Quality of animal care at Ragunan declining

Quality of animal care at Ragunan declining

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The deaths of three rare white tigers in August
provided additional proof that Ragunan Zoo had been treating its
animals improperly in recent years, one of the zoo's staff
members said here on Saturday.

"The death of the rare white tigers in August revealed a
drastic decrease in the quality of animal care in the zoo," the
staff member, who refused to be named, told The Jakarta Post.

He said that conditions had worsened noticeably after the
financial crisis hit the country three years ago. There are over
4,000 animals representing more than 300 species at the zoo.

However, the city administration had provided Rp 3 billion
this year for the animals' food needs and medical treatment, up
from Rp 1,7 billion in 1998, he said.

The staff member said that, before the crisis, the daily menu
for animals such as leopards, jaguars, tigers and lions had
consisted of fresh meat and chicken. They also received
additional servings of kangaroo meat.

Every day, except Sunday, the zoo would provide five kilograms
of meat to each animal. Good quality feed was also provided to
herbivores at the zoo, including hippopotamuses and elephants.

But now, the zoo's animals are no longer receiving high-
quality feed. Nor are they getting proper medical treatment.
"They still get five kilograms of meat but it's lower quality,"
he said.

"Sometimes, we give them chicken, at other times we give them
frozen meat," the senior attendant said, adding that the
attendants were concerned about the quality of the food being
provided but said that no other food was available.

Another staff member, who also refused to be named, admitted
that wild animals in the zoo did not receive proper medical care
despite the presence of veterinarians. But he was not sure
whether it was because of the lack of funds or because the funds
available for animal care had fallen victim to corruption.

"The veterinarians can only provide vitamins and they can't
cure serious diseases. If an animal came down with a serious
disease, the vet could do nothing since the zoo couldn't afford
to buy the medicine," said the staff member.

According to the staff member, apart from the deaths of the
white tigers, six birds and a lion had also reportedly died due
to improper care.

But the zoo's director, Ismianto, denied that the animals'
deaths resulted from the zoo's improper care. "It's not true. The
white tigers died, not because of improper care but because they
contracted typhoid," he said.

Typhoid is contracted from the Salmonella bacteria found
especially in rotten meat.