The "Zoo of Death"

There is a zoo in Indonesia, the Surabaya Zoo, that terribly mistreats it’s animals. With approximately 25 animals per month – that’s almost 1 per day – dying from unnatural causes – often starvation or untreated infections, it has earned itself the name “Zoo of Death” or the “Nightmare Zoo”.

The animals are skin and bones, their living conditions are terrible, and they are not given proper medical care, which is so badly needed by many of the animals. I don’t want to show too many of the pictures, as they are quite disturbing, but if you want to see them, they are here.

Some of the animals that have died have been put down because of their severe health problems. The rumor is that body parts from the dead animals are sold into the $5 billion per year illegal wildlife trade. So they are actually profiting from mistreating and starving these animals.

People pay the equivalent of $1.00 to get in and see the animals, although I can’t imagine why they would want to. It certainly wouldn’t be a fun day for the kids, unless they are into animal cruelty. On a Surabaya tourism page about the zoo, it says “The Surabaya zoo (KBS) was one of the popular zoo in Indonesia”. I think “was” is just a problem with the translation to English, as the zoo still exists.

There is an organization that is doing all that they can to help to these animals. It is Conservation and Environmental Education 4 Life (CEE4Life), and you can find more information about them, and about their efforts with this zoo, on their Facebook page.

Here is an excerpt from a post on their page:

For those wondering about the Surabaya Zoo. We (Cee4life) have saved the tiger seen in a circulating post, her name is Melani. We have handed in 2 petitions. The zoo is not going to close down anytime soon, and the animals cannot be rehomed due to diseases. Cee4life has been supplying diet information, along with enclosure and enrichment. We were able to rescue Melani the tiger and she is going well. The animals need aid and we are doing everything we can to do that. There are 4 other people coming at the end of April to try and also help.

So good to know that Melani has been rescued and is doing well! She is the tiger you see at the top of the page. You can find updates on the CEE4Life page, plus links to more of their pages and sites. They work not only with the Surabaya Zoo, but in other places to try to help mistreated animals. Bless these people and the work they do!