Snowleopard's 2024 Road Trip: Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore & Indonesia

[pachyderm pro]

This particular zoo is not only 'The Amazing' Taman Safari Bali and the 3rd of the parks (hence the III on many signs)

Kinda hilarious how they choose to name their zoos like movie sequels. It's like if Berlin Tierpark was just called Berlin Zoo 2.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

also multiple Pangolin exhibits in a darkened, cave-like area. We saw one Pangolin that was incredibly active, walking around its exhibit and even bathing in its pool.

Both Bali Zoo and Bali Safari/Taman Safari Bali seems to put the pangolins as one of their small mammal attractions, I'm suprised that they came rather late in Taman Safari parks of Java.

They're held in PCBA in Prigen and would probably be on-display in the future. Taman Safari Bogor briefly had them in the corner of the Primate Centre in 2024, though seems to be off-display as of now.

Taman Safari III Bali has a Children's Zoo, with, somewhat inexplicably, Giant Panda statues at the entrance.

This is just a show to promote the Safari park in Cisarua, which have two giant pandas, Cai Tao and Hu Chun. Taman Safari Indonesia are very proud of that achievement that they had status or panda memoribilias in most of their park, even in their Aquarium in Jakarta.

Asian Elephants are iconic animals anywhere, especially in Indonesia and we saw a couple of elephants being walked around the zoo. From my image, you can see a visitor (red-and-white shirt) standing next to the pachyderm and getting a photo. Anyone can just walk up to an elephant and snap a photo, although I think that it's hinted one should tip the handler. There's zero barriers whatsoever and with the swaying of the trunk it seems ultra risky to me, but then again I'm a westernized Canadian and so I'm not used to seeing elephants at such close contact.

It's what generally are the selling point to Indonesian zoos; not to see the animals, but to interact with them. These are very popular with local Indonesians, and these zoos know that it will bring tons of money and engagement. There are very few imperative for Indonesian zoos for displaying rarer species and making their own projects, a lot of their revenue ends up on the entertainment parts of the zoo.

Sadly, things like this are what practically funded these zoo, the care of the animals, and even conservation and research. It's something that are super hard to change, but that's not something I would condone.

The only "flaws" that I could see a zoo nerd pointing out would be the keepers going in with the Asian Elephants, Tigers and Orangutans, but those are cultural elements to the zoo that won't change soon.

In a sense of this being a culture in Indonesia, I wouldn't say so. Perhaps the correct term is business cultures/practises, they know that having people interacted with these animals and treat them around like pet stars brings ablot of money. Especially when we're talking about Taman Safari Indonesia, which are known to do this practise and has been in a lot of problems for.

 

[ralph]

I should have visited the Safaripark when I was in Bali in 2016, it looks fantastic! I have less regrets about not visiting the zoo, as like you mentioned, it wasn't as good back then and animal welfare seemed dubious.
I did visit the Bird and Reptile park and I especially enjoyed the former!

I could never do a 'zoo-only' trip to countries like these though. There is so much non-zoo stuff to see and do. For instance on Bali (and surrounding smaller islands), I swam with Manta Rays, saw Frasiers dolphins from a boat during sunrise and got to release a baby sea turtle to the ocean.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Two days on Bali was fantastic for Konstantin and I. The hospitality and vibrant community of Indonesians on that island was a pleasure to behold and we thoroughly enjoyed our time visiting 4 attractions. Bali Zoo is a world away from what it apparently was a few years ago, a now much improved facility, and both Bali Reptile Park and Bali Bird Park are specialist facilities that I'd highly recommend. Where else can you see 22 monitor species or a whole row of half-a-dozen bird-of-paradise aviaries? Taman Safari III Bali is the best of the lot, as it's a terrific safari park that can easily be a full day out for families.

We then caught an evening flight from Denpasar to Surabaya (Flight # 9 for the trip!) and landed on Java, where we would have 8 full days of visiting zoos.

Zoo/Aquarium #39: Surabaya Zoo (Surabaya, Indonesia) - Part 1 of 3

Apparently the very first Surabaya Zoo opened in 1916, shifted its location in 1917, then moved again in 1920 and a new plot of land was purchased in 1927 (all from Wikipedia). It ended up being 37 acres/15 hectares in size, so almost identical to London Zoo. It's a far cry from the Taman Safari parks, as Surabaya Zoo is an old, historic facility and it's jam-packed with animals. However, the accommodation is all over the map, with some excellent exhibits and a lot of enclosures that require some TLC. This review will need 3 parts as there is a lot to see in those 37 acres.

This is a zoo that used to have an absolutely massive animal collection, including at least one Sumatran Rhino in the 1990s, but also a facility that had a ton of bad press around 15-20 years ago, with numerous animal deaths and dodgy occurrences. For perhaps the first time on the trip we had to hustle, as after Surabaya we had an Uber/Grab driver lined up to take us to Taman Safari II Prigen afterwards. It was a very, very long day, per usual, but honestly one of the best days of the whole vacation.

I uploaded 220 photos of Surabaya Zoo into the gallery and there is now a comprehensive account of the zoo on this site.

Like so many Southeast Asian zoos, there's statues right inside the entrance gates.

There's a group of old-fashioned aviaries that are crowded with birds, such as 20 pelicans together or this massive group of Black-headed Ibises.

There's lots of murals, sculptures and photo opportunities.

A rather basic African Savanna is home to Giraffes, Sitatunga and Ostrich.

Surabaya Zoo is attempting to modernize. There's easily a half-dozen empty cages like this one that all have zero animals and there's even a couple of plaques explaining the progress the zoo is making. This particular cage housed a Lowland Gorilla in the 1970s and into the 1980s, but from what I could judge (based on signs), all of these type of outdated cages have not held any animals whatsoever since at least 2019. They just sit mostly empty, although this one has a Lowland Gorilla statue inside.

The zoo often has multiple exhibits for the same species, such as an area with an aviary for Von Der Decken's Hornbills, two aviaries for Wreathed Hornbills, Knobbed Hornbills, Rhinoceros Hornbills and two aviaries for Oriental Pied Hornbills. To see 5 hornbill species in one area is intriguing for visitors.

There's at least THREE Cassowary exhibits in this general area, plus an assortment of other aviaries. Rows of birds!

There's some newer exhibits that are kind of odd looking, with bizarre mock-rock features, such as this one for Javan Porcupines. Nearby are similar, new exhibits for Ring-tailed Lemurs and Raccoons.

Surabaya Zoo has a real strength with primates and they have the following 15 species. The exhibit quality has quite the range (poor, good, excellent) and the collection includes 6 macaque species and there's 22 primate exhibits in total.

Here's the breakdown:

Bornean Orangutan (3 exhibits), Siamang (2 exhibits), Silvery Gibbon, Agile Gibbon (2 exhibits), Proboscis Monkey (2 exhibits), Japanese Macaque (2 exhibits), Moor Macaque (2 exhibits), Booted Macaque, Southern Pig-tailed Macaque, Crab-eating Macaque, Sulawesi Crested Macaque, Hamadryas Baboon, East Javan Langur, Tufted Capuchin and Ring-tailed Lemur.

Japanese Macaque exhibit:

A troop of maybe 10 or 12 Proboscis Monkeys inhabit this exhibit. This species is also found free-roaming around the zoo.

There are THREE Bornean Orangutan exhibits and in truth none of them are great. Here's an example:

There are TWO exhibits for Moor Macaques:

The primate highlight is a troop of Proboscis Monkeys mixed with a herd of Bawean Deer on an island habitat that's probably close to an acre in size. This is possibly the enclosure that held a Sumatran Rhino in the past and I've heard that the Proboscis Monkeys here are the ones that occasionally leave their island home and free-range throughout the zoo. (We didn't see any 'wild' monkeys during our visit)

There's an enormous walkway, with intricately carved beams all along, that is quite spectacular. From here, visitors can look out at the Proboscis Monkeys, some gibbon islands, and an Aoudad mountain enclosure.

