TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Idul Fitri holiday tourists told to love protected animals
The Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) and Animal Friends Jogja (AFJ) called on the public to avoid performances that included animals and having their picture taken with animals at zoos
Change Size
T
he Center for Orangutan Protection (COP) and Animal Friends Jogja (AFJ) called on the public to avoid performances that included animals and having their picture taken with animals at zoos.
AFJ campaign coordinator Angelina Pane said that the Idul Fitri holidays were an especially tough period on animals in zoos due to the sheer number of visitors.
'We really hope visitors act wisely by not watching animals in the circus or taking pictures with animals,' Angelina said recently.
Some 20 COP and AFJ activists, with clown face paint, staged a rally on Friday at Yogyakarta ground zero for about an hour.
Angelina said that during the Idul Fitri holiday people usually flocked to zoos and safari parks. This could be seen from the drastic increase in the number of visitors.
Yet, despite the benefit the increased number of visitors bring to the zoo or park's coffers, the animals are stressed by the situation.
'Try something different from visiting zoos, going to the circus or taking pictures with animals. You and your family have to participate in stopping violence against wild animals,' Angelina said.
Meanwhile, COP campaign coordinator Daniek Hendarto said when humans stared at animals it made them depressed and stressed.
He said that neither the circus or taking pictures with animals had educational value and zoos had a moral obligation to educate people.
Animals used in the circus, he said, had undergone hard and sometimes violent training.
'Those wild animals are forced to entertain,' Daniek said.
He added that rally's would also be conducted in other cities including Jakarta.
He said the call was deliberately aimed at the people to raise awareness.
However, the activists' call seemed to fall on deaf ears as thousands of holiday tourists flocked zoos across the country on Wednesday.
Zoos are favored by many because the entrance fee is low.
Yogyakarta Gembira Loka Zoo marketing employee Yosep Kurniawan said that visitor numbers could increase up to 300 percent during the Idul Fitri holidays, which is why, he said, more skilled animal shows, feeding activities and photo opportunities had been scheduled.
He denied the accusation that such activities stressed out the animals. Rather, he said, it was a form of conservation education.
'For picture taking with snakes, for example, we do not just use one snake but a number of them. If the first hour was done with snake A, the next hour is conducted with snake B,' Yosep said.
