The orangutan attacked Pak Atmaja with no warning, chasing the veterinarian around the cage and viciously biting his hand, foot and right leg. Zoos are excellent habitats in which to view human behavior. While Pak Atmaja bled profusely, tourists standing outside the cage took video. Sitting in front of the entrance of the Bali Zoo, Pak Atmaja showed me two fingers on his left hand where the tips had been bitten off in the 2007 attack. A 2003 graduate of the department of veterinary medicine at Udayana University, Pak Atmaja has worked at zoo for seven years. Built on a former coffee and cacao plantation, the zoo is set in 5.5 hectares of natural landscape with exuberant shrubbery, lawns, waterfalls, tall trees, long grasses and thick jungle-like vegetation. Display enclosures are clean and, for Asia, spacious, re-creating in miniature the habitats of the respective animal being exhibited.
Although covering only 1.3% of the earth’s surface, Indonesia is amazingly rich in animal and plant life. Contained within its land and sea territory are 17% of the world’s bird species, 16% of the world’s amphibians and reptiles, 12% of the world’s mammals, and 10% of the world’s flora. Many of these tens of thousands of species are endemic. Not only does this sprawling island nation possess impressive quantity of fauna, but also immense variety. Spanning 4,800 kilometers across two gigantic bio-geographic zones, the Oriental and the Australian, and with landforms ranging from mangrove swamps to glaciers, Indonesia is no doubt the most diverse natural wildlife repository on earth. Visiting an Indonesia-based animal park is the best way to get acquainted with the country’s incredible biodiversity. The biggest and best zoo in the country is the Ragunan Zoo of Jakarta, with over 4,000 animals and birds. Other important zoological parks are found in Bandung, Yogyakarta and Surabaya.
Bali is fortunate to have its own well-established zoological garden which is licensed by the Ministry of Forestry and government conservation institute (BKSDA). Maintained by a staff of over 100, receiving over 10,000 visitors a month, the Bali Zoo is home 350 animals including orangutan, gibbons, camels, porcupines, marsupials, the omnivore binturong, the muncak and spotted deer, the mouse-deer (kancil). I asked Pak Atmaja where he gets all his specimens. “We don’t buy our animals, but trade with other zoos in Indonesia and abroad. We got our Bengal tiger from the Pematang Siantar Zoo in northern Sumatra, our white tiger from the Surabaya Zoo, and our Komodo dragon was traded for deer from the Ragunan Zoo.” Pak Atmaja explained that the zoo is also a learning centre, promoting environmental awareness and wildlife conservation, educating children about endangered species. Plaques in front of each enclosure show a photo of the specimen, give precise zoological data in both Indonesian and English, plus a geographic distribution map.
Deep in the environs, the long winding trail passes the Sumatran and Bengal tiger exhibit, the zoo’s heavyweights and crowd pleasers. To the delight of small kids, little animals such as marmots and rabbits are not neglected. All along the path a zoo employee encouraged us to hold an exotic bird, snake or lizard. Visitors are also given the chance to feed the carnivores. Suddenly I could hear the kids laughing as they rounded a corner. They had came across the perpetrator of the attack on Dr. Atmaja, a big shaggy 22-year-old male orangutan just two meters away. The kids were able to get alarmingly close to animals at the Bali Zoo, unlike European zoos where specimens are kept at a distance. Lethargic and deceptively harmless, the old overweight primate was calmly eating from an immense pile of fruits, carefully peeling tiny bananas and plopping it in his mouth. “Good thing Jacky was sick the day he bit me.” Pak Atmaja said. “If he was himself, he would have had the strength of six men.”
I asked the animal doctor if his animals ever get sick. “The monkeys are the most prone to illness and stress. Like that one,” pointing to a Javan Lutung monkey jumping around the open-air primate playground. “He’s very prone to bacterial infections and diarrhea.” On the way out, I met Kadek who was doing a month-long internship so he could practice his English. He asked if I would sign the zoo guest book. I read a few commentaries from other visitors: “I’m disappointed I couldn’t touch the orangutan,” and “Needs more babies!” and “Better than Melbourne zoo!”
Practicalities
Located in Singapadu in Gianyar District north of Batubulan on Jl. Raya Singapadu, Sukawati, tel. (0361) 294-356/7, email: info@bali-zoo.com, website: www.bali-zoo.com. Open 9 am-9 pm every day of the year (except Nyepi). Admission: US$ 24/adult and US$ 12/child for overseas visitors; Rp60,000 adult, Rp30,000 children for Indonesians and KITAS holders. Infants under two free. Disability access. Petting zoo is open every day 9 am-5 pm.
The Art of The Bird Park
Zoos have come a long way since a Congolese pygmy named Ota Benga was displayed in the monkey cage at the Bronx Zoo in 1906. Zoos can no longer be caricatures of how animals are in their natural habitats. Changing demographics and social trends have forced zoos to widen their appeal and treat their residents with more kindness. One of the changes is that “zoos” are now called “parks.”
When I first visited the Bali Bird Park 10 years ago, it was a drive out into the countryside but now it’s just a 20 minute crawl north of Batubulan. We drove by the entrance on the left and my driver had to back up in heavy traffic, then turn down a steep road 700 meters to the parking lot. Although the parking areas were full of cars and big tour buses, the park itself easily absorb all the people and felt half empty. Most of the zoo’s visitors were enthusiastic Indonesian families, couples and groups obviously enjoying themselves, reflecting the new demographics of Indonesian tourism. Ten years ago the zoo was the exclusive domain of foreign tourists.
