Three years ago, Yogyakarta's Gembira Loka zoological gardens

Three years ago, Yogyakarta's Gembira Loka zoological gardens
acquired a pair of giant tortoises from the Indian Ocean island
of Aldabra, Seychelles, though the male of the rare animals is
ailing.

The hard-shelled reptiles -- the male of which is 110 cms
long, the female 70 cms long -- were brought to my attention when
The Jakarta Post reported the sickly male had been put on an
intravenous drip. When I contacted zoo veterinarian Mulyani by
phone, she said its excrement carried a protozoan and, thus, it
also needed injections.

On Sept. 26, I visited the zoo and watched the female walking
on the grass, its shell was scratched all over as the fences are
too low to protect it. The male responded to camera flashes by
turning its head, indicating some recovery.

According to my books about Seychelles and Aldabra, this atoll
is a sanctuary where around 5,000 such tortoises are left in the
wild without human intervention.

Gembira Loka authorities said the protected Aldabra reptiles
had been obtained from a zoo in Spain rather than from
Seychelles, in exchange for Indonesia's Komodo dragons.

SUNARTO PRAWIROSUJANTO

Jakarta