Now, the initial article I read(link contains graphic images) was concerning Michael, an approximately 18 month old lion. Michael, unfortunately, was found dead in his cage, hanging from steel cables, on or around January 8th, 2014. The zoo states that it was an accident, the cables were used to open the cage doors and keep the zoo-keepers safe, and the lion was obviously curious and playing with them. The more I read, though, the more I'm sure this poor lion actually committed suicide to escape the future that awaited him! Of course, an article published later states that this was an inside job, a frame up for the zoo, for a lion can't "commit a perfect suicide". An independent report stated that the lion was trying to get at females who were in heat.
Okay, you're saying, one animal died trying to get lucky, and that's horrible. Why do they call it the zoo of death, why are you so up in arms about this? Well, humour me for a moment. Picture a tiger, in the zoo.
So, the carnivores have a poor quality of life at this zoo, that's been proven, but what about the other approximately 3000 animals that are contained there?
In 2010, there were numerous articles written about the deaths. Some more detailed than others.
This article, dated August 13th, 2010, states that the cause of these deaths might have originated when a dispute arose in Dec 2009 over who was to head the zoo.
This one, dated August 14th, 2010, states that in June of 2010, the zoo lost 13 animals, however the director of the zoo dismisses it, stating that "On average there are 25 to 50 deaths in a month, because of age or because of other factors", however other officials state that there were four diseases in the zoo at the time - hepatitis, herpes, lung infection and avian influenza.
This one, dated August 19th, 2010, indicates that more deaths occured, and that as many as 320 animals perished at the zoo in a 12 month period.
Another, dated August 20th, 2010, provides information about illness the animals were suffering. It indicated that critically endangered animals were losing numbers at the hand of this zoo, which should have been helping to protect them, helping them to reproduce.
And then in this article, dated August 28th, 2010, the blame is placed firmly on the zoo keepers.
A call for a massive overhaul was heard on August 16th, 2010, and on September 14th, 2010, the local Forestry Ministry pledged a portion of their yearly budget for 2011 to help fund the zoo. The 2nd article also states that after the series of deaths in August 2010, the zoo's license was revoked. Yay!! The zoo was shut down, and all the animals lived happily ever after!!!! Well...
In December, 2010, a healthy baby elephant was born! And then the zoo fell off the radar until late in 2011, when a komodo dragon was found dead. And then more deaths, some of which are attributed to plastic and other "odd objects" found in the animal's digestive tract during an autopsy. Another article from 2011 states that the zoo is overpopulated, that the animals are breeding indiscriminately, and incestuous breedings were causing the genetics of the animals to be compromised. And then another death. And then once again off the radar until March of 2012, when the giraffe died, the zoo began to beg for funds, Indonesian officials started calling for major change, and notorious ARA Morrissey urged the zoo to be closed. It is interesting to note that the officials stated other zoos would be willing to take some or all of the animals, especially in light of the fact that later on, Animal Rights Activists decided not to pursue the cause, stating that the animals would be left homeless. Once again, after these words were given, but not acted on, news of the zoo fell quiet until September of 2012, when the zoo reappeared in the headlines as three more animals became ill.
And then, FINALLY, in August 2013, there is a cry for help for these poor animals. A ray of light, surely this will have impact, changes will be made. For once I am rooting for the Animal Rights Activists to gather their pitchforks and torches, to use their mob mentality to force a change to help these animals. Shortly after the petition was started, an orangutan died, and then another orangutan died. It is interesting to note that, mentioned in that second article, an orangutan was forced to quit smoking after 10 years... The zoo had allowed visitors to throw lit cigarettes to her, which made her a star attraction. Good news came in the form of rescue for some animals, being moved to a wildlife center for help and rehabilitation.
Though there were many calls for change throughout the 5 year span of these issues, nothing was done about it. They were allowed to continue operating, to continue to abuse and neglect these animals in various ways, and were not forced to shut their doors. Often, after some small improvements were made, it seems other zoos sent new animals to the Surabaya Zoo. And then the animals began to die again, one, and then another, and yet another, all this month. The zoo is at an estimated 3000 animals, down from an estimated 4200 animals in 2010. Where did they all go? What has happened to approximately 1200 animals that are no longer at the zoo? These are questions I unfortunately can't answer. Of course, criticism comes out, and blame is placed everywhere it could possibly be blamed - the economy, management, infighting between different groups, corruption, the zoo keepers... Everything is blamed. But will anything be done? Management of the zoo has now been handed over to the Mayor of the City, who in turn, turned around and blamed former management(which seems to have been put in place by her) of corruption, turning a large file over to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). We'll have to watch and see where that goes, because we are finally all caught up on the issue, and I can begin talking about what really bothers me about this situation.
This has been going on for FIVE YEARS. Animal rights activists complain when it takes three weeks to steal dogs from a breeder, but have allowed this to go on for FIVE YEARS. Where's the outrage?
How is it that, if we look on Facebook, we find that SHUT DOWN Surabaya Zoo Indonesia has only 3,295 likes? That Save the Animals in Surabaya Zoo has only 2,099 likes? In comparison, Save the Dogs From FC BC has 10,829 likes, that Eric Pack Ethic Bellows has 13,451 likes, Sea Shepherd has 131,118 likes, Animal Rights has 319,743 likes, the HSUS has 1,855,052 likes and PETA has 2,114,291 likes. Where are all these people, who supposedly care about animals? Why are they not helping these zoo animals across the world?
The petition is doing a little better than the pages, with almost 75,000 signatures. However, why has PETA not gone after this zoo? Why have the Animal Rights Activists backed down, why are they not starting letter campaigns to other zoos, asking them to help these animals by finding space for them, or by helping supply them with food? Why are these other zoos still sending animals to Surabaya, and why are the activists not outraged about them?
I have my own answers to those questions, but they are my opinion. I prefer to let my readers draw their own conclusions.
Shut Down Surabaya Zoo FB Page
Surabaya Tourism Page
Guardian News article
The Jakarta Globe(search page, I read a lot of articles from them)
Daily Mail Article