If True, It's Heartbreaking: The Origin of Stray Cats at UGM's Wisdom Park?

Students of Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) who frequent Wisdom Park are familiar with the dozens of cats that seem to have become permanent residents. But where did these stray cats actually come from?

detikJogja toured the Wisdom Park area on Wednesday morning (10/6), covering the northern lake area, the vertical garden, the iconic tunnel, and the southern amphitheatre. Upon entering the Kopi Lembah UGM area, a cat immediately greeted us. Walking north towards the lake, another cat was spotted on a bench, near which a feeding station and a jar of cat food had been placed. Two more cats were found near the lake, but they fled when approached.

The journey continued to the southern side. One cat was found before entering the tunnel, and a total of five cats of various sizes and colours were spotted in the southern area beyond the tunnel. Some of the cats had been sterilised, indicated by a small V-shaped notch in their ears. In total, around ten cats were observed throughout Wisdom Park.

There has been widespread discussion on social media suggesting that these cats were once pets belonging to students living in boarding houses or rented rooms. The cats were then reportedly abandoned when their owners graduated and returned to their hometowns. One such discussion appeared in a post by the Instagram account @catatanmimi_, which expressed frustration over the number of cats being dumped. The post noted that new cats had been seen at Wisdom Park, some still wearing collars. It mentioned an addition of five new cats to the population: two large ones, one of which had a collar, and three smaller ones. The post also highlighted cases of sick cats being abandoned, including one suffering from scabies.

The account suspected these cats were former student pets discarded after graduation and urged students to act responsibly towards their animals, especially when finishing their studies and leaving for their hometowns or new jobs. ‘Let’s be more responsible. If you can’t take them home, find a shelter or open for adoption. Don’t just abandon them,’ the post read.

Neila Sahila, Chairperson of the UGM Cat Community, corroborated the suspicion that many of the cats are abandoned pets. ‘Regarding the cats at Wisdom Park, we know that there are many cats there, and some of them may indeed be dumped cats,’ Neila said when contacted on Wednesday (10/6/2026). She did not dismiss the possibility that the cats were abandoned by graduating students, despite the community’s long-standing efforts to prevent this. ‘We have also been actively educating students about responsible pet ownership and not carelessly discarding cats. We also open communication channels for students who are forced to find new adopters responsibly, not by dumping them,’ she explained.