Lampung park criticized for poor wildlife treatment

Oyos Saroso H.N., The Jakarta Post, Bandarlampung

Environmentalists in Lampung lashed out at the Bumi Kedaton Safari Park (TWABK) management for treating animals under its care poorly.

Director of the Lampung chapter of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), Mukri Friatna, charged that the park, which is located in Batuputu subdistrict, Telukbetung district in Bandarlampung, had set a poor example of wildlife protection and management in the country.

He said the park has exploited the animals.

"What would you call it if not exploitation when the elephants have lost much of their weight in a period of just a few months. Besides the squalid enclosures, the animals are also underfed," said Mukri.

The elephants which perform in animal shows at the park, which started operation in October last year, were acquired from the Way Kambas Elephant Training Center (PLG). To date, the park has replaced the elephants three times.

"The park usually keeps five elephants. If they grow thin, they are replaced with new ones from the elephant training center. That's clearly animal exploitation," said coordinator of Lampung's Wildlife Crime Unit (WCU), Dwi Nugroho.

According to Dwi, the Lampung provincial administration initially dedicated the park as a recreational area -- not a zoo. Although the park takes care of animals, the arrangement is only temporary in nature before they will be kept at the planned Animal Protection Center (PPS) at the Youth Camp in the Wan Abdul Rahman Forest Park in the future.

"Why is this place allowed to operate as a wildlife transit point with these conditions? Reckless handling has caused many animals to fall sick and die," said Dwi.

According to Dwi, observations show that many animals in the park are suffering and have died. A crocodile died in May this year. Gibbons and horses also appeared weak because they were underfed.

"The management should not only think of profit without taking good care of the animals," said Dwi.

The park is home to a variety of animals, including protected species.

There are more than 100 animals from the 27 species in the park. The protected species consist of five Sumatran elephants (Elephas maximus sumateranus), five estuary crocodiles (Crocodylus javanicus), one bondol eagle (Halyantus indus), one black eagle (Ictynaetus malayensis), two poccupines (Hystrix brachura), three black parrots (Lorius lory) and three wildcats (Felix bengalensis).

Among the unprotected animal species are the short-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), the Macaca fascicularis and Presbitis melalopos monkey species and various bird and fowl species.

"Bumi Kedaton Natural Park is a joint venture between PT Bumi Kedaton, owned by Darwis Nasution, and the Lampung provincial administration. The park was set up to take advantage of its natural environment which can be developed into a nature education center and camping ground for students," said head of the Lampung Tourism Office, Yanto Riyanto.

Covering an area of six hectares, the park is located in a natural setting where various animal species are found.

The Lampung administration is also planning to add five more hectares to the park to be turned into camping grounds.

The park management replaces elephants with those at the Way Kambas elephant training center as it wishes, allegedly based on a permit from the Lampung administration.

Head of the Lampung Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA), Agus Harianta, said his office had required the park to apply for a permit from the BKSDA, because it did not have the required facilities to take care of wildlife, such as a zoo.

Agus said he was not aware on the condition of other animals, apart from the elephants. The agency, he added, received reports on elephants each month but not other animals.

"The park should have a veterinarian if it is officially recognized as a conservation institute. As far as I know, there are no other animals tended by veterinarians other than the elephants. The elephants are attended to by veterinarians from BKSDA," said Agus.

Since its inception, the park has been the object of protests from various environmental organizations in Lampung. The Wildlife Crime Unit has questioned the Lampung administration's commitment to the park's existence.

The park is set up as a transit place for wildlife before the realization of the Wan Abdul Rahman Animal Protection Center (PPS), but environmentalists view it more as a zoo than an animal transit center.

Meanwhile, Lampung councillor Yandri Nazir said the council felt it had been deceived by the governor and operator of the park because it turned out the park was not an asset to the provincial administration.

"Funds from the provincial budget were used to invest in and operate the park, but the administration has not received anything from ticket sales.

"We feel deceived. If we had known the park would be owned by a third party, we would clearly object because the operational funds were derived from the provincial budget," said Yandri.

Funds disbursed through the Ministry of Forestry in 2005 amounting to Rp 500 million (US$50,000) were used for animal feed and the care of two elephants. The Lampung provincial administration had also assisted the park owner with Rp 300 million to build a wildlife enclosure.