Animal park to replace overcrowded Medan zoo
Animal park to replace overcrowded Medan zoo
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra
The Medan municipal administration has invited a Malaysian
investor to build an animal park similar to the famous Taman
Safari in the West Java regency of Bogor.
The park will be built on a 10-hectare site at Medan Tuntungan
on the outskirts of the city, and will accommodate all of the 288
animals of various species kept in Medan's zoo, located in the
downtown area, city secretary Ramli told The Jakarta Post on
Friday.
"We cannot afford to run the zoo any longer. Its condition is
already poor and the animals must be relocated to a place that is
more spacious and far away from the downtown area," he said.
"Our concern is how to help the animals survive."
He refused to disclose the amount of investment that would be
needed, saying the city administration and the Malaysian investor
would soon sign a deal and start the project.
The Malaysian businessman, whose identity is being withheld,
expressed his interest in relocating the city-owned zoo during a
recent visit to Medan, said Ramli.
By comparison, Taman Safari in Bogor occupies a 138-hectare
site near the Puncak hill resort. The park is home to 2,300
animals made up of some 230 species.
Head of operations at Medan zoo, Anhar Lubis, welcomed the
plan to develop the animal park.
He said the zoo management had been facing financial
constraints even before the economic crisis hit the country in
1997.
The zoo spends Rp 1.1 million per day on feeding the animals,
which is costly for the cash-strapped city administration.
Anhar said that despite the crisis, the zoo management had
never reduced the amount of food the animals received.
He hailed the planned development of the park as the zoo,
which was built on a three-hectare site, had become too crowded.
"The zoo can no longer accommodate that many animals. The
amount of space we have is only suitable for a mini park for one
specific animal or species, for instance birds," Anhar said.