Bandung Zoo

P

Peter Dickinson

Well-Known Member
The Bandung Zoo was built in 1933 when two older Bandung City zoos were brought together on the new site. Whereas the trees are mature and the gardens attractive the animal housing has probably changed little since the place was built.
 
vogelcommando said:
The zoo stays in the news :( :

Situation at Bandung Zoo Highlights Need for Amendment of Conservation Law: Activists | Jakarta Globe
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It highlights the need to Ensure adequate funding and a national (and legal) framework for ex situ husbandry, management and conservation breeding in Indonesia's zoos to enable the local zoo community to adequately perform that much needed role in a range state with many endangered and threatened and endemic species.

I would never go so far as to advocate shutting a zoo: again this is ... counter-productive and will never be able to ensure that local conservation ethics are upheld in situ and inside and outside protected areas for local wildlife, floras and habitats. Zoos aside from their animal management / conservation breeding tasks perform an essential role in education and awareness building of environmental issues and enabling the general public to get up close with wildlife. NOTA BENE: People will never be able / or will conserve something or life forms they do not know nor value.
 
vogelcommando said:
Petition to close Bandung Zoo :

Indonesia 'Death Zoo': President Widodo Petitioned to Save Starving Sun Bears at Bandung Zoo
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All well and good ...! Where will the sun bears go? The Indonesian state fails rescue centers as it is. This petition will not serve any purpose in raising welfare levels in Indonesia's zoos nor ensure better living conditions for the bears nor any other animals in the Bandung Zoo. In fact, it will make it much much worse.

I would rather have it that petitions would call for better zoo management, miminum husbandry and keeping standards and ensuring that sufficient municipal or provincial funding is in place to ensure basics are provided for in any zoo (not just Bandung).
 
To start with some zoo news of some importance.

A male Malayan tapir born 28/7/2017. The parents are a male born and bred in KB Bandung and a female loaned out by Ragunan in Jakarta for breeding.The current population in Bandung is 5.3 individuals.
 
FunkyGibbon said:
The idea that this zoo usually has a guard who was temporarily absent is frankly laughable.

EDIT: I already regret saying this, as I haven't visited. But based on other Indonesian zoos I find it VERY unlikely.
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I get your point and would be inclined to agree, as it does seem a bit unrealistic based upon my experience of Indonesian zoos too. I mean, some of the zoos are pretty well staffed, but I have never seen guards before.
 
Thanks to Taman Safari and cee4life, Bandung Zoo is getting better since 2017. The upgrade includes larger exhibits for the animals and the Bornean sun bears getting fatter (Except for Kardit since he's already very old, he would be 30 if he's still alive) and also got a natural substrate exhibit.
Current Projects – Ongoing | CEE4Life

Also, Bandung Zoo is actually the first zoo that I've know in Indonesia that listen to the public and tried their best to change, so huge respect for them. I also disagree with the petition to close the zoo, instead to fund the zoo so it could get better. A lot of Indonesian internet users sometimes commented on Indonesian zoo related posts and told them to release their animals into the wild. Which from what I learn, takes a lot of time and can't instantly be released and expect it to survive in the wild (With the exception of those that are recently caught from the wild). Also, some animals in Indonesian zoos and aquariums came from the pet trade, literally a captive breed animals that can't be released into the wild.

Also, Indonesia is known mostly in Western countries and some in Indonesia as the home to the worst zoo in the world, which is true that there are indeed awful zoos in Indonesia like Surabaya Zoo or Medan Zoo, but they generalized Indonesian zoos by saying that they are all bad. Which is one of the thing that I hate about the internet mindset, which is to generalize a certain group because one or more individual of a group do something bad, then that entire group is bad. Bali Zoo is the best Indonesian zoos (Just look at their posts on their social media) in my opinion, there is even a very large exhibit housing only one to three ostrich and a group of helmeted guineafowls on the zoo, but since it's a Indonesian zoo does that mean it's a awful or cruel zoo? Definitely no for me.

I haven't really seen any article like "Remember the starving bears in Indonesia, this is them now" or something like that, if there is any, let me know.

One of their recent upgrade is a new open "lion king" themed African lion exhibit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJA4L1RgvAV/?igshid=ytjyd11mmmth

With new zoos and aquariums that open since 2017, Indonesian zoos in Java and Bali is getting better, although some practises like elephant rides or shows should be removed alongside a photo booths for baby mammals and small exhibits.
 
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I think I got carried away, so sorry for the rant guys.
Nandito said:
Also, Indonesia is known mostly in Western countries and some in Indonesia as the home to the worst zoo in the world, which is true that there are indeed awful zoos in Indonesia like Surabaya Zoo or Medan Zoo, but they generalized Indonesian zoos by saying that they are all bad. Which is one of the thing that I hate about the internet mindset, which is to generalize a certain group because one or more individual of a group do something bad, then that entire group is bad. Bali Zoo is the best Indonesian zoos (Just look at their posts on their social media) in my opinion, there is even a very large exhibit housing only one to three ostrich and a group of helmeted guineafowls on the zoo, but since it's a Indonesian zoo does that mean it's a awful or cruel zoo? Definitely no for me.
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About this one, I forgot to say that I don't assume every people in western countries have that mindset since I don't want to be a hypocrite and generalizing people, should've add "some" I think.
 
