Animals go on diet in leaner times

JAKARTA (JP): Like their cousins at zoos across the country, animals at Ragunan Zoo in South Jakarta are finding the economic crisis has taken a big bite out of their food allotments.

The zoo's development and promotion manager, Nonot Marsono, told The Jakarta Post Tuesday that carnivores such as tigers, leopards, jaguars and eagles now had to go without food for up to four days a week.

"We are trying to change their eating patterns gradually. After all, they don't eat every day when they are in their original habitat, do they?"

But he emphasized the 4,448 representatives of 312 species at the zoo are still in good condition despite the leaner diet.

"We have also learned that the animals have recorded no reduction in their weight."

Since April, the zoo has cut the daily meat supply for carnivores by 30 kilograms to 240 kilograms

Only infant and adult carnivores that are pregnant, suckling or sick are excluded from the dietary restrictions, he said.

Before the crisis, the carnivores were not fed every Sunday to keep them fit.

Nonot acknowledged that the number of visitors had sharply declined in the past few months but gave no precise figures, saying the management would only release the data in June.

Last year, the number of visitors reached 2.15 million of a target of 3 million.

"I understand that the monetary crisis has badly hit people from all walks of life," he said.

The zoo's entrance fee is currently set at Rp 500 (4 U.S. cents) for children and Rp 1,000 for adults.

To compound the effects of skyrocketing prices of food and the decline of visitors, the zoo also suffered a significant drop in financial support from the city administration, he said.

The zoo's annual budget allocated for the 1998/1999 fiscal year has dropped 68 percent, to Rp 1.7 billion from the previous Rp 2.5 billion.

"The money is used mostly for buying food for the animals and their medicine," Nonot said.

Considered among Asia's best zoos in terms of its collection, the 134-year-old Ragunan is home to several rare Indonesian species, such as the Komodo dragon, Sumatran tiger and orangutan.

Situated on 135 acres, Ragunan also acts as a conservation site, educational center and research facility. (ivy)