SOS for Gembira Loka Zoo

SOS for Gembira Loka Zoo

A few of my Indonesian friends took me to the Gembira Loka Zoo
in Yogyakarta recently. What I anticipated to be an enjoyable
trip to the zoo turned out to be a shocking showcase of how cruel
animals are being treated in Indonesian zoos.

I felt so helpless that I could not do anything to help the
animals. Only after reading the article that appeared in the
Sunday edition of The Jakarta Post (July 9, 1995) did I realize
the existence of the group Friends of the Zoo which is doing a
lot to change conditions at the Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta.

I have not been to the Ragunan Zoo, but from the article I get
the impression that the condition of Gembira Loka Zoo seems to be
identical to that of Ragunan.

As such, I do hope that Friends of the Zoo could get involved
at Gembira Loka too. My friends and I from the University of
Gadjah Mada would be very happy to be involved in setting up the
Gembira Loka chapter of Friends of the Zoo.

We truly think that this is the least we could do in our
effort to improve the deplorable conditions in which the animals
are kept and the attitude of zoo goers towards the animals.

MD HAFEZUL SURAJA A. WILSON

Yogyakarta