Animal cruelty still plagues Indonesia’s zoos despite outrage voiced on social media, and government’s pledges to do better

Activists say animals are underfed, kept in poor conditions and exploited for entertainment by performing circus acts for money

Government attempts at regulation and supervision have also fallen short so far

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A sun bear is offered chocolate by a visitor in its enclosure at a zoo in Bandung, Indonesia. Animal rights activists demanded the closure of the Indonesian zoo after skeletal sun bears were pictured begging for food from visitors. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:00pm, 4 Nov 2019Updated: 11:35am, 5 Nov 2019

Indonesia is a country with a rich biodiversity. It is estimated more than 300,000 wildlife species – 17 per cent of the world’s total, and many of them endemic – live in the archipelagic nation.

Sadly, much of the country’s wildlife is threatened by habitat degradation and wildlife trade, so for their own protection many animals end up in zoos. However, animal activists say nearly all zoos in the country are failing to provide a suitable habitat for them.

“According to a search by wildlife monitoring group the Scorpion Foundation in 2017, around 90 per cent of zoos in Indonesia are unfit for habitation,” says Marison Guciano, of the Indonesia Animal Welfare Society. “I think the situation has not changed much now.”

Indonesia has at least 84 zoos, not counting those that are unregistered or operate illegally. Guciano, formerly an investigator for the Scorpion Foundation, says its assessment was based on five animal-rights principles. The animal must be free from hunger and thirst, free from pain and injury, free from discomfort, free to behave wildly, and free from stress. “Most zoos have not met all of these criteria,” he says.