Park animals hungry as crisis bites

CISARUA, West Java (JP): The prolonged economic crisis and political uncertainty has forced many businesspeople to temporarily close their factories, shops and offices.

Some have asked their employees to be understanding and have promised to rehire them as soon as the situation allows.

But what can zoo owners do when the price of animal feed and medicine rises sharply?

The popular Safari Wildlife Park in Cisarua, West Java, boasts 2,500 animals in its collection made up of 225 species from five continents.

Animals in the park, especially the carnivorous species, now have to go without food for up to three days a week.

A sharp fall in the value of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar which began last July has caused the price of imported and locally produced animal feed to rise to unaffordable levels.

The animals need 16 tons of imported meat, chickens, pigs, and tons of fruit, vegetables and fodder every month.

The park's collection of 70 tigers, the largest in the world and including 27 endangered Sumatran tigers, are now left unfed for two to three days each week. The imported meat which formerly made up their diet has become unaffordable to the park's owners and has been replaced with chickens.

In rupiah terms, the price of imported meat has soared from Rp 3,500 per kilogram to Rp 11,000 per kg.

The price of locally produced feed has also risen sharply and the park's management are at a loss as to what to do.

Chicken has risen from Rp 2,000 per kilogram to Rp 7,000 per kg because local farmers have temporarily stopped breeding them, ironically because of the soaring cost of chicken feed.

To stave of bankruptcy for as long as possible, the park's owners, Tony Sumampauw and his relatives Frans Manansang and Jansen Manansang, have tried to find cheaper ways to feed the animals in their collection.

"We have no choice," Tony told The Jakarta Post, over the weekend.

However, the cost cutting measures have not met with success and steps such as feeding the tigers unplucked chickens in the hope that the feathers would satisfy their hunger for a longer period of time appear to have done more harm than good. Animals have shown loss of appetite, fallen ill, and some pregnancies have aborted, Tony said.

Consequently the management had to spend extra money on medicines, he added.

"We then decided to starve them for a certain number of days each week, which is a closer replication of the conditions which they would face in the wild," Tony explained.

Daily running costs, made up mostly of food expenses, have jumped from Rp 7 million to Rp 18 million since the rupiah plunged in value, while ticket sales now average Rp 4 million.

"We are now running the business at a loss," he said.

A drastic drop in the numbers of visitors to the park has compounded the situation.

Tony said the 400-hectare park had received almost no foreign visitors since February. Before the monetary crisis and consequent social turmoil, foreigners made up 12.5 percent of the park's 1.8 million annual visitors.

"Local group visitors, usually 25 percent of our total, have also been almost non-existent since January," he added.

Furthermore, he said, related park businesses, including a recreational playground, the 400-room Safari Garden hotel, 23 caravan units and 15 bungalows, have been running at a loss, despite the fact that prices have been held at pre-crisis levels. The recently introduced night safari tour has already been closed down.

Similar problems are faced by a second Safari park owned by the brothers near Jatiarjo village in Prigen, East Java, where 500 animals from 100 species are held on a 400-hectare site.

The animals there need 200 kg of meat, 1 ton of fruit and vegetables, and 6 tons of grass every day.

"If things continue as they are we might only survive for a further six or seven months," Tony said.

"We have no idea what will happen to our animals if the situation worsens," he added.

Tony therefore urged the government to strive to build a business climate that would rebuild confidence and attract visitors back to his park.

"What we are hoping for is economic and political stability," he said.

Fortunately the animals' plight has been drawn to the attention of a number of animal lovers, including former minister Joop Ave and students from Azabu University in Japan, who have donated funds to the park's management.

"I hope that international animal welfare groups and related organizations can temporarily help us fund our operations," Tony said.

Despite the gloom, the park's management were pleasantly surprised after 3,462 visitors and 647 cars entered the park on Sunday.

"This is the first crowded Sunday in a long time," park spokesman Julius said.

Most of the visitors were junior high school students celebrating their graduation, he added. (bsr)