Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The deaths of three rare white tigers in August provided additional proof that Ragunan Zoo had been treating its animals improperly in recent years, one of the zoo's staff members said here on Saturday.

"The death of the rare white tigers in August revealed a drastic decrease in the quality of animal care in the zoo," the staff member, who refused to be named, told The Jakarta Post.

He said that conditions had worsened noticeably after the financial crisis hit the country three years ago. There are over 4,000 animals representing more than 300 species at the zoo.

However, the city administration had provided Rp 3 billion this year for the animals' food needs and medical treatment, up from Rp 1,7 billion in 1998, he said.

The staff member said that, before the crisis, the daily menu for animals such as leopards, jaguars, tigers and lions had consisted of fresh meat and chicken. They also received additional servings of kangaroo meat.

Every day, except Sunday, the zoo would provide five kilograms of meat to each animal. Good quality feed was also provided to herbivores at the zoo, including hippopotamuses and elephants.

But now, the zoo's animals are no longer receiving high-quality feed. Nor are they getting proper medical treatment. "They still get five kilograms of meat but it's lower quality," he said.

"Sometimes, we give them chicken, at other times we give them frozen meat," the senior attendant said, adding that the attendants were concerned about the quality of the food being provided but said that no other food was available.

Another staff member, who also refused to be named, admitted that wild animals in the zoo did not receive proper medical care despite the presence of veterinarians. But he was not sure whether it was because of the lack of funds or because the funds available for animal care had fallen victim to corruption.

"The veterinarians can only provide vitamins and they can't cure serious diseases. If an animal came down with a serious disease, the vet could do nothing since the zoo couldn't afford to buy the medicine," said the staff member.

According to the staff member, apart from the deaths of the white tigers, six birds and a lion had also reportedly died due to improper care.

But the zoo's director, Ismianto, denied that the animals' deaths resulted from the zoo's improper care. "It's not true. The white tigers died, not because of improper care but because they contracted typhoid," he said.