There have been many stories about zoos in Indonesia horribly mistreating their animals. Recently, yet another local zoo has come under fire after pictures showing the facility’s disturbing conditions went viral on social media.
The facility, a mini-zoo located inside a Kostrad (Army Strategic Command) compound in the Cilodong sub-district of Depok City, West Java, became the talk of the netizens after a user uploaded several pictures showcasing its awful conditions yesterday.
The photos, taken by Twitter user @halocilukba on Sunday, include a shot of a crocodile swimming in a filthy pool of water and a monkey whose cage is filled with rubbish.
https://twitter.com/halocilukba/status/1138058658175102976
“Location: Kostrad swimming pool Cilodong, Depok, West Java. The condition is far from proper, and it’s open for public. Are there any actions we can do? Guys, what should we do about this,” they wrote in a Twitter thread.
In another tweet @halocilukba said they were told that officers came to take care of the facilities each day but it seemed like the garbage had been sitting there for a long time.
https://twitter.com/halocilukba/status/1138254357797859330
The first photo below shows another angle on the crocodile enclosure and the second the poor conditions inside the cassowary cage, Another photo showed that the food provided to the cassowary had already become so rotten that it was covered in slime and foam, but the rare birds could still be seen eating from the bucket.
https://twitter.com/halocilukba/status/1138255817617002496
The Twitter thread was retweeted by WWF Indonesia’s official account and reposted by animal welfare association Garda Satwa Indonesia on their Instagram. The latter also contacted the West Java chapter of Natural Resources and Ecosystem Conservation Ministry of Environment and Forestry (BKSDA Jabar).
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByjbseTAxgY/
After receiving reports from the public, Kostrad responded and took action to clean up the zoo. As reported by Detik, based on their visit to the zoo today, the animal cages and enclosure looked much cleaner than what was seen in the viral tweets.
Kostrad spokesperson Colonel Adhi Giri Ibrahim admitted the mini-zoo had been very dirty during the Eid holiday because they had many visitors while most of the officers were on leave. He also said that a lot of visitors fed the animals carelessly.
“The zoo has been cleaned and we also put clearer warning signs,” Colonel Adhi told Detik today.
He said that Kostrad has coordinated with BKSDA, adding that they would be ready should the ministry decided they need to give the animals up to another zoo or return them to the wild.