One of the truly superb primate exhibits is a Siamang island, with huge trees and plenty of opportunities for brachiation. By zooming in, it's possible to spot two Siamangs near the top of the big tree on the left. Bawean Deer and Proboscis Monkeys are in the exhibit in the background.

One interesting thing about Surabaya Zoo is that there are LOADS of little family-owned kiosks that sell potato chips, soft drinks, tons of candy, snacks and various trinkets. At certain locations, we walked past heaps of them and everyone is out selling their wares to zoo visitors.

There's a few big cat exhibits, specifically TWO African Lion enclosures and TWO Tiger enclosures (one for Bengal, one for Sumatran).

African Lion exhibit with an enormous moat:

Bengal Tiger exhibit:

Hippos are a dime a dozen all throughout Southeast Asian zoos, and if anyone ever wishes to import hippos then there's tons of them available.

Common Hippo exhibit:

Surabaya Zoo has one Common Hippo exhibit and THREE Pygmy Hippo exhibits all in a row. That part of the zoo is a hippo bonanza, but the enclosures are what I would deem as fairly basic, old-school enclosures. I'd be intrigued to know when they were built. Maybe the always helpful @Rizz Carlton knows?

Up next: Surabaya Zoo - Parts 2 + 3 (lots of hoofstock, Komodo Dragons galore, an Aquarium that requires a separate fee, etc.)

 

[Rizz Carlton]

It's a far cry from the Taman Safari parks, as Surabaya Zoo is an old, historic facility and it's jam-packed with animals. However, the accommodation is all over the map, with some excellent exhibits and a lot of enclosures that require some TLC.

I consider zoos like Surabaya, Ragunan, Gembira Loka, Bandung, Semarang, and few other smaller examples as the "classic city zoos". These are old zoos that are very popular with the general public, often with a visibly aging infrastructures and exhibits that range from totally-awful to mediocre exhibits that are bare minimum to a great attempt at a modernizations like the great ape exhibits in the Schmutzer Primate Centre.

Surabaya is definitely one, but they're method of modernizing appears to just be paint their exhibits with just yellow paint, no idea why. A lot of these are just repainted old exhibits, so most of the time things barely changes.

This is a zoo that used to have an absolutely massive animal collection, including at least one Sumatran Rhino in the 1990s

I learn from old blogs that Surabaya Zoo is considered to be "Asia's largest and best" zoo in the past. Back then, they seems really interested in displaying interesting collection; Sumatran rhinoceros, western lowland gorilla, dugong, Turkmenian kulan, and even an Irrawaddy dolphin from Samudra Ancol. Though it's worth noting that them being the "best zoo" is mot likely just in term of collection, these animals obviously lived in horrible conditions with awfully small cages and such.

Aside from half-hearted attempts to "modernize" their exhibits, their priority has changed after the COVID-19 pandemic. They had invested a lot more in non-animal attractions; photo opportunities, 4D theatres, and recently a 3D "illusion house". So, there aren't really much new and interesting new (sub)species coming in. Even then, the recently new animals are those that are generally very popular with the general public as exotic pets, like serval, caracal, white tigers, and capybara. The few interesting species that they have, the macaques and others, are simply remnants of the collection-minded management before and I'd doubt they would bother to restock them in the future.

These is a result in a somewhat demeaning (even a subtle xenocentrist) view that Indonesians only needs to be entertained in zoos and others. Not with seeing the animals and learn about them, but to interact with them like pets as well as animal shows (Often masked as presentation), as well as the often out of place themed parks and other attractions, where all those lands and money could've be used to the betterment of their animals, such as constructing better exhibits and funding their own conservation projects. This is a very complex issue with a lot of factors, though local internet pushing contents of exotic pet keepers and interactions are obviously to blame, but in some ways the overall socio-economic & socially constructed factors are also in play.

Like so many Southeast Asian zoos, there's statues right inside the entrance gates.

The statue is a memorial for Hilmi Achmad Oesman, the former director of Surabaya Zoo post-independence in the 50's and 60's, as well as one of the founder of PKBSI, the Indonesian association for zoos and other zoological institutions.

Very little informations I could find about this figure online, though it seems like he had introduced conservation efforts in Indonesian zoos and apparently passed away during a natural expedition in Banten (Merak is a port there) in 1972.

There's a group of old-fashioned aviaries that are crowded with birds, such as 20 pelicans together or this massive group of Black-headed Ibises.

One of the issues that Surabaya got a backlash from is the overcrowded aviaries, notably for the pelicans. The Telegraph have an article and picture for that.
Surabaya Zoo: animals kept in scandalous conditions at Indonesia's largest zoo

It seems to be the same even today, though not as "severe" as back then. This is what I meant when I say that their "modernizations" attempt are half-hearted.

Surabaya Zoo is attempting to modernize. There's easily a half-dozen empty cages like this one that all have zero animals and there's even a couple of plaques explaining the progress the zoo is making. This particular cage housed a Lowland Gorilla in the 1970s and into the 1980s, but from what I could judge (based on signs), all of these type of outdated cages have not held any animals whatsoever since at least 2019. They just sit mostly empty, although this one has a Lowland Gorilla statue inside.

These empty exhibits are one of the areas designated by the zoo as a "cultural and historical sites". These older exhibits as well as couple of other infrastructures such as the original management building and Dutch East Indies-watchtower are designated as such.

This former exhibit hold an male western lowland gorilla named Makua, an gorilla from Rotterdam that arrived in I think the 70's and was one of the zoo's popular attractions. Though in my opinion the only factor is not because that these are old exhibits to show what they used to look like, because there's a couple of others exhibit that are literally the same as these that are still used, probably even as old as the "historical exhibits".

Surabaya Zoo has one Common Hippo exhibit and THREE Pygmy Hippo exhibits all in a row. That part of the zoo is a hippo bonanza, but the enclosures are what I would deem as fairly basic, old-school enclosures. I'd be intrigued to know when they were built. Maybe the always helpful @Rizz Carlton knows?

Eh, I'm not sure. A lot of "old-school" exhibits in city zoos here aren't actually that old, a lot of them are build from as recent as the 2000's. It's that these designs are a lot cheaper to build, at the cost of the animals living conditions. So, the hippo complex could be rather old, but also even fairly recent.

Though I probably lean on the former, since Surabaya Zoo appears to be the biggest sourcer of hippos in Indonesian zoos, even as far as the 70's. The common and pygmy hippos at Bandung Zoo and Lembang Park & Zoo came from Surabaya, probably the same case with the hippos in Siantar Zoo (North Sumatra) and Jurug Solo Zoo (Now Solo Safari). The single male hippo at Gembira Loka Zoo, named Gombloh, actually came from Surabaya in 1978 and is still alive to this day!

 

[Nile Hippo Expert]

How many Nile Hippos live at Surabaya Zoo, I know of one individual from Stuttgart, Germany who arrived back in 2002, are there any more hippos there?

 

[Rizz Carlton]

How many Nile Hippos live at Surabaya Zoo, I know of one individual from Stuttgart, Germany who arrived back in 2002, are there any more hippos there?

They have 6 hippos in 2018. That numbers could either increase or decrease as of this year since it's hard to know for sure due to limited information, though two Nile hippos were sent to Lembang a year ago.

Interesting, this is the first time I'm aware of the import from Germany! I know other import include a couple of hippos, one of them named Tilikum, from Australia to Taman Safari Bogor in the 90's and 2000's, as well as one hippo from Japan in the 2000's that was formerly at Samudra Ancol.

The origin of hippos, both Nile and pygmy, in Indonesian zoos are very hard to track down, despite being one of the very popular mammals here.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Part two of my Surabaya Zoo review...

Zoo/Aquarium #39: Surabaya Zoo (Surabaya, Indonesia) - Part 2 of 3

In part one, I looked at a number of exhibits near the zoo's entrance, discussed the 22 primate enclosures scattered around the zoo, and also showcased the 4 big cat exhibits and 4 hippo exhibits. This zoo packs a LOT into its 37 acres.

