Bogor zoological museum to be renovated

Bogor zoological museum to be renovated

JAKARTA (JP): A private company has agreed to become the fund raiser for the renovation of Bogor Zoological Museum.

The signing of the deal between PT Ayuta Samarthya and the National Institute of Sciences (LIPI) was made on Wednesday, with Soetikno Wirjoatmodjo representing LIPI and Ilham Idli representing the company.

The museum is managed by LIPI.

Under the agreement, the company will retain 15 percent of the money it collects. The remaining 85 percent will go towards renovating the museum.

According to the deal Ayuta will carry out the renovations.

The company plans to, among other things, publish and sell scientific books and hold seminars to raise funds, Ilham said.

The renovations will include the building of more exhibition rooms which, according to Soetikno, would enable the museum's management to provide visitors with detailed information on the displays.

Funds

The head of LIPI's Zoological Research and Development Board, Moh. Amir, admitted that the museum is in poor condition due to the shortage of funds for its maintenance.

"The government can afford the routine expenses like the salary of the museum's staffers," he said.

The Bogor Zoological Museum was founded in 1894 by Dutch zoologist Koningsberger and originally named Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense.

The museum, housing 17,500 stuffed animals, has the most complete collection among Southeast Asia museums.

Some of its collections date back to the 1860s.

LIPI is now using the museum as a research laboratory for animal biosystematics, ecology and physiology. (31)