REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, SURABAYA - Minister of forestry Zulkifli Hasan presented a conservation institution decree on the management of Surabaya Zoo to Surabaya Mayor Tri Rismaharini on Monday. The management of the zoo should be in accordance with the law on Natural Resource Conservation, the minister emphasized.

A long-standing dispute between the two management teams of Surabaya Zoo resulted in the deaths of some 479 animals in 2006 and 258 animals in 2007. In 2008, the number of animal deaths increased to 364, and in 2009, it dropped to 321. In 2010, there were 162 deaths until September. In 2011, four Komodo dragons died and three went missing from the zoo.

On January 7, 2014, a 1.5-year-old lion, Michael, was found dead under mysterious circumstances. The African lion died after getting its head caught in a cable inside its cage, triggering widespread condemnations not only in Indonesia but also worldwide.

The Surabaya Zoo tragedy has dragged on incessantly, and the zoo has drawn flak internationally for its cruelty. It has been labeled as the "zoo of death" after thousands of animals perished over the past few years.

On January 20, the Surabaya mayor reported the alleged mismanagement and graft occurring in the Surabaya Zoo, which led to the disappearance or deaths of around 420 rare animals, to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK). Among the animals that went missing from the Surabaya Zoo, were two Komodo dragons and 50 Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi) birds, she pointed out.

"We still need a zoo," the mayor asserted while reporting the case to the KPK in Jakarta, in response to a call to close down the zoo.

The Surabaya Zoo, located in East Java, was the biggest in Indonesia and Southeast Asia with no less than 3.5 thousand animals belonging to 400 species of mammals, birds, and reptiles.

The zoo was formally opened on August 31, 1916, during the Dutch colonial era, when a group of animal lovers came together and decided to open a zoological garden.

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