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Rare anoa latest casualty of Surabaya'€™s '€˜death zoo'€™

Another animal has died at the notorious Surabaya Zoo, as a 19-year-old male anoa, also known as a midget buffalo, named Happy, was found dead in its cage on Wednesday

Indra Harsaputra (The Jakarta Post)
Surabaya
Thu, February 27, 2014

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Rare anoa latest casualty of Surabaya'€™s '€˜death zoo'€™

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nother animal has died at the notorious Surabaya Zoo, as a 19-year-old male anoa, also known as a midget buffalo, named Happy, was found dead in its cage on Wednesday.

'€œThe anoa was very old. It was found dead in its cage at around 11:30 a.m.,'€ zoo spokesman Agus Supangkat told reporters on Wednesday.

'€œFor the past month, Happy had been on our watch list of sick and old animals,'€ he continued, adding that the zoo'€™s medical team was still conducting an autopsy on Happy.

Now that Happy is gone, the zoo has only five remaining anoas. The anoa is an endangered species native to Sulawesi.

The Surabaya Zoo has gained international notoriety after 10 different species have died there over the past two months. Among the dead animals were a gnu, a lion, a mountain goat, a Bawean deer, two barking deer, a Komodo dragon, baboon, a nilgai (blue bull) and now Happy the anoa.

The deaths have been blamed on years of bad management. Activists have sent reports and recommendations calling for improvements in the zoo, but they were apparently ignored by the previous zoo management.

In end of January, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan handed over management of the zoo to the Surabaya municipality under Mayor Tri Rismaharini in the hope that the city would improve conditions at the zoo and save the wildlife.

According to the financial and human resources director at the Surabaya Zoo Provincial Enterprise (PDTS), Fuad Hasan, the city officially took over management on Feb. 17.

'€œWe have reclaimed the permit after it was revoked in 2010. It means that the PDTS and the Surabaya administration have full authority over the zoo,'€ Fuad said.

Fuad said that they were working to conduct research on other conservation centers and repair, replace and expand cages. The priority right now, he said, were the pelicans and Bali starlings.

Meanwhile, the Surabaya Police have stopped its investigation into the death of an 18-month-old lion named Michael, which was found hanged to death in its cage by a loose cable.

'€œInvestigators have gathered evidence and asked experts on this case. The conclusion is, Michael was not murdered. It was an accident,'€ said head of the special crime unit at the Surabaya Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Farman.

While Michael'€™s case has been closed, Farman said, the police were still investigating alleged embezzlement in the zoo'€™s animal exchange program.

'€œThe animal exchange program indeed violated some regulations, but we cannot reveal this right now,'€ Farman said, adding that the police were looking into six agreements made between the former zoo management, led by Tony Sumampau, and other institutions in 2013.

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