Let's stick with mammals (the zoo has more than 50 species) and take a glance at the extensive rows of hoofstock enclosures.

The zoo has a large hoofstock collection, including a couple of Blue Wildebeest in an enclosure that surely held a different species in recent times.

Surabaya Zoo is an urban facility, as shown in this photo of the Sambar Deer exhibit (with a herd of 20+) that has a busy street with houses in the background. Telephone wires can be seen, and the hum of traffic is ever present in this part of the grounds.

The zoo has FOUR Javan Rusa Deer paddocks, with this one absolutely jammed with deer! You can see a keeper inside the enclosure, which was a common theme here as there's a lack of separation options in many of the exhibits and we even saw a keeper in with Common Eland.

Another of the zoo's FOUR Javan Rusa Deer exhibits. There must be 150-200 of this deer here at the zoo.

Bawean Deer exhibit:

A herd of approximately 20+ Sitatunga are in this paddock and the zoo has multiple Sitatunga exhibits. Maybe 30 Sitatunga altogether.

There's also Chital, Hog Deer, Southern Red Muntjac, Aoudad, Mouflon, Nilgai, etc., usually all in large numbers. Is it possible that Surabaya Zoo is feeding its carnivores via its own collection? Or selling deer meat to locals? I'm totally speculating, as it seems like the zoo has way too many deer for the smallish exhibits. It's a little bit like stepping into a time machine here, with 'Hoofstock Row' packed to the rafters with hooved animals in all directions...and in big numbers!

In the hoofstock area can also be found TWO exhibits for Agile Wallabies, with circa 40 wallabies in total.

Surprisingly, we only saw a pair of Banteng as that's a species which has been everywhere in big numbers throughout Southeast Asian zoos. Take a look at the rudimentary shelter at the back, as it's just a tiny shed and that's a common occurrence at Surabaya Zoo. I suppose that the weather is so nice that the ungulate accommodation can be quite basic.

There's an area, near the FOUR hippo exhibits, with at least SIX 'pig-themed' enclosures. We saw a series of small pens for Babirusa and Javan Warty Pigs.

Javan Warty Pig:

The Asian Elephant exhibit is very poor, essentially just a flat slab of land a bit larger than what is shown in my photo and the pool (on the left) is very tiny. We saw one elephant here that was poking its head out of its outdated barn, plus a separate section had maybe 4 more Asian Elephants all getting sprayed with a hose in another barn area. Keepers were mingling with the elephants in a hands-on approach.

Here is the 'Elephant Walking Trail' area, where I'm guessing rides are given via the pachyderms. There's a very minimal wooden barrier at the front.

Aoudad Mountain exhibit, where visitors can take a self-propelled boat ride around in the moat.

I have to admit that strolling down the zoo's 'Hoofstock Row' was bittersweet. To see several enclosures loaded with herds of Sitatunga, Javan Rusa Deer and Sambar Deer sounds like a zoo nerd's dream, and it was great seeing all those species and many more up close and personal, but clearly none of the exhibits meet modern standards. There's way too many deer in way too small of a space in each pen. A few of the exhibits are okay, but for the most part this big chunk of Surabaya Zoo is mediocre at best. This is a poor zoo in a poor area that is surrounded by a bustling city.

On a much brighter note, once again we came across a LOT of Komodo Dragons. Already we had seen dragons at Bali Zoo and Bali Reptile Park in Indonesia, and then FOUR Komodo Dragon exhibits at Bali Bird Park and another FOUR Komodo Dragon exhibits at Taman Safari III Bali. Well, Surabaya Zoo has at least EIGHT Komodo Dragon enclosures and I counted more than 50 Komodo Dragons in total. I was told that in the recent past the zoo had 100 dragons and the accommodation in truth is brilliant.

Even the smallest of the Komodo Dragon exhibits might be larger than anything I've ever seen in a zoo anywhere in North America, Europe or Australia. These exhibits are massive and apparently that helps in cutting back on the fighting from the big males, as the dragons have space to retreat after scraps with their neighbours. All of these Komodo Dragon enclosures are found in one area, so to go from exhibit to exhibit is kind of crazy. Lizards galore!

Surabaya Zoo also doesn't ignore small mammals, as there are Capybaras, Raccoons, Small-clawed Otters, etc., plus TWO Banded Mongoose exhibits, TWO Javan Porcupine exhibits, with some of these enclosures having a modern facade.

Banded Mongoose exhibit:

As can be seen, this zoo often has numerous duplicate enclosures and so how many do you think it has for Binturongs? Who needs just one Binturong exhibit anyway? Wouldn't everyone like a gentle breeze to carry the popcorn 'flavour' of a Binturong in their direction? It's not quite at the Komodo Dragon level, but Surabaya Zoo still has SIX different Binturong exhibits!

Here's one of the six Binturong exhibits:

Up next: The 3rd and final section of my Surabaya Zoo review includes Sun Bears (FOUR exhibits!), some birds, more reptiles and an Aquarium. This zoo has it all, for better or worse.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

The zoo has a large hoofstock collection, including a couple of Blue Wildebeest in an enclosure that surely held a different species in recent times.

That tiny off-display house on the right is definitely a given, but I couldn't track which animal that used to be there, though I assume they're medium-sized mammals like pigs.

The wildebeest I think are also rather new. I don't recall from which zoo, but the eland and barbary sheep came from Taman Safari Prigen, so I assume they came from there too.

Surabaya Zoo is an urban facility, as shown in this photo of the Sambar Deer exhibit (with a herd of 20+) that has a busy street with houses in the background. Telephone wires can be seen, and the hum of traffic is ever present in this part of the grounds.

It's one of the distinct features of city zoos, even in most part of the world. You can see the highway and vehicles speeding from above the camel exhibit.

I assume this affected the animals held in some ways, especially with how active and loud the activities going on in zoos. Like when one of the former anoas at Batu Secret Zoo reportedly have a miscarriage when a firework festival occured around there, and in some cases huge events like concerts and huge events do happens in zoos here, so this a big problem too in Indonesia that haven't been talked about.

There's also Chital, Hog Deer, Southern Red Muntjac, Aoudad, Mouflon, Nilgai, etc., usually all in large numbers. Is it possible that Surabaya Zoo is feeding its carnivores via its own collection? Or selling deer meat to locals? I'm totally speculating, as it seems like the zoo has way too many deer for the smallish exhibits. It's a little bit like stepping into a time machine here, with 'Hoofstock Row' packed to the rafters with hooved animals in all directions...and in big numbers!

Very possible, actually. I forgot which zoos are these (Though I think also include Bandung Zoo), but during the shortages caused by COVID-19 pandemic, these zoos reported to kill their deer surplus to be feed to the carnivores, which are considered to be a more pressing need in these smaller or city zoos.

Taman Safari Bogor once sold "deer satay" for Rp. 200,000 (Around $12 USD). So, it does happen.

The Asian Elephant exhibit is very poor, essentially just a flat slab of land a bit larger than what is shown in my photo and the pool (on the left) is very tiny. We saw one elephant here that was poking its head out of its outdated barn, plus a separate section had maybe 4 more Asian Elephants all getting sprayed with a hose in another barn area. Keepers were mingling with the elephants in a hands-on approach.

Unsuprising, it's a very common sight at city and smaller zoos. Of course it's a product from the past which they didn't bother to change, large pool and big hiding shade and that's enough.

Sadly, good elephant exhibits are very rare in Indonesia. I consider the exhibits at the Safari rides of Cisarua & Prigen as the better one, but that's worthless considering how Taman Safari treats their elephants.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Let's finish off this review of Surabaya Zoo. Personally, I love reviews of obscure zoos and this place is obviously a facility that very few ZooChatters will ever visit.

Zoo/Aquarium #39: Surabaya Zoo (Surabaya, Indonesia) - Part 3 of 3

Along with an enormous amount of deer in 'Hoofstock Row', the zoo also has FOUR Lowland Anoa exhibits elsewhere. Take a look at how small and basic the accommodation is for all the zoo's anoas:

The zoo actually has FIVE Sun Bear exhibits, each with one bear inside. There's a small, rocky grotto exhibit and the other 4 enclosures are all old-fashioned cages.

