General public can help encouraging better zoos

General public can help encouraging better zoos

The London-based World Society for the Protection of Animals,
WSPA, a non-profit organization promoting animal welfare around
the world, recently investigated the condition of animals in
several zoos in Indonesia, along with its local counterpart
Animal Conservation for Life, KSBK.

WSPA's expert Rob Laidlaw shared the organization's findings
with The Jakarta Post and offered solutions through an e-mail
interview from his Canada office.

Question: What are the investigation's crucial findings?

Answer: The WSPA/KSBK investigation revealed that a
significant portion of Indonesia's zoos are grossly overcrowded.
There are simply far too many individual animals for their
available space and resources. If these zoos were to reduce the
size of their live collections, it would result in an increased
level of resources being allocated to a smaller number of
animals.

This would most certainly have a positive impact on the
overall standard of animal husbandry. In addition, as the
collections are downsized and some animals vacated, their current
residents could be joined with other cages, thereby increasing
the amount of space available for the animals that remain.

Q: Compared to other zoos in Asia and the rest of the world, how
poor are the conditions of Indonesia's zoos?

A: While there are comparable poor physical facilities in many
other zoos throughout the world, Indonesia's zoos seem to be
particularly crowded and use greater numbers of animals in shows.
Collectively, they rank among the worst in the world.

Q: Indonesia is currently undergoing a severe social, political
and economic crisis. Maybe the zoos are experiencing financial
hardship and therefore cannot properly manage its animals?

A: I think national, regional and international crises do have an
effect on the operations of zoos. Historically, that effect has
been limited to individual zoos, such as those in a war zone or
directly in the path of a hurricane. In any event, if a zoo is
situated in an area of conflict or is prone to natural disasters,
it is the responsibility of the zoo management to anticipate a
possible emergency situation.

Q: But even before the crisis, Indonesian zoos were facing
funding problems in improving the welfare of their animals?

A: While funding is certainly a problem in many Indonesian zoos,
I don't believe it is a primary cause of the grossly substandard
conditions encountered by WSPA and KSBK. Certainly, building new
exhibits and restructuring entire zoos can be expensive, but
tremendous improvements in animal husbandry, housing and welfare
can still be achieved when resources are lacking.

This is often accomplished through low-tech enclosure
modifications, changes to husbandry protocols and changes to zoo
management policies and procedures.

Changing feeding schedules and food presentation is another
low-cost way Indonesian zoos could improve animal welfare.
Instead of merely presenting food in one spot once a day, zoos
could employ staggered schedules that spread feeding out over the
entire day.

Husbandry protocols that improve animal welfare can be changed
at no cost. For example, the chaining of elephants, particularly
hobbling both forefeet together, could be ended. In most cases,
almost immediately and it wouldn't cost the zoos anything. Public
feeding, which encourages abnormal begging behavior and makes it
difficult to control individual diet quality and food intake,
could easily be stopped. It would definitively have a positive
impact on animal health and welfare.

Indonesian zoos could substantially improve their exhibits
through the addition of appropriate cage furnishings. Many of the
exhibits encountered during the investigation were barren and
failed to provide animals with shade, privacy, soft substrate
areas and cage furnishings, all of which can be provided at a
very low cost.

There are hundreds of low or no-cost measures that could be
employed by Indonesian zoos to improve the welfare of their
animals. Lack of money should not be an impediment to improving
the conditions and welfare of animals in Indonesian zoos.

Q: What should the government and zoo management do to
consistently improve the conditions of both the animals and zoos?

A: Improving conditions for animals in Indonesian zoos has to
start with national legislation that requires zoos to be licensed
and to adhere to modern, professional zoo practices, including
proper animal husbandry and housing standards. It should also
contain an effective enforcement mechanism and provision for
seizing animals and closing down substandard zoos.

Individual zoos that wish to improve animal welfare should
conduct an assessment of current conditions and problems using
the assistance of outside experts. This is particularly
important, as many of the zoos seem to be unaware of how grossly
substandard they actually are, so an internal assessment may not
be useful.

The next step would be the development and implementation of a
plan to address the problems, prioritizing those areas that are
causing severe animal suffering. All Indonesian zoos should also
seek advice and training from their international counterparts.

Q: In addition to the authorities, what role can the public play
in improving the welfare of zoo animals?

A: Since zoos are primarily structured and operetta vehicles of
entertainment for the general public, zoo visitors can have
considerable influence over how they operate. There are however,
several factors that limit that influence. One of the most
important of these factors is knowledge. Since the majority of
zoo visitors possess little or no knowledge about the biology and
behavior of the wild animals they are viewing, they typically
don't recognize problematic conditions.

Most zoo visitors also have no specialized knowledge about
exhibit design, environmental enrichment, preventive animal
health programming, zoo safety and security protocols and all
other aspects of modern zoo animal management that potentially
impact on zoo animal health and welfare, so they often assume the
zoo knows what it is doing and say nothing. This certainly seems
to be the case with Indonesian zoo visitors.

I believe the public can play a significant role in making
sure that zoos operate in a humane and responsible manner. All
they require is a little knowledge and the motivation to voice
their opinion.

-- Rita A. Widiadana