Nandito said:
Thanks to Taman Safari and cee4life, Bandung Zoo is getting better since 2017. The upgrade includes larger exhibits for the animals and the Bornean sun bears getting fatter (Except for Kardit since he's already very old, he would be 30 if he's still alive) and also got a natural substrate exhibit.
Current Projects – Ongoing | CEE4Life

Also, Bandung Zoo is actually the first zoo that I've know in Indonesia that listen to the public and tried their best to change, so huge respect for them. I also disagree with the petition to close the zoo, instead to fund the zoo so it could get better. A lot of Indonesian internet users sometimes commented on Indonesian zoo related posts and told them to release their animals into the wild. Which from what I learn, takes a lot of time and can't instantly be released and expect it to survive in the wild (With the exception of those that are recently caught from the wild). Also, some animals in Indonesian zoos and aquariums came from the pet trade, literally a captive breed animals that can't be released into the wild.

Also, Indonesia is known mostly in Western countries and some in Indonesia as the home to the worst zoo in the world, which is true that there are indeed awful zoos in Indonesia like Surabaya Zoo or Medan Zoo, but they generalized Indonesian zoos by saying that they are all bad. Which is one of the thing that I hate about the internet mindset, which is to generalize a certain group because one or more individual of a group do something bad, then that entire group is bad. Bali Zoo is the best Indonesian zoos (Just look at their posts on their social media) in my opinion, there is even a very large exhibit housing only one to three ostrich and a group of helmeted guineafowls on the zoo, but since it's a Indonesian zoo does that mean it's a awful or cruel zoo? Definitely no for me.

I haven't really seen any article like "Remember the starving bears in Indonesia, this is them now" or something like that, if there is any, let me know.

One of their recent upgrade is a new open "lion king" themed African lion exhibit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJA4L1RgvAV/?igshid=ytjyd11mmmth

With new zoos and aquariums that open since 2017, Indonesian zoos in Java and Bali is getting better, although some practises like elephant rides or shows should be removed alongside a photo booths for baby mammals and small exhibits.
Click to expand...

When I went to Bandung Zoo back in 2019, it was drastically different that the photos I saw on social media, especially ones with the ugly bear exhibits where the sunbears are starving to death and it was almost as bad as Surabaya Zoo. However, it was different than what I imagined. When I went into the zoo, the exhibits are now as good as Taman Safari Cisarua, considering that TSI themselves now own Bandung Zoo. The bears are much chubbier than before, and the exhibits has been refurbished. Not to mention, one of Alshad Ahmad's pet Bengal Tiger, Jinora is in the zoo too!

Well, there are still some exhibits that needs some refurbishment, and the zoo has an overpopulation of binturongs, to the point that some of them are kept in small barren cages. I suggest that they give away their surplus binturong stock to other Taman Safari parks and Indonesian zoos, or send them abroad to zoos outside Indonesia as a gift. If I'm not wrong, Lembang Park & Zoo got their binturongs from Bandung Zoo. The new exhibits I saw there was the reptile area, which had natural setup and good spacing for the snakes and lizards there. The sailfin dragon exhibit even got a pool of water for them to swim. They also had a small aquarium area with two species of gars (alligator and spotted) as well as assorted American cichlids and some bichirs.

If I have time, I'll upload some photos from my 2019 visit to make it clearer.
 
I have seen some design and upgrade plans for several Jawa zoos and I expect over time more zoos in the region will want to upgrade. Same for Sumatera.
 
Visiting this thread again as myself in 2022 is the equivalent of revisiting an old personal Twitter thread. But, this gave me a chance to talk a bit more about myself without me making another thread.

Since I joined ZooChat in September 2020 and as I grew older, my view on zoos, aquarium, and captivity as a whole has changed. I used to think that "If a zoo or aquarium have a lot of rare animals instead of common ones, then it is a good, nay, great zoo or aquarium". Hell, I used to be a fan of Lembang Park and Zoo.

I never really think about the appropriateness and naturalness of exhibits, animal welfare, and conservation. As long as the zoo has toco toucans, brown hyena, cheetah, or Siberian tiger, 2020-2021 me would be drooling, without thinking of the three things I said above.

In December of 2022, things just snapped into my mind, I realized that the way Indonesian zoos and aquariums managed their collection is, in my opinion, wrong. Most zoos and aquariums treat their animals like entertainment, like pets or content probs, without thinking some as endangered species that need to be properly taken care of and breed. Some other zoos and aquariums barely have a conservation/breeding program at all. Some zoos and aquariums began using captive morphs, physically deformed animals, and man-made hybrids to attract visitors.

