Mangkang Zoo in Semarang, Central Java, a popular tourist destination during the Idul Fitri holidays, recorded 10,900 visitors on Oct. 2 this year, compared to 3,800 on the first day of Idul Fitri last year.
"We target to receive 40,000 visitors during this year's Idul Fitri holiday because students are on leave until next week. We recorded 46,000 visitors during last year's Idul Fitri holiday," head of the Mangkang Zoo Kusyanto said Friday.
The zoo lies near Java's main north coast highway at the border between Semarang city and Kendal regency. It was relocated from Tinjomoyo three years ago.
Kusyanto said the zoo had arranged to offer nothing new to lure visitors this year, but added that the entrance fee of Rp 7,500 (83 US cents) was a draw in itself.
Alternative attractions at the zoo include the air bicycle, elephant and flying fox children's rides as well as having one's picture taken with animals, including snakes.
"We have promised the kids we will go to the zoo during the holiday. If they're happy, we're happy," said a visitor from Kendal, Wahyono, who brought along his two children, who are third and fifth graders.
Some of the animals showed signs of agitation at the increase in the number of visitors, including some primates and a pelican, which opted to relocate to a quieter nook of its cage.
"The owa-owa monkey has just given birth, so it's a bit stressed out because there are so many people," Kusyanto said.
Visitors have also flocked to other recreational places in Semarang, including Lele Park, Wonderia Amusement Center, and the Blaster and Water Park in Jangli and Semawis.
Thousands of cars were deadlocked on a 10-kilometer stretch of the Cirebon-Kuningan section of the highway due to the increase in tourists in the area.
The Linggarjati mountainous area in Cilimus district, Sangkanurip hot springs in Cigandamekar district and Curug Sidomba hot springs in Jalaksana district were the most heavily congested tourist attractions in the region.
"As of Thursday, 200,000 tourists had visited the three tourist destinations. Most of them were holidaymakers who have been visiting their hometowns in Kuningan, Cirebon and Indramayu," head of the Kuningan Tourism Agency Yayan Sofyan said Friday.
"The congestion was due to thousands of vehicles packing the road at the same time. We predict that more than 100,000 vehicles have used the roads since Thursday," Kuningan Police operations division chief Comr. Priyono said.
Priyono said the police had diverted traffic from the main road to two alternative routes to reduce congestion.
Traffic on the Cirebon-Beber-Jalaksana-Kuningan route was being diverted to the Cirebon-Sumber-Mandirancan-Ciracas and the Cirebon-Sindanglaut-Ciledug-Kuningan routes.
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