
on October 10, 2013. (AFP Photo)

In Surabaya, right behind the grand statue of a white shark and a crocodile, lies what international media have nicknamed “the Zoo of Death.”

The Surabaya Zoo, entered the media spotlight a few years ago with the mysterious deaths of an African lion and an Australian kangaroo.

Since then, the largest zoo in Indonesia continues to grab headlines: “Giraffe found dead with 20 kg of plastic in its stomach”; “Sumatran tiger fed formaldehyde-laced meat”; “Three baby Komodo dragons missing.”

British newspaper The Daily Mail recently reported more cases of negligence and cruelty at the zoo.

A young elephant was found with shackles on its hind leg, whose manacles had cut into its flesh, and more than 150 pelicans were seen tightly jammed into one cage. Another elephant had its front and hind legs in chained.

There were 43 animal deaths at the zoo between July and September of last year, according to data acquired by the Jakarta Globe.

“[The Surabaya Zoo case] has been going on for five years. Everybody knows about it, but nothing’s changing,” said Femke den Haas, the founder of Jakarta Animal Aid Network, a local nonprofit dedicated to animal conservation.

In 2010, after an overhaul by the Forestry Ministry, management of the zoo was assigned to the Surabaya City Administration, but active management only started in July 2013.

The city plans to improve the zoo over three years. It has allocated Rp 60 billion ($4.9 million) to the zoo’s management over the next five years, according to a report by Republika.

In response to the Daily Mail’s report, Tri Rismaharini, the mayor of Surabaya, told local media last year that the zoo was improving.

A team from the University of Airlangga last year audited the zoo’s finances and animal inventory. According to Amelia, an officer from the economy and development division of the Surabaya City Administration, their report is now complete.

“Currently, we’re just waiting to present it to the mayor,” Amelia said last Tuesday.

The city had allocated Rp 5 billion for the zoo improvements as of last August.

Animal politics

“[This] is a classic example of what thousands of people already know and what conservation organizations have tried to aid with over the last years,” said Sybelle Foxcroft, the director of Conservation Environmental Education 4 Life (Cee4life) in an email last Thursday.

Cee4life is one of the conservation organizations who has offered aid to the Surabaya Zoo.

The organization assisted in moving a malnourished female tiger called Melani from the Surabaya Zoo to Taman Safari in Bogor.

“Cee4life has been supporting the care of Melani in Taman Safari and she is so much better now than we she was inside Surabaya,” Foxcroft said.

Foxcroft also travelled to Surabaya to meet the mayor last year. The mayor was unavailable at the time, but Foxcroft left a letter with an offer to help.

In her reply to Foxcroft, the mayor thanked Foxcroft for her sympathy, but gave little to no comment about Foxcroft’s offer.

“The mayor has been offered an enormous amount of aid from animal welfare organizations around the world, including Cee4life. However, she has refused all aid,” Foxcroft said.

“It is clearly obvious that numerous animals are dying under horrendous conditions at the zoo, but the mayor continues to ignore it all and pretend that nothing is happening. It is a shocking thing for the world to see.”

The Indonesian Zoo and Aquarium Association, known as PKBSI, said the problems in Surabaya Zoo didn’t just stem from a lack of expertise, but also politics.

“[We] acknowledge what’s going on with the Surabaya Zoo. Our organization has attempted and achieved several changes in improving animal welfare at the zoo, as well as its infrastructure and human resources, but with the mayor of Surabaya’s lack of understanding in conservation or zoo management — and influenced by a private staff that used to work at the zoo — the Surabaya Zoo case became even more complicated,” said Susi Lawati, PKBSI’s secretary in an email last Friday.

PKBSI is a nonprofit organization appointed by the Forestry Ministry in zoo accreditation and monitoring.

Tony Sumampau, the general secretary for PKBSI, was the head of Surabaya Zoo’s temporary management team before the city administration took over.

Tony is also the director of Taman Safari park in Bogor.