The zoo has an absolutely massive walk-through aviary that was closed during our visit, but I would imagine that there's an extensive number of birds inside. The height of this thing is very impressive.

Another avian highlight is the aviary for Little Black Cormorants, complete with underwater viewing. This is one of the newer exhibits at the zoo, or at least a renovation of an existing structure.

If anyone reading this extensive review does decide to make their way to Surabaya Zoo, do not skip the Aquarium! It costs an extra fee (and they only accept cash, which is a pain), but this is a 'zoo-within-a-zoo' establishment connected to the main zoo. It's got it's own entrance and ticket booth, but can be accessed only while one is inside the main zoo.

The foyer of the Aquarium is old-school, with cut-outs of animals.

The Aquarium consists of two hallways, or wings, and one is for saltwater fish.

While the other is for freshwater fish. As you can see, each wing has quite a number of tanks.

Aquarium species list:

Ikan Air Laut ('Seawater Fish'):

Zebra Moray Eel, Blacktip Reef Shark, Leopard Coral Grouper, Malabar Grouper, Brown-marbled Grouper, Rockmover Wrasse, Canary Wrasse, Bicolor Angelfish, Yellowtail Damselfish, Stripped Damselfish, Mahogany Snapper, Blue Tang, Baronang, Foxface Rabbitfish, Painted Frogfish, Scorpionfish Clownfish, Sailfin Tang and various Surgeon Fish.

Ikan Air Tawar ('Freshwater Fish'):

Fire Eel, Tambaqui, Alligator Gar, Silver Arowana, Green Terror, Red Parrot, Nile Tilapia, Redhead Cichlid, Jaguar Cichlid, Lake Tanganyika Cichlid, Humphead Cichlid, Dogtooth Cichlid, Green Discus, Spotted Knifefish, Black Ghost Knifefish, Giant Snakehead, Giant Pangasius, Giant Gourami, Giant Red-tail Gourami, Banded Leporinus, Gray Bichir, Tinfoil Barb, Oscar, Silver Dollar, Freshwater Angelfish and Black Tetra.

Outside the Aquarium is a small zoo as well and it's all included as part of the separate fee. Here can be found a pond for Arapaima and TWO outdoor, open-topped exhibits for Green Sea Turtles.

The zoo's SECOND Saltwater Crocodile exhibit:

There's a THIRD and a FOURTH Saltwater Crocodile exhibit all around the Aquarium area and all separate from the main zoo.

There's also an exhibit for Siamese Crocodiles and this one is for False Gharials.

There's also a Taxidermy Hallway, with a Dugong skeleton in a case and some shoddy dioramas.

Here can be found a row of Green Iguana exhibits and the zoo has FIVE enclosures for that species.

There's also a couple of rows of reptile exhibits, with multiple cobra terrariums.

This row has wooden facades on the outside of each herp enclosure.

Reticulated Python exhibit:

Last but not least, this whole area with the Aquarium, reptile rows, all those crocodilian pools, the Taxidermy Hall, etc., also has a small Nocturnal House with FIVE exhibits. Now it makes sense that there's an extra fee to see this separate zone of Surabaya Zoo.

The Nocturnal House has the following exhibits. One is for Javan Porcupines (the zoo’s 3rd for the species), an exhibit for Sunda Pangolins, Sugar Gliders and Hedgehogs, an enclosure for a couple of Common Palm Civets, a Binturong exhibit (the zoo’s 7th for the species!!) and an Indian Python exhibit.

Another Sunda Pangolin for the trip:

Common Palm Civet exhibit:

Summary:

Surabaya Zoo has a lot of animals in multiple enclosures. This is a place with 8 Komodo Dragon exhibits, 7 Binturong exhibits, 5 Sun Bear exhibits, 5 Green Iguana exhibits, 4 Bornean Orangutan exhibits, 4 Lowland Anoa exhibits, 4 Javan Rusa Deer exhibits, 4 Saltwater Crocodile exhibits, 3 Pygmy Hippo exhibits, 3 Cassowary exhibits, 22 primate exhibits and even an Aquarium, a Nocturnal House and a massive walk-through aviary that was closed during our visit.

We could have spent even longer at Surabaya Zoo if we didn't already have another big zoo lined up, as it packs a lot into its 37 acres/15 hectares. The animal collection is immense, with more than 50 mammal species, probably more than 50 bird species, more than 50 fish species and 12 reptile species and many 'doubled-up' exhibits for the same species. However, while it was fantastic to see Black Eagles and Bawean Deer and Green Sea Turtles in an urban zoo, many of the exhibits left a lot to be desired. The city of Surabaya comes across as being poor and the zoo fits with the description of its surroundings. How many of the exhibits at Surabaya Zoo are truly memorable? The answer would be very few indeed. A number of the aviaries are excellent, the big croc pools and Komodo Dragon enclosures are mostly fantastic, and the Proboscis Monkeys (free-roaming!) and several primates have excellent accommodation, but overall the zoo looks like it needs some serious investment. The best option would be to knock together some of the multiple enclosures into fewer exhibits as that would offer up a lot more space for the inhabitants.

Mammal species list (51 species): Asian Elephant, Common Hippo, Pygmy Hippo, Giraffe, Plains Zebra, Banteng, Lowland Anoa, Sambar Deer, Axis Deer, Bawean Deer, Hog Deer, Javan Rusa Deer, Southern Red Muntjac, Aoudad, Mouflon, Sitatunga, Common Eland, Blue Wildebeest, Nilgai, Watusi, Dromedary, Babirusa, Javan Warty Pig, Tiger (Bengal, Sumatran), African Lion, Sun Bear, Bornean Orangutan, Siamang, Silvery Gibbon, Agile Gibbon, Proboscis Monkey, Japanese Macaque, Moor Macaque, Booted Macaque, Southern Pig-tailed Macaque, Crab-eating Macaque, Sulawesi Crested Macaque, Hamadryas Baboon, East Javan Langur, Tufted Capuchin, Ring-tailed Lemur, Small-clawed Otter, Binturong, Raccoon, Agile Wallaby, Common Palm Civet, Sunda Porcupine, Banded Mongoose, Pangolin, Sugar Glider and Capybara.

An assortment of the zoo's bird collection (but by no means all of them!): Cassowary, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Black Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Lesser Adjutant, Grey Crowned Crane, Little Black Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Black-headed Ibis, Lesser Flamingo, Eclectus Parrot, Bali Starling, Golden Pheasant, Junglefowl, Von Der Decken’s Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Knobbed Hornbill, plus assorted parrot aviaries and a giant closed aviary with no signage outside of it.

Reptile species list (12 species): Saltwater Crocodile, Siamese Crocodile, False Gharial, Reticulated Python, Burmese Python, Scrub Python, Javan Spitting Cobra, Komodo Dragon, Amboina Sail-finned Lizard, Green Iguana (multiple exhibits), Green Sea Turtle and Red-footed Tortoise.

Up next: We had to hustle around Surabaya Zoo as our next stop was an hour away and we would spend the whole rest of the day (and the evening!) at the fantastic Taman Safari II Prigen. That included a special, behind-the-scenes tour of the PCBA (Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark) in the day and then a second tour of PCBA at night.

 

[twilighter]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Let's finish off this review of Surabaya Zoo. Personally, I love reviews of obscure zoos and this place is obviously a facility that very few ZooChatters will ever visit.

Zoo/Aquarium #39: Surabaya Zoo (Surabaya, Indonesia) - Part 3 of 3

Along with an enormous amount of deer in 'Hoofstock Row', the zoo also has FOUR Lowland Anoa exhibits elsewhere. Take a look at how small and basic the accommodation is for all the zoo's anoas:

The zoo actually has FIVE Sun Bear exhibits, each with one bear inside. There's a small, rocky grotto exhibit and the other 4 enclosures are all old-fashioned cages.

