L

ike with most human beings, living a solitary life can be hard for animals, including the inhabitants of Taru Jurug Animal Park In Surakarta, Central Java.

The park'€™s director Bimo Wahyu Widodo Dasir Santoso says that dozens of animals in its collection, some endangered species, are prone to stress and illness after living without mates for years.

'€œWithout mates they cannot breed. Other impacts include getting stressed and sick,'€ Bimo told The Jakarta Post recently.

He revealed that dozens of animals at the zoo had died without producing offspring because since 2011 many have had no partners to reproduce with.

He feared that if no mates were found for some animals soon, their species would vanish from the zoo completely as the last remaining of some species were getting old.

According to data at the park, Taru Jurug currently has 24 animals that are the last of their species and without a mate, or that face other mating issues. Some of those are protected species.

Among them are a honey bear, a dromedary (single-humped) camel, a Javanese leopard, a Sumatran tiger, a hippopotamus, a pygmy hippopotamus, a black langur, an owa monkey, a Tonkean monkey, a Javanese bull, a crocodile and various bird species.

Some of them do not have mates because they arrived at the park without mates; others because their mates have died already.

Bimo said the zoo did not insist on all the animals in the park having mates, just what was available for breeding purposes.

For example, Bimo said, Taru Jurung currently had six dromedary camels, of which one was male and the rest were female.

He said in normal conditions just one male camel could reproduce with the five female camels. The problem was, he said, the male camel was already over 30 years old and another male camel at reproductive age was needed. '€œWe don'€™t need five, just once will do.'€

He said the park management had reported the case to the Central Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA).

The management has also coordinated with zoos across Indonesia regarding animals it needs for breeding purposes.

Head of Central Java BKSDA'€™s Region I in Surakarta, Johan Setiawan, said that it took time and a certain process to find mates for the animals and it could not all be done simultaneously.

'€œWe have to see first, starting from the database at the Central Java BKSDA, to see if the mates needed are available in zoos in the province. Otherwise, we have to wait until we find the animals needed,'€ Johan said on Monday.

He said his office would also share information about animals needed with the Forestry Ministry.

Taru Jurug was established in 1878. Located on the border of Surakarta and Karanganyar regency, the park currently has 263 animals in its collection.

In 2012, a lion escaped from the zoo after one of the keepers forgot to lock its cage.

The zoo management blamed '€œloneliness'€ for the escape and zoo keepers decided it was necessary to find the lion a '€œroommate'€.

Then Surakarta mayor Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo agreed that the zookeeper'€™s error was not the sole cause of the escape.

Jokowi, now the President, also agreed that finding the lion a partner would be one way to help prevent similar incidents occuring.