The Surabaya City Administration and the Surabaya Zoo have not responded to requests for comment.

The bigger picture

Unfortunately, Surabaya Zoo isn’t the only Indonesian zoo under heavy criticism. Across the archipelago, there have been numerous reports of animal abuse, according to den Haas of JAAN.

“JAAN, Animal Friends Jogja and other animal protection groups in Indonesia receive reports about animal cruelty in parks throughout the country,” she said.

“This [last] week alone, reports and complaints about zoos in Batam, Bukittinggi, Palangkaraya, Lampung’s Bumi Kedaton, and South Jakarta’s Ragunan Zoo — where an orangutan juvenile hung herself — have inundated our office.”

Den Haas pointed to PKBSI, saying that the organization’s members have a conflict of interest since most of them are zoo owners.

Once the government removes PKBSI and implements a new, neutral organization whose sole purpose is animal welfare, Indonesian zoos will have a chance to improve, den Haas said in a telephone interview last Thursday.

“I know it’s a harsh statement, but I believe in it 150 percent, after seeing it for over 10 years – the unwillingness to enforce basic animal welfare regulations,” she added.

Responding to the statement, PKBSI said its accreditation has been approved and praised by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The organization and the Forestry Ministry have conducted zoo accreditations since 2011 according to standards set by the Southeast Asian Zoo Association.

“There have been 24 zoos under accreditation, some passed excellently, but some are average or lacking – such as the Surabaya Zoo — but there has to be a willingness to change within a set period of time,” according to an email sent by PKBSI on Saturday.

“If those who didn’t pass are unwilling to change, do we shut them down? If we do shut down the Surabaya Zoo, could it become a mall?”

Other than the removal of PKBSI, den Haas mentioned that the government has made a step towards improving animal welfare when it passed five basic animal rights two years ago.

“It just needs to be more detailed,” she said.

Despite bleak media coverage of Indonesian zoos, den Haas is optimistic that there is room for improvement.

“It’s not that Indonesia is not capable, but as long as the wrong people manage, things will never change,” she said.

City’s Former Dancing Monkeys Now Seeking Their Own Isle of Refuge

Jakarta Globe, Nivell Rayda, December 29, 2013

The Jakarta Animal Aid Network has an island where released macaques can
live freely. (Photo courtesy of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network)

In one cage, a pack of macaques screamed loudly, standing upright to make their bodies appear larger. They were taunting and provoking a rival group locked in the cage next to them and the two sides immediately engaged in a standoff.

Occasionally, the macaques stretched out their arms, trying to swipe those in the other cage.

One macaque observed the fight closely from his own cage, big enough to fit his body, but just barely. His face betrayed fear.

“We are trying to introduce this macaque to his new group,” said Femke den Haas, the wild animal protection coordinator with the Jakarta Animal Aid Network, as she pushed the lone macaque’s cage closer to a bigger confinement hosting four macaques.

The lone macaque was shaking as the cage moved, instinctively grabbing hold of the metal bars tightly, turning its back on the pack as if trying to run away.

Femke said the lone macaque needed time to get used to seeing other primates after spending most of its life confined to small cages, dressed like a human, forced to wear suffocating plastic masks, performing tricks, begging for small change on the streets from passing motorists and pedestrians and getting beaten if it didn’t do what it was told.

The macaques Femke showed me were all formerly topeng monyet performers, seized by the Jakarta administration in a series of raids that began in October in a bid to make the Indonesian capital free of the monkey sideshows by 2014.

More than a hundred macaques have been confiscated and are now in the custody of the city administration and cared for by JAAN. But Femke said there could be as many as 200 more that were still being kept in cages by their owners.

Animal rights groups like JAAN have lauded the move by the city, noting that 10 percent of the macaques tested positive for tuberculosis and all carried parasites that could spread to humans.