The zoo has an absolutely massive walk-through aviary that was closed during our visit, but I would imagine that there's an extensive number of birds inside. The height of this thing is very impressive.

Another avian highlight is the aviary for Little Black Cormorants, complete with underwater viewing. This is one of the newer exhibits at the zoo, or at least a renovation of an existing structure.

If anyone reading this extensive review does decide to make their way to Surabaya Zoo, do not skip the Aquarium! It costs an extra fee (and they only accept cash, which is a pain), but this is a 'zoo-within-a-zoo' establishment connected to the main zoo. It's got it's own entrance and ticket booth, but can be accessed only while one is inside the main zoo.

The foyer of the Aquarium is old-school, with cut-outs of animals.

The Aquarium consists of two hallways, or wings, and one is for saltwater fish.

While the other is for freshwater fish. As you can see, each wing has quite a number of tanks.

Aquarium species list:

Ikan Air Laut ('Seawater Fish'):

Zebra Moray Eel, Blacktip Reef Shark, Leopard Coral Grouper, Malabar Grouper, Brown-marbled Grouper, Rockmover Wrasse, Canary Wrasse, Bicolor Angelfish, Yellowtail Damselfish, Stripped Damselfish, Mahogany Snapper, Blue Tang, Baronang, Foxface Rabbitfish, Painted Frogfish, Scorpionfish Clownfish, Sailfin Tang and various Surgeon Fish.

Ikan Air Tawar ('Freshwater Fish'):

Fire Eel, Tambaqui, Alligator Gar, Silver Arowana, Green Terror, Red Parrot, Nile Tilapia, Redhead Cichlid, Jaguar Cichlid, Lake Tanganyika Cichlid, Humphead Cichlid, Dogtooth Cichlid, Green Discus, Spotted Knifefish, Black Ghost Knifefish, Giant Snakehead, Giant Pangasius, Giant Gourami, Giant Red-tail Gourami, Banded Leporinus, Gray Bichir, Tinfoil Barb, Oscar, Silver Dollar, Freshwater Angelfish and Black Tetra.

Outside the Aquarium is a small zoo as well and it's all included as part of the separate fee. Here can be found a pond for Arapaima and TWO outdoor, open-topped exhibits for Green Sea Turtles.

The zoo's SECOND Saltwater Crocodile exhibit:

There's a THIRD and a FOURTH Saltwater Crocodile exhibit all around the Aquarium area and all separate from the main zoo.

There's also an exhibit for Siamese Crocodiles and this one is for False Gharials.

There's also a Taxidermy Hallway, with a Dugong skeleton in a case and some shoddy dioramas.

Here can be found a row of Green Iguana exhibits and the zoo has FIVE enclosures for that species.

There's also a couple of rows of reptile exhibits, with multiple cobra terrariums.

This row has wooden facades on the outside of each herp enclosure.

Reticulated Python exhibit:

Last but not least, this whole area with the Aquarium, reptile rows, all those crocodilian pools, the Taxidermy Hall, etc., also has a small Nocturnal House with FIVE exhibits. Now it makes sense that there's an extra fee to see this separate zone of Surabaya Zoo.

The Nocturnal House has the following exhibits. One is for Javan Porcupines (the zoo’s 3rd for the species), an exhibit for Sunda Pangolins, Sugar Gliders and Hedgehogs, an enclosure for a couple of Common Palm Civets, a Binturong exhibit (the zoo’s 7th for the species!!) and an Indian Python exhibit.

Another Sunda Pangolin for the trip:

Common Palm Civet exhibit:

Summary:

Surabaya Zoo has a lot of animals in multiple enclosures. This is a place with 8 Komodo Dragon exhibits, 7 Binturong exhibits, 5 Sun Bear exhibits, 5 Green Iguana exhibits, 4 Bornean Orangutan exhibits, 4 Lowland Anoa exhibits, 4 Javan Rusa Deer exhibits, 4 Saltwater Crocodile exhibits, 3 Pygmy Hippo exhibits, 3 Cassowary exhibits, 22 primate exhibits and even an Aquarium, a Nocturnal House and a massive walk-through aviary that was closed during our visit.

We could have spent even longer at Surabaya Zoo if we didn't already have another big zoo lined up, as it packs a lot into its 37 acres/15 hectares. The animal collection is immense, with more than 50 mammal species, probably more than 50 bird species, more than 50 fish species and 12 reptile species and many 'doubled-up' exhibits for the same species. However, while it was fantastic to see Black Eagles and Bawean Deer and Green Sea Turtles in an urban zoo, many of the exhibits left a lot to be desired. The city of Surabaya comes across as being poor and the zoo fits with the description of its surroundings. How many of the exhibits at Surabaya Zoo are truly memorable? The answer would be very few indeed. A number of the aviaries are excellent, the big croc pools and Komodo Dragon enclosures are mostly fantastic, and the Proboscis Monkeys (free-roaming!) and several primates have excellent accommodation, but overall the zoo looks like it needs some serious investment. The best option would be to knock together some of the multiple enclosures into fewer exhibits as that would offer up a lot more space for the inhabitants.

Mammal species list (51 species): Asian Elephant, Common Hippo, Pygmy Hippo, Giraffe, Plains Zebra, Banteng, Lowland Anoa, Sambar Deer, Axis Deer, Bawean Deer, Hog Deer, Javan Rusa Deer, Southern Red Muntjac, Aoudad, Mouflon, Sitatunga, Common Eland, Blue Wildebeest, Nilgai, Watusi, Dromedary, Babirusa, Javan Warty Pig, Tiger (Bengal, Sumatran), African Lion, Sun Bear, Bornean Orangutan, Siamang, Silvery Gibbon, Agile Gibbon, Proboscis Monkey, Japanese Macaque, Moor Macaque, Booted Macaque, Southern Pig-tailed Macaque, Crab-eating Macaque, Sulawesi Crested Macaque, Hamadryas Baboon, East Javan Langur, Tufted Capuchin, Ring-tailed Lemur, Small-clawed Otter, Binturong, Raccoon, Agile Wallaby, Common Palm Civet, Sunda Porcupine, Banded Mongoose, Pangolin, Sugar Glider and Capybara.

An assortment of the zoo's bird collection (but by no means all of them!): Cassowary, White-bellied Sea Eagle, Black Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Lesser Adjutant, Grey Crowned Crane, Little Black Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Black-headed Ibis, Lesser Flamingo, Eclectus Parrot, Bali Starling, Golden Pheasant, Junglefowl, Von Der Decken’s Hornbill, Wreathed Hornbill, Rhinoceros Hornbill, Oriental Pied Hornbill, Knobbed Hornbill, plus assorted parrot aviaries and a giant closed aviary with no signage outside of it.

Reptile species list (12 species): Saltwater Crocodile, Siamese Crocodile, False Gharial, Reticulated Python, Burmese Python, Scrub Python, Javan Spitting Cobra, Komodo Dragon, Amboina Sail-finned Lizard, Green Iguana (multiple exhibits), Green Sea Turtle and Red-footed Tortoise.

Up next: We had to hustle around Surabaya Zoo as our next stop was an hour away and we would spend the whole rest of the day (and the evening!) at the fantastic Taman Safari II Prigen. That included a special, behind-the-scenes tour of the PCBA (Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark) in the day and then a second tour of PCBA at night.

I can only imagine how much effort and time you are dedicating to make those extensive reviews @snowleopard ! It is amazing how many new things I learn about our memorable trip! Other than Chang Mai Night Safari, Surabaya is probably the place I wish we had a bit more time to spend. My main interests are mammals, but they also have some very interesting species and subspieces of Parrots, Cassowaries ext. Many of the exhibits are heavily outdated, but there's a history in every corner and hopefully City of Surabaya support the development of the zoo. This is a zoo , I wish we visited with a local , because there are a lot of hidden stories there.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

Along with an enormous amount of deer in 'Hoofstock Row', the zoo also has FOUR Lowland Anoa exhibits elsewhere. Take a look at how small and basic the accommodation is for all the zoo's anoas:

Seems like the same thing with the anoas at Ragunan, which have even smaller square-shaped paddocks there. There appears to be a interesting trend of keeping anoas in very small spaces, with even the newly-revitalized Solo Safari have their single male in such a way. Babirusas often have better exhibit than these bovines here.

