Rare gorillas from Africa can be seen at last in Ragunan

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After months of delay and controversy, four male gorillas are scheduled to welcome visitors to their lavish cage at Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta, from Aug. 20.

The gorillas, Kihi, Kimbou, Kijou and Komou, have occupied their new enclosure, costing Rp 10 billion, since Monday.

On Friday, they amused themselves in the playground of their one-hectare enclosure. The black gorillas behaved like children as they are reportedly still young, from four years to six years old.

Apparently, they have adapted well to their new environment, after being in quarantine since their arrival here from the UK last month.

They have also been close to Dharma Jaya, a zookeeper who was trained at the Howlett and Port Lympne Park in Kent, the UK, for nine months in how to look after them.

Dharma is able to communicate with the rare apes, which can best understand communication with humans in English as they were born and grew up in the UK.

Peter Lichtfield, Hewlett's collection director, said earlier that Howletts would "lend" the lowlander gorillas for one year initially, but if their health deteriorated, Howletts would return them to England.

The gorillas have been a matter of controversy here since last year. They were supposed to arrive here last September, but their arrival was postponed due to concern over the security situation here.

At the time, the city was experiencing continual demonstrations following the bombardment of Afghanistan by the U.S. military.

In October, another controversy surfaced when the administration demanded Rp 3.2 billion from the city budget to pay for the gorillas' food.

However, director of the Gibbon Foundation Willie Smits said later that the Gibbon Foundation would bear the cost of the gorillas' food.

The foundation also oversees conservation of the primates in Kalimantan.

After that, the date of their arrival was uncertain. The enclosure, whose official name is the Schmutzer Primate Center, was left vacant for months.

The center's name originates from the late Mrs. Puck Schmutzer, an animal lover from Germany, who mandated Willie Smits to construct a gorilla enclosure here as well as to bring several gorillas over from the UK.

Visitors who intend to see the gorillas must pay an additional Rp 5000 per person for entry to the enclosure. All visitors are banned from taking bags in and feeding the gorillas.

The zoo has installed dozens of cameras to monitor both gorillas and visitors. Zookeepers are under strict instructions to remove visitors from the enclosure, should they try to feed the gorillas.

Visitors would also not be allowed to take pictures of the apes, to prevent them from becoming distressed by camera flashlight, Dharma explained.