Since earlier this year, I had tried to not think much about the "quality" of a zoo's or aquarium's collection. You can give me red-eared sliders, freshwater aquascape fish, or songbirds you often seen in bird markets, I wouldn't be fumming calling the zoos or aquarium "terrible" or "downgraded", as long as it is not the three type of animals I said above. What I do care dearly is the care of the animals and the conservation program, if a zoo or aquarium have awful exhibits and/or animal welfare, promote unrestricted wildlife interaction, strong ties with "educational" influencers, and barely having any actual conservation program, then these places going to end up on my naughty zoo/aquarium list until they're properly reformed.
 
I'll try to fix one of my older reply to this thread.

Nandito said:
Thanks to Taman Safari and cee4life, Bandung Zoo is getting better since 2017. The upgrade includes larger exhibits for the animals and the Bornean sun bears getting fatter (Except for Kardit since he's already very old, he would be 30 if he's still alive) and also got a natural substrate exhibit.
Click to expand...
It's not going any better, but atleast much more decent that pre-2017 Bandung Zoo. One of the core problem with Bandung Zoo back then is their sun bears. Yes, they're getting chubbier, but their exhibits have only minimal changes, it's still small and unnatural.

Nandito said:
Also, Bandung Zoo is actually the first zoo that I've know in Indonesia that listen to the public and tried their best to change, so huge respect for them. I also disagree with the petition to close the zoo, instead to fund the zoo so it could get better. A lot of Indonesian internet users sometimes commented on Indonesian zoo related posts and told them to release their animals into the wild. Which from what I learn, takes a lot of time and can't instantly be released and expect it to survive in the wild (With the exception of those that are recently caught from the wild). Also, some animals in Indonesian zoos and aquariums came from the pet trade, literally a captive breed animals that can't be released into the wild.
Click to expand...
Nope, they don't listen to the public and quote-on-quote "tried their best to change". Who they mostly listen to is PKBSI, who most probably ordered Bandung Zoo to be refurbished because it gained a massive worldwide outcries and they didn't want to seen as a bad institution, Taman Safari Indonesia, who actually did helped the zoo in many ways but not that much, and, since 2019, their sugar daddies Alshad Ahmad and Irfan Hakim.

Even today, I still disagree about the closure of the zoo, since if it was closed, there would be no potential major ex-situ conservation center in Bandung, and worse, it will be replaced by Lembang Park and Zoo as a major zoo in the Bandung region. But, I also disagree about the larger funding of the zoo, I don't think it would significantly helped the modernization of the zoo's exhibits and animal welfare, as well as their conservation program, instead it's probably ended up on "improvement projects" like new wildlife interaction areas and amusement area.

I'm 100% supporting the calls to release some of the animals into the wild, especially local endangered species, although of course still went with appropriate procedures (Rehabilitation program for example).

Nandito said:
Also, Indonesia is known mostly in Western countries and some in Indonesia as the home to the worst zoo in the world, which is true that there are indeed awful zoos in Indonesia like Surabaya Zoo or Medan Zoo, but they generalized Indonesian zoos by saying that they are all bad. Which is one of the thing that I hate about the internet mindset, which is to generalize a certain group because one or more individual of a group do something bad, then that entire group is bad. Bali Zoo is the best Indonesian zoos (Just look at their posts on their social media) in my opinion, there is even a very large exhibit housing only one to three ostrich and a group of helmeted guineafowls on the zoo, but since it's a Indonesian zoo does that mean it's a awful or cruel zoo? Definitely no for me.
Click to expand...
Well, they should. Since these institutions most definetly going to "try their best" to reform when the outside world began to notice their tomfoolery.

Anyway, Bali Zoo aren't even that great really. Yes, their exhibits are good but not all of them. Moved away from exhibits, this place literally display their Sunda pangolins for people to touch, poke, and play with, meanwhile their exhibits is far from the word decent. It's a miracle that these pangolins remain so long.

Nandito said:
I haven't really seen any article like "Remember the starving bears in Indonesia, this is them now" or something like that, if there is any, let me know.
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I'm not asking now and not going to try to find one myself.

Nandito said:
With new zoos and aquariums that open since 2017, Indonesian zoos in Java and Bali is getting better, although some practises like elephant rides or shows should be removed alongside a photo booths for baby mammals and small exhibits.
Click to expand...
Big nope for this one. Absolutely no new zoos and aquariums in Indonesia since 2019 has been good, let alone great. There's the hell-hole that is Central Park and Zoo, as well as the Coachella of Indonesian zoo, Lembang Park and Zoo. I have a very pessimistic hope for RANS Carnival City Zoo (If you learn more about this upcoming zoo, you learn why) and for BSD City Zoo, which most definetly going to be a clone of Lembang Park and Zoo.
 
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