Three Animals in Infamous Surabaya Zoo in Critical Condition

Jakarta Globe

Surabaya. Three animals in the notorious Surabaya Zoo are in critical condition and currently undergoing intensive medical treatments, an officer with the zoo has said.

Anthan Warsito, the spokesman of the zoo, said the three animals were a 14-year-old American grizzly bear called Beno, a 24-year-old babirusa and a Sumatran tiger.

“The grizzly bear has been suffering from skin tumor since 2010,” Anthan said in Surabaya on Saturday.

The aging babirusa’s health has been deteriorating and is often ill, while the Sumatran tiger is suffering from a digestive problem, Anthan explained.

He admitted many animals in the zoo were in poor health condition, suffering from diseases, as 20 percent of the zoo’s inhabitants were over 20 years old.

Anthan said the aging and ailing animals were no longer fit for display, but the zoo would not opt euthanasia for them, hoping they would somehow survive.

“The aging animals, including some camels, elephants and deer, surely need more attention,” Anthan said, as quoted by the Indonesian news portal metrotvnews.com.

The zoo, reportedly Indonesia’s largest, has become notorious since Antara news agency reported that it had turned into a “place of horror” and “death camp” for animals. A zoo officer said in March some 500 animals died there between 2010 and 2011.

In March, the zoo’s last remaining giraffe was found dead with a 20-kilogram ball of plastic in its stomach, believed to have formed from years of visitors throwing food wrappers into the pen.

Before that, a critically endangered Sumatran tiger died at the zoo and three baby Komodo dragons that disappeared were believed to have been stolen and sold on the black market.

The notoriety of the zoo has drawn the attention of British singer Morrissey, who in May called on the Indonesian government to immediately shut it down.