I have no clue why, even water buffalos have large exhibits, with Ragunan having a very massive wetlands exhibit with Malayan sambar next door. Though they have adapted well to this enviroment and managed to breed in the case of Ragunan.

The zoo has an absolutely massive walk-through aviary that was closed during our visit, but I would imagine that there's an extensive number of birds inside. The height of this thing is very impressive.

I have no clue about what's in there. Despite being a huge aviary which are popular here, I thought it would be well-documented, there's suprisingly none in term of the birds inside.

Ikan Air Laut ('Seawater Fish'):

Zebra Moray Eel, Blacktip Reef Shark, Leopard Coral Grouper, Malabar Grouper, Brown-marbled Grouper, Rockmover Wrasse, Canary Wrasse, Bicolor Angelfish, Yellowtail Damselfish, Stripped Damselfish, Mahogany Snapper, Blue Tang, Baronang, Foxface Rabbitfish, Painted Frogfish, Scorpionfish Clownfish, Sailfin Tang and various Surgeon Fish.

Ikan Air Tawar ('Freshwater Fish'):

Fire Eel, Tambaqui, Alligator Gar, Silver Arowana, Green Terror, Red Parrot, Nile Tilapia, Redhead Cichlid, Jaguar Cichlid, Lake Tanganyika Cichlid, Humphead Cichlid, Dogtooth Cichlid, Green Discus, Spotted Knifefish, Black Ghost Knifefish, Giant Snakehead, Giant Pangasius, Giant Gourami, Giant Red-tail Gourami, Banded Leporinus, Gray Bichir, Tinfoil Barb, Oscar, Silver Dollar, Freshwater Angelfish and Black Tetra.

I very much doubt that a lot of these signages are accurate or dated. The "Malabar grouper" could potentialy just be brown-marbled grouper (Epinephelus fuscoguttatus) or more than likely a farmed hybrid grouper (Most epinephelus groupers seen in Indonesian captivity are). Despite they also having the label for "brown-marbled grouper", those two things I mentioned are to be considered.

The "scorpionfish" are the very common pterois volitans. I definitely recall that there are label for the frogfish, but they haven't been seen for a long time and presumebly already passed (Indonesian aquarias don't have good track record in keeping frogfishes).

"Baronang" is the Indonesian name for some species of rabbitfish (siganus sp.).

The pacu/serrasalmid at the freshwater section are very, very unlikely to be Colossoma macropomum/tambaqui. Looking into some footages, they're definitely pirapitinga (Piaractus brachypomus), which are a very widespread aquarium fish here in Indonesia. BXSea, located just outside of Jakarta, is the only known public holder with actual tambaquis (Colossoma macropomum) in Indonesia.

If anyone reading this extensive review does decide to make their way to Surabaya Zoo, do not skip the Aquarium! It costs an extra fee (and they only accept cash, which is a pain), but this is a 'zoo-within-a-zoo' establishment connected to the main zoo. It's got it's own entrance and ticket booth, but can be accessed only while one is inside the main zoo.

Last but not least, this whole area with the Aquarium, reptile rows, all those crocodilian pools, the Taxidermy Hall, etc., also has a small Nocturnal House with FIVE exhibits. Now it makes sense that there's an extra fee to see this separate zone of Surabaya Zoo

It's a similar model used by Ragunan Zoo for their Schmutzer Primate Centre and Children's Zoo. Unlike those two, I have yet to find any clear reasoning as to why they used fee to enter the one at Surabaya, which are essentialy just your regular aquarium and reptile park, general local guests doesn't care much about small mammal/nocturnal exhibits so I don't think that's the reason.

My assumption is that because Surabaya Zoo consider the area, actually known as Aquanoctudio (Aquarium-Nocturnal studio), being a new attraction. Aquanoctudio isn't exactly brand new, as it was a short and minimal revitalization thas was during the COVID-19 pandemic and was finished in 2022. Only the nocturnal house part was technicaly brand new.

The Nocturnal House has the following exhibits. One is for Javan Porcupines (the zoo’s 3rd for the species), an exhibit for Sunda Pangolins, Sugar Gliders and Hedgehogs, an enclosure for a couple of Common Palm Civets, a Binturong exhibit (the zoo’s 7th for the species!!) and an Indian Python exhibit.

The Indian python is an albino Burmese python. Indonesian zoos tend to label their Burmese pythons as molurus python, which is the trade name of both species (Indonesian facilities have the tendency to use trade names for their label, just to show how influential the exotic pet industry in Indonesian zoos).

The Sunda pangolin does seems very out of place in what in my opinion is a mediocre nocturnal house collection! Ragunan Zoo definitely have a far greater small mammal house collection, with multiple pangolins exhibits. Having their single pangolin with a large group of hedgehogs and sugar gliders, while they go out of their way to have an albino python in there to have their own exhibit (Despite that space could be used to specifically house that pangolin, why do they even put an python in there?), definitely show the little attention they have for their local and obscure collection, which I like said, are just remnants of their older management.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Now that I've finished my 3-part review of Surabaya Zoo, it's time to embark on an equally comprehensive review of the next zoo, an hour south in East Java.

Zoo/Aquarium #40: Taman Safari II Prigen (Prigen, Indonesia) - Part 1

Konstantin and I quite liked Taman Safari III Bali and I gave it a favourable review a little earlier in this thread, but Taman Safari II Prigen takes things to a whole new level and it's one of the best zoos in Southeast Asia. This is an excellent zoo with almost 70 mammal species and a big collection overall. The icing on the cake was our behind-the-scenes tour of the backstage PCBA (Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark) and we had a spectacular experience there.

What is the PCBA? I had never heard of it before this trip as my knowledge of Indonesian zoos was minimal, and Konstantin was the one who arranged our free tour, but essentially the PCBA is an off-site breeding facility for endangered Indonesian species and it opened in 2017. It's closed to the public, but we managed to be granted a guided tour with the curator Jochen Menner. He worked at a couple of major zoos in Europe and was lured to Indonesia to run the PCBA and he's a really fantastic gentleman and a fellow zoo nerd. Jochen loves the intense heat and humidity of Southeast Asia, he met his wife there and she had just given birth to their son a month or two before our arrival and so he is well and truly settled in Prigen.

Here is the stunning, sweltering, surrounding jungle at the PCBA:

Jochen was terrific with us, spending a full hour showing us around in the day and then we went back at night (along with @Mossman Joe and @Sicarius) and for Jochen to spend another hour showing 4 zoo nerds around in the black of night was generous of him. We hilariously all crammed into his jeep and it was quite a bumpy ride. It's fascinating that he said he doesn't spend much time in the main zoo, which I cannot find an exact size for but it's possibly in the range of 800 acres/323 hectares including the surrounding jungle partially owned by Taman Safari. Jochen is busy enough in the behind the scenes area that is more extensive and successful with breeding than most AZA and EAZA zoos.

Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark consists of at least 6 blocks of aviaries, with over 200 aviaries in total and almost all for songbirds. The breeding success here has been superb and for example we saw approximately 40 East Javan Shamas and the center probably has at least 25 bird species in total. There are birds everywhere in small aviaries that create optimal conditions for breeding. This place has more off-show aviaries than Bird Paradise in Singapore, which is one of the world's greatest zoos.

It's not all birds, as there are assorted reptile terrariums in two sections.

Trimeresurus fasciatus with the enclosure door open (we stayed out of strike range!).

And for Konstantin and I, the highlights were of course the mammals.

Javan Warty Pig:

Bawean Warty Pig (supposedly the only 3 in captivity anywhere in the world):

Indonesian Mountain Weasel (which the PCBA has bred twice):

East Javan Red Giant Flying Squirrel:

Sumatran Striped Rabbit (the center has 3 of them):

There's even an interesting assortment of overhead tunnels and chutes for a troop of Moor Macaques.

