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Way Kambas National Park remains closed
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From 2016 to 2019, Way Kambas National Park in Lampung has welcomed 14 elephants. (Shutterstock/Arief Adhari)
W
ay Kambas National Park in Lampung is to remain closed for now, even though East Lampung regency, where the park lies, is considered a COVID-19 green zone.
Way Kambas National Park spokesman Sukatmoko said the park management was still discussing how the health protocol should be applied, particularly in the tourist sector that involves elephants.
“The majority of our visitors want to ride the elephants,” Sukatmoko told kompas.com. “It’s impossible to enforce social distancing with the minimum distance of 1 meter.”
Read also: Wild elephant gives birth in Way Kambas National Park
Prior to its temporary closure, the national park was visited by 2,000 to 5,000 people per month. The number would increase to more than 20,000 visitors during the Idul Fitri holiday and school holidays. Most visitors are keen to interact with the elephants in the park.
Additionally, the national park is often visited by travelers and researchers from abroad. Handling such visits would require extra caution on the part of the staff in applying health protocol.
Located on 125,631.31 hectares of land, Way Kambas National Park is known as a great place to see elephants, especially as visitors are allowed to feed and play with the animals. (wir/wng)