As we started our walk through the lavishly landscaped grounds, ponds, and jungle grottoes in the cool of the morning when the birds were most active. What hit me first the burbling, warbling, drawling, mournful, harsh, hollow, guttural, plaintive, staccato, ecstatic cries of hundreds of bird species. Accustomed to being around humans, cockatoos and parrots were sitting in the branches of trees and peacocks and cranes were wandering about unfettered.
The white board in front of the new arrivals facility listed three Bali Starlings plus 22 other species who were in the breeding program. Next came cages holding amazingly colored macaws, followed by the dignified hornbills, mythological looking cassowaries with beady piercing eyes, then eagles, small owls, wading pelicans.
So well-camouflaged are some of the species that they were difficult to see in their big cages. Smack in the middle is a world famous cultural icon, an authentic Torajan house from south Sulawesi. In other enclosures stood facsimiles of ancient Javanese temples.
Papua, a gigantic aviary adjacent to the “Rainforest Juice Bar,” is full of exotic species from New Guinea. Except for the toucans, we had to keep our eyes peeled to spot birdlife though I nearly tripped over a stray drongo and Mambruk pigeon walking along the paths. I could hear the sharp cries of the Bird of Paradise – a member of the jay family - and the ghostly tremulous cries of other invisible birds from the canopy walk eye level with the treetops.
In the restaurant, during a birds of prey demonstration, I talked with the zoo’s veterinarian and assistant curator Dr. Maryke Andriani who has worked at the park for 13 years. She took up veterinary medicine because she always liked animals, especially cats. “They didn’t teach me anything about exotic bird species at university, only about chickens. I learnt everything here by myself - from zero.” Maryke’s job sometimes calls for quick thinking, like the time a big cassowary jumped its enclosure and when a mid-size komodo dragon climbed up a caretaker’s ladder and started roaming the park. She had to rescue tourists who were posing beside the freed animals for picture taking, not realizing how dangerous they were.
I asked her how she can possibly care for the 1000 birds that comprise the park’s collection, a total of 250 species, plus bats and lizards. “We try to prevent sickness rather than cure sickness. You have to be careful. We don’t put an eagle in with a Bali Starling. Many of the more exotic specimens look good until they drop dead. That’s why we do frequent examinations of their feces and blood, make sure they have a good diet, enough water, clean cages with no poisonous plants around.” Are your breeding programs successful? “Indigenous breeds like the Bali Starling are easy to breed if we have enough parent stock. Non-indigenous species like macaws are difficult to breed even if you have a healthy male and female. But we’ve been lucky obtaining protected species from outside Indonesia. Our park has the only Hyacinth Macaw in all of Indonesia.”
Practicalities
Bali Bird Park, Jl. Serma Cok Ngurah Gambir, Singapadu, Batubulan, Gianyar, tel. 0361-299-352. Hours: 9 am to 5:30 pm daily. Admission (includes Rimba Reptile Park next door): Overseas visitors: US$25.85 adults, US$13 children; Indonesian and KITAS holders: Rp82,500 adults, Rp42,000 children. Not necessary to book. Credit cards accepted. Restaurant, rest rooms, first aid stations, gifts and souvenirs, disability access. A 15-minute 3D shows ten times daily. The Greater Birds of Paradise is hand fed in the Papua aviary at 9:30 am.
Bali’s Own Jurassic Park
Just 15 meters distance, entering the adjacent Rimba Reptile Park means stepping back into the dawn of time. The atmosphere turned from open meandering parkland full of birdsong to a dark humid silent rainforest laced with a labyrinth of narrow paths. With more than 180 specimens, this is one of Southeast Asia’s rarest and most extensive collections of reptiles and amphibians.
We first came upon a cave-like reptilarium where we got a glimpse at rare terrestrial species behind glass. Well over 100 snakes inhabit Indonesia, the majority non-poisonous, but these cave-like corridors concentrate on the more venomous varieties: king cobras, deadly pit vipers and the extremely toxic taipan whose bite has enough venom to kill 300 people. Props like canon, driftwood, stone temples and fountains, wooden wagon wheels, hangman’s noose and pocked voodoo statuary made it a short visit for the kids. The pride of the park is a 2.5 meter long Komodo dragon. By this time it was mid-day and the famous monitor lizard was active, but half-hidden. I had to jockey with an Italian woman to get a clear shot of the giant lizard with my camera. We were both satisfied when the star attraction lurched out from behind a concrete wall and crawled towards us.
The stone pathways and stairs inevitably led to the park’s highest ground, a large open-air courtyard of pools and trees where iguanas and slithering pythons roamed about and basked in the branches. My girls posed for photographs in front of a tortoise, then the caretaker handed them a magnificent very obliging sail-finned lizard which they held just long enough to record the experience for posterity.
Practicalities
The Rimba Reptile Park is next to the Bali Bird Park, Jl. Serma Cok Ngurah Gambir, Singapadu, Batubulan, Gianyar Regency, Bali 80542, tel/fax: (0361) 299-344, email: herpindo@denpasar.wasantara.net.id. Admission: see Bali Bird Park “Practicalities” for combination tickets. Open daily 9 am to 6 pm. For full lists of species in all three parks, see: www.zoochat.com/238/bali-bird-park-reptile-park-91287/.