Zoo Augsburg (Germany) is a prominent sponsor of the PCBA.

It was amazing to go into the enclosures with the Sumatran Striped Rabbits in the day, and when Konstantin and I went back at night with @Mossman Joe and @Sicarius, we also went inside with species such as Sunda Pangolin, Spectral Tarsier, East Javan Red Giant Flying Squirrel and the rabbits again. It was a very special experience.

Please remember, as I've already had TWO messages about Taman Safari II Prigen (the prequel to Taman Safari III Bali ) that the Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark is off-show and every single species I've discussed cannot be seen by the general public. Tours are not normally given and Konstantin was the one who arranged it all and so myself and the other zoo nerds are indebted to him and especially Jochen Menner. Perhaps a zoo nerd visiting the PCBA is such a rare occurrence that maybe Jochen would be excited to give more guided tours, and feel free to name drop me (Scott Richardson), but I obviously can't guarantee anything. If you can make it work, then I 100% support your efforts to visit as the PCBA is a phenomenal facility and they do important, vital conservation work with Indonesian species. Honestly, the PCBA puts to shame just about every off-show conservation site at any North American or European zoo. I've heard of or toured very few zoos with such an extensive off-show area.

Off-show mammal species list (8 species): Moor Macaque, Bawean Warty Pig (technically still a subspecies?), Javan Warty Pig, Indonesian Mountain Weasel, Sunda Pangolin, Spectral Tarsier, East Javan Red Giant Flying Squirrel and Sumatran Striped Rabbit.

At the end of an extremely long day, well after we toured PCBA and also the main zoo (which took an additional 5 hours just for that!), Konstantin and I had dinner with @Mossman Joe and @Sicarius and it was a fascinating meal with 4 zoo nerds all talking about zoo exhibits and rare species and it was a fun night. Thanks to you guys for the meet-up.

At various times, we stayed in some very sketchy hotels in Indonesia, meaning that they were cheap and with stains on the walls that I didn't want to gaze at. But at Taman Safari II Prigen, Konstantin and I stayed in pure luxury at the stunning Baobab Safari Resort. It wasn't even that expensive, as prices in Indonesia are very cheap for western visitors and it was absolutely lovely. This is an elite location for zoo nerds to spend a whole day at, from morning to evening.

Dining area:

This seating area looks out onto a Meerkat exhibit and the sprawling African Savanna. Most of the rooms offer up superb views in a similar style to what is found at Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

Giraffes, Plains Zebras, Ostriches and various antelope can be seen from the Infinity Pool. We saw little kids leaning off the edge and staring at the Giraffes.

Up next: The main zoo of Taman Safari II Prigen, which is a whole day on its own.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

I have my own interest in learning about and visiting PCBA in the future, and a couple of friends, who have been there, have recommended me to contact Mr. Menner to arrange a visit. Visiting Prigen is still a lot of preparing for me, but of course I would love to be there and hopefully be granted a tour.

Off-show mammal species list (8 species): Moor Macaque, Bawean Warty Pig (technically still a subspecies?), Javan Warty Pig, Indonesian Mountain Weasel, Sunda Pangolin, Spectral Tarsier, East Javan Red Giant Flying Squirrel and Sumatran Striped Rabbit.

They have expanded their mammal projects a lot in recent years, really shows how much efforts they do with more than just one group of animals.

Last year, they received an young female anoa from the island of a Buton, located southeast off Sulawesi, which was caught in a snare. Some people are suspecting that the anoas found in Buton could potentially be the third species of anoa! We'll see how the research go in there.

They also have done several primate project, including with new complex for moor macaques from Surabaya and the tarsiers too. By the start of this year, they have bringing in Javan slow loris and Natuna Islands surili as well! I'm definitely interested in the latter, we have a couple of other zoos in Java that have these rare primates earlier, but doesn't seems to be interested in any conservation-related projects with them. Great to see that PCBA became the first to try to do so as I'm aware.

 

[Mossman Joe]

It was an absolute pleasure meeting you and Konstantin, even for a short while. Hoping we can meet again whenever you're in the area to visit some more zoos
The invitation is also open for any ZooChatters visiting Indonesia

When I started the trip with @Sicarius, I also wasn't expecting a visit to the PCBA, though I'm very grateful for the opportunity and Jochen Menner especially. It was a chance to see species I've convinced myself I could never see in-person (like the Sumatran Striped Rabbit) and made me hopeful for Indonesian conservation efforts.

Many of the species that PCBA holds are under threat from habitat destruction and illegal collection for private trade. One of these is the Maratua Shama, which is believed to be extinct in the wild.

PCBA also holds a lot of fish species, including various species of Papuan Rainbowfish, local Bettas and Parosphromenus, which me and @Sicarius opted not to see this time, to focus in the bird and mammal collection.

 

[Mossman Joe]

The Baobab Safari Resort has a number of animals it puts on display, with a main paddock consisting of giraffes, wildebeest, zebras, ostriches, waterbuck and impalas. I believe these animals are kept outside all day long.

They also a few extra paddocks to the side with White Rhinoceros, Common Hippopotamus, Australian Pelicans, and apparently the only pair of African Cape Buffaloes kept in Indonesia.

As well, there are a few animal encounters that you can choose to participate in with an extra fee. These include feeding Meerkats inside their enclosure, feeding White Rhinos, feeding meat to lions and tigers from a wired cage driven by a truck, and feeding the giraffes with the option of doing so while feeding yourselves (ie. breakfast/dinner with giraffes on a raised platform).

I believe they also used to offer a guided night walk through a part of the zoo, but have stopped doing so.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

Now that I've showcased the Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark and the Baobab Safari Resort, both world-class, it's time to delve deep into the actual zoo.

Zoo/Aquarium #40: Taman Safari II Prigen (Prigen, Indonesia) - Part 2

It's possible to drive one's vehicle into the zoo and park just beyond the entrance gates. Quite a few visitors also stay at the Baobab Safari Resort on the zoo's grounds.

Just like Taman Safari III Bali, Taman Safari II Prigen has a Safari Adventure tour and it's a long one at 50 minutes. Everyone piles into a bus and there are windows because the vehicle goes inside carnivore exhibits on the tour.

The beginning of the adventure is a bit of a surprise, with American Bison and Wisent in heavily forested, spacious paddocks. Where's the Southeast Asian jungle? There's even Wild Turkeys all over the place as well, and even the Llamas are in a woodland habitat. It's actually a really pleasant experience, even though I would prefer a walking route.

Some areas have the 'ruined temple' theme to them.

African Lions directly next to the bus:

Asian hoofstock dominate the next section of the safari tour. Banteng, Javan Rusa Deer, Axis Deer, Hog Deer, Bawean Deer, Southern Red Muntjac, etc. All in large herds and most all mixed together in many acres of space.

Little sunny clearings have exhibits for non-ungulates, such as this Siamang enclosure.

Asiatic Black Bear exhibit:

There's also TWO Sun Bear exhibits as well. If you look closely, in my both my photos of the bear enclosures, there's deer photo-bombing my images.

A massive, open-topped exhibit for Leopards is a highlight.

And of course no Southeast Asian zoo would be complete without a Malayan Tapir exhibit.

There's TWO spacious Babirusa exhibits seen via the tour.

Then the safari bus goes into a more African-themed area, with large hoofstock paddocks in all directions. Blue Wildebeest roam near the vehicle.

A White Rhino habitat has a stunning jungle backdrop:

Taman Safari II Prigen has a fairly large Asian Elephant exhibit and there's an area where people can get out to pet and feed the elephants. You can see a car in my photo, as it's possible to take one's own vehicle through the drive-through safari zone.

Asian Elephant exhibit (less than 50% of it):

There's African species such as Giraffe, Plains Zebra, Ostrich, Kafue Lechwe, Common Eland, Impala, Sable Antelope, Aoudad and others in large fields.