“By banning topeng monyet, Jokowi [Governor Joko Widodo] shows he cares also about the health of Jakarta’s residents and cares about animal welfare at the same time,” Femke said.

Monkey island

But JAAN is at odds with what the administration plans to do with the macaques. Joko has said the city plans to move the healthy macaques to Ragunan Zoo, adding that the city has prepared a one-hectare field just for them.

“Ragunan still copes with many welfare problems for animals under its care,” Femke said, adding the zoo had a high number of deaths among its animals and poor welfare standards and facilities.

The zoo has also shut its doors to NGOs like JAAN and there is virtually no independent oversight of its operations.

“In Ragunan, orangutans still suffer in small cages. If orangutans are not cared for professionally, what about non-endangered macaques?” Femke said.

She added the best solution was to relocate the macaques to an island where they could live free in the wild, as JAAN did in 2006 for dozens of rescued former dancing macaques.

“The ones we released on the present monkey island are now totally independent. They fish and eat young leaves and fruits from the forests,” she said adding that the chances of them being poached again was remote. “We have two caretakers checking the monkeys and providing extra food when needed.”

JAAN is currently looking for a suitable island for the latest batch and believes it may have found one.

It is located in the Sunda Strait, which separates Java and Sumatra, and boasts 20 hectares of forest. Macaques are found on other islands in the strait but not on this particular one, Femke said, signaling that the macaques now in the custody of the Jakarta administration could survive all on their own there.

“The macaques can do no harm to the present fauna and flora there as the island has been thoroughly surveyed,” she said.

“It’s a perfect option for the rescued dancing macaques. All we want is for the macaques to live a happy monkey life in a safe environment where we can still observe, treat and feed them.”

People can help

The island is privately owned, but the owner is willing to sell it for a relatively low price to help the monkeys. But JAAN has a deadline of June 2014 to buy the island, and the animal rights group is now calling for public support to help raise the money needed. For $30, people can buy a square meter of the island. JAAN will send a picture of their name on the island’s information board.

“When the topeng monyet were still very much seen in Jakarta we received daily reports from people complaining about this, who felt sorry and asked us to do something about it,” Femke said.

“Now we hope the many people that have complained will also help us to care for the monkeys and help ensure they get a good future. The future they deserve.”

If JAAN fails to meet the June deadline, the animal rights group plans to lobby the city and Ragunan Zoo and use the money to construct a proper facility for the macaques.

“A beautiful outside enclosure can be developed in which the macaques can feel as if they are free. A small museum can be constructed there as well which can serve as an educational center for the public,” Femke said.

Stop fueling the trade

Femke said it was important for people to stop giving money to the macaques’ handlers as part of the topeng monyet performances.

Whether the macaques will be relocated to an island or end up in a zoo, it is important to construct the museum so that people can see pictures of the macaques while they were still dancing on the street, look at the equipment they used like wooden bikes and masks, and educate the public on why it was so bad for the macaques.

Macaques “are often seen in plantations or near human habitat and easily fall victim to poachers,” Femke said. “The mother is often killed in the process as the babies are trapped.”

The babies are brought to Jakarta and other major cities and are sold as pets or dancing monkeys.

Once in the hands of topeng monyet trainers, they undergo long training sessions and endure all sorts of torture and cruelty. “They are starved, beaten, hanged, and their teeth pulled out. Most of the monkeys we received and care for now have even had their tails broken,” Femke said.

One macaque pounded the ground repeatedly for no apparent reason, almost like a person trying to shake off a traumatizing scene inside his head.

Femke said it was important for the public to know about this, adding that people could also be inspired to pressure other cities to adopt the same policy as in Jakarta, keeping their respective streets free of the barbaric topeng monyet.

Help Save the Macaques

To find out more on how to donate or other ways to lend support, go to:

Website: jakartaanimalaid.com

E-mail: info@jakartaanimalaid.com

Twitter: @jaan_indonesia

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Jakarta Ramps-Up Efforts to End Masked Monkey Performances