African Savanna:

There's even a couple of Common Hippo exhibits seen via the tour.

Overall, the Safari Adventure bus tour is an enjoyable time and it's basically an hour long experience, including loading and unloading from the vehicle. I liked how the first section is thick woodland, then there's carnivores (Lions, Tigers, Leopards) and apes (Orangutans, Siamangs), two bear species, a lot of Asian hooved animals, before things end off with African megafauna (elephants, rhinos, hippos) and several African Savanna type zones. Looking through my photos here and in the gallery, I struggle to find any truly subpar exhibits. Prigen has a high level of quality almost everywhere and the enclosures are for the most part quite spacious. Because of the beautiful climate, the animals are often allowed outside for most of their lives and in some cases I'm not sure that they are ever brought into their holding areas.

Up next: It's time to check out the walking area of Taman Safari II Prigen in Part 3 of my review.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

The beginning of the adventure is a bit of a surprise, with American Bison and Wisent in heavily forested, spacious paddocks. Where's the Southeast Asian jungle? There's even Wild Turkeys all over the place as well, and even the Llamas are in a woodland habitat. It's actually a really pleasant experience, even though I would prefer a walking route.

Prigen are noted for their montane pine forest, wether they're natural or planted I can't say for sure. But, this makes Prigen much more distinct in term of enviroment and vibe, compared to other zoos here that commonly have city or rainforest background.

The turkeys there are of course domestic breeds, though the North America & Europe section of the Safari area are still great. As you mentioned, the area have free-roaming turkeys and llamas, as well as large exhibits for plains bisons and European bisons/wisents. There is an exhibit for a couple of elk too, I have no clue if they still have them.

The most interesting footnote was the small exhibit that was located at the end of the area, which formely houses the park's maned wolfs. They first arrived in 1997, the same year Taman Safari Prigen first opened, consisting of reportedly five from the Czech Republic and three from Germany. Prigen later get another single maned wolf from Singapore Zoo in 2000. They were there until I think 2017-18, later replaced by emus and later on binturongs, I don't heard much about the exhibit now so they could potentially be empty. Prigen was the only holder of maned wolf in Indonesia.

Some areas have the 'ruined temple' theme to them.

Again, this is a way to promote local cultural symbols by these facilities. Worth noting that East Java (The province where Prigen is located), are culturally influenced by ancient local empires, like Majapahit or Mataram Kuno. Temples or candi are culturally significant in the area and are quite spread out in many sites across Java.

A White Rhino habitat has a stunning jungle backdrop

The exhibit at Prigen for their rhinos are definitely great, I'd say the best in Indonesia.

Meanwhile, the exhibits at Taman Safari Bogor are a bit pathetic compared to that.

Taman Safari II Prigen has a fairly large Asian Elephant exhibit and there's an area where people can get out to pet and feed the elephants. You can see a car in my photo, as it's possible to take one's own vehicle through the drive-through safari zone.

During holiday season and especially with them allowing private cars to enter, the Safari parks often seen huge congestion, where even cars malfunctioning in the middle of the street are somewhat common (These cars came from the cities, which aren't used to the inclining roads). These 'feeding experiences' at the Safari area often caused congestion, especially in Taman Safari Bogor, where the road are much smaller compared to giraffes.

Also, notice the man smoking in the picture of the elephant interactions. While smoking areas are present in most zoos, it's not uncommon seeing these sight while the staffs are unaware.

 

[Rizz Carlton]

These 'feeding experiences' at the Safari area often caused congestion, especially in Taman Safari Bogor, where the road are much smaller compared to giraffes.

I don't know how I missed this baffling sentence out, but what I meant is that the road at the Park in Cisarua/Bogor are smaller compared to Prigen. The giraffes feeding experience that was opened in 2023 in Cisarua definitely didn't help with the congestion issue.

 

[snowleopard]

DAY 14: Thursday, August 15th

A special mention must go to @Rizz Carlton for his excellent analysis and contributions to my Indonesian zoo reviews. It takes me approximately two hours to type up each section of a review, including choosing all the relevant photos, and then @Rizz Carlton makes my work even better by adding in local information and even discussing some historical elements of the zoos. Thanks mate, it's much appreciated!

Zoo/Aquarium #40: Taman Safari II Prigen (Prigen, Indonesia) - Part 3

After thoroughly enjoying Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark, the Baobab Safari Resort and the hour-long Safari Adventure bus tour, it was time for Konstantin and I to tackle the walking section of this enormous zoo.

I've given a lot of praise to Taman Safari II Prigen, but the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin & California Sea Lion exhibit is a dud. There are daily shows and a large, tiered arena, but the pool is incredibly tiny by modern standards.

Konstantin and I acted like little kids for 10 minutes and we went on the Haunted House ride. It was fun and geared towards families as it wasn't really scary at all. That blue circle on the left is the entrance to the dolphin and sea lion arena.

We then strolled through the Baby Zoo, which is the name given to this area. You can see the Tiger Cave Restaurant off in the distance.

It seems like just about every single zoo on this entire trip, encompassing 4 different countries, has loads of outdoor crocodilian pools. There's a bunch of them here, all with Saltwater Crocodiles and even with a suspension bridge over one of the exhibits. Crocodilians thrive outside in Southeast Asian zoos.

The Tiger Cave Restaurant has a stunning facade and is connected to a Tiger exhibit.

This exhibit had at least 3 'Bengal' Tigers and we saw two swimming in the pool (images are in the gallery). There are mini 'temples' for shelter.

Quite a number of zoos in Indonesia have mushroom-like covers inside primate exhibits, including this one for Bornean Orangutans.

There's also a decent Chimpanzee enclosure and one of the chimps can be seen high up in the tree on the left-hand side.

Check out this incredible looking entrance! The 'Snake Safari Park' is a walk-through area with free-roaming snakes. Taman Safari II Prigen reminds me of Randers Regnskov (Denmark) and Den Lille Dyrehage (Norway), with all 3 zoos having walk-through snake exhibits. Even though there's King Cobras on the entrance sign (up top), that species is not present at Prigen. But we saw a Burmese Python and a Reticulated Python inside this walk-through, which seems both dangerous and exciting at the same time. There were no staff members anywhere and so Konstantin and I were inside with at least two huge snakes and nobody else around.

Pets & Wild Interaction is mainly an area devoted to a daily animal show. I happened to stroll by while it was going on and I saw some Grey Crowned Cranes interacting with visitors. There's also an Agile Wallaby exhibit nearby and some Aldabra Giant Tortoises.

Past the walk-through snake area and the pets zone, there is a Reptile Park section. Each walking area at Taman Safari II Prigen has a big entrance sign announcing what it is and I like that idea. Here can be found Reticulated Pythons, Burmese Pythons, Amboina Sailfin Dragons, Green Iguanas (red colour variation), Asian Vine Snakes, Trimeresurus puniceus (a type of Pit Viper) and Sumatran Short-tailed Pythons.

The Reptile Park consists of a long, mock-rock cave zone with terrariums built into the walls.

Next up is Aquatic Land, with SIX water-themed zoo exhibits. Here can be seen TWO Pygmy Hippo enclosures, both very much on the small side. Look at how low the glass is! It was very easy to reach over and I could have definitely petted the hippo if the creature didn't have such fearsome teeth. When this animal went on its back feet then it could touch the top of the glass.

False Gharial exhibit with a stunning backdrop that reminds me of the great aquarium in Baltimore (USA).

Aquatic Land has a large, fearsome looking 'Safari Explorer' boat and visitors can go on two levels to get an overview of a trio of exhibits (Harbour Seals, Humboldt Penguins, Small-clawed Otters) and then go below deck and see all those exhibits again with underwater viewing. This whole area is actually rather enjoyable and popular with visitors.

Harbour Seal exhibit:

Humboldt Penguin exhibit:

There's a nearby Nature Center that is like a mini-library, with lots of natural history books and an educational tone.

Up next: The 4th part of my Taman Safari II Prigen review.