Regarding Howletts Zoo's Indonesian Gorilla deal

[Guest guest]

*Dear Mr Clifton and AAPN colleagues,*

*

I am frankly rather disappointed to

learn about the involvement of Howletts Zoo in this dubious deal. I do have

a small personal connection with this place and John Aspinall which I want

to narrate. As some of you will know, John Victor Aspinall was a

multimillionaire gambler who started Howletts and Port Lympne zoos, the two

most remarkable zoos in the whole captive animal world. He was a maverick

who had a great fondness for animals, even though his views on humans were

largely extreme right wing and misanthropic. And in my reckoning, he was the

only zoo director who genuinely and truly believed in the RIGHTS of all

animals. He delivered a radical speech on animal rights entitled 'Man's

Place in Nature' which dismissed the majority of humanity as 'biomass' and

he supported human culling. He supported the work of several animal

welfare/rights groups and was a personal friend of the Born Free Foundation

founder, Virginia McKenna. He had great contempt for the Zoo Federation of

UK and kept his zoos out of their membership(I believe they still are). Many

captive animal welfare campaigners might be surprised to know that John

Aspinall offered full fledged support to the Zoo Inquiry project of the

World Society for the Protection of Animals and the Born Free Foundation, a

project that produced a document challenging the claims of the first World

Zoo Conservation Strategy. He was incidentally born in undivided India(in

what is now Pakistan) and was a great admirer of the carnivore

reintroduction projects instituted by the Indian conservationist Billy Arjan

Singh.*

* John Aspinall, at the behest of Virginia McKenna offered me financial

support to attend a diploma course in Wildlife Management at Sparsholt

College in Winchester, Hampshire. Unfortunately due to a serious illness, I

was unable to take up the offer. *

* Nonetheless, I did have a chance to visit Howletts Zoo in person in 1999.

I was extremely impressed at the large open spaces offered to large mammals

in the shape of paddocks and found their husbandry and breeding record

unique. Howletts Zoo has several extremely rare species of primates,

including some very rare species of Gibbons. They also have by far the best

enclosure for African Elephants I have seen anywhere: a huge paddock fenced

by railway girders. During my visit I had the opportunity to interact with

some of their staff, including elephant keeper Dave Magner and veterinarian

Christopher Furley. I expressed my interest to meet John Aspinall personally

and I remember Chris Furley was much amused when I told him that he had

offered to help me since 'Mr Aspinall only cared for animals and did not

believe much in helping humans. " *

* As a zoo, however, Howletts is not perfect(Well none of us are perfect.)

I saw very strong evidence of stereotypic behaviour among the Siberian

Tigers and thought the Snow Leopard cage was way too small for the animals.

Howletts and Port Lympne have also courted controversy with their animal

handling policy that has seen at least five keepers being killed by tigers

and elephants. It is a policy of having close contact with animals that has

now been stopped by John Aspinall's son, Damian Aspinall, who runs the zoo.

I do recall reading that Virginia McKenna was in favour of the close contact

policy and so was I and I think I still am, if risks can be minimised to

prevent human and animal casualties.*

* Reading Merritt Clifton's message, I find that there is a claim that

states, " Smits credited Howletts with curing the gibbons of diseases and

getting them out of small cages. " I think this claim smacks of incredible

colonialism and a sense of misguided priority. I assume Smits was speaking

about the Gibbons in captivity in Indonesia who supposedly had a better life

at Howletts? I think he is suggesting that the Gibbons were better off in

England than in Indonesia, a claim that can be refuted because this argument

has been used by most zoos in the West to justify the incarceration and

exhibition of wild animals. Regardless of the ethics surrounding the

transfer of Gorillas from Howletts to Ragunan, I think this argument is

quite dubious. I fail to see why the gibbons could not have been provided

better accommodation and health care in Indonesia, at least theoretically,

they can be. *

* However, having said that, I like to point out a case of Indonesian

animal transfer concerning John Aspinall. He was personally involved in the

transfer of two Indonesian Sumatran Rhinos to Port Lympne Zoo. The animals

were named Torgamba and Meranti. Meranti died in captivity and it is then

that John Aspinall decided on a course of action that is possibly THE MOST

SELFLESS INITIATIVE taken by any zoo anywhere in the world to safeguard the

welfare of an individual animal as well as a species. He personally arranged

for Torgamba to be returned to Indonesia and Torgamba touched home soil on 7

January 1998. In my opinion this was an astonishing act of generosity,

something modern zoos should look upto although I very much doubt they can

match Aspinall's magnanimity.*

* John Aspinall made major contributions to the zoo conservation world,

buying the magazine International Zoo News when it was facing bankruptcy. He

had an excellent collection of animal books and did much to restore the

historical artefacts of both Howletts and Port Lympne. You can read about

Howletts Zoo and Port Lympne Zoo on the following websites : **

http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Zoos/howletts.htm*<http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Zoo\

s/howletts.htm>

* and

**http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Zoos/howletts.htm*<http://www.goodzoos.com/UK%20Z\

oos/howletts.htm>

* Even the great Dian Fossey, who hated all zoos with a vengeance, expressed

satisfaction at the conditions in which Gorillas were kept in Howletts. John

Aspinall, and subsequently Damian, were involved in making strenuous efforts

to reintroduce captive Gorillas.(I don't exactly recall, but I believe they

have worked in both Gabon and Congo and extended support to primate

sanctuaries in Africa).*

* John Aspinall was a remarkable man by any standards. Committed zoo people

are rare as unicorns and he was one of them. His autobiography, 'The Best

of Friends' makes captivating reading. Tributes flowed in from many

quarters, including Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi from South Africa when he

expired. I have attached a couple of them. Aspinall had wondered if, on his

death, chimpanzees, tigers and dolphins would come to weep at his grave(I

think they would).His librarian and editor of International Zoo News,

Nicholas Gould, was very apt when he said : " I can think of no more

appropriate inscription for his grave at Howletts than the one on Sir

Christopher Wren's tomb in St Paul's Cathedral: Si monumentum requiris,

circumspice – `If you want to see his memorial, look around you.' " *

* I want to end this note by sharing my favourite moment at Howletts, a

moment that is etched in my memory since it is one of the most amazing

animal encounters I have had.*

* I was walking around Howletts Zoo on a very cold and rainy December

afternoon. I was passing cage after cage, admiring the beautiful animals and

I came across the North American Timber wolves in their paddock. Black and

furry, they pranced around their enclosure like Macbeth's witches. It was

drizzling and there were very few visitors. I was following one of many

paths that crisscross the site and by the time I had reached the South

American Bush Dog enclosure, I was the only person in that wooded area. I

was looking at these charming carnivores gambolling in their enclosure, when

I was suddenly struck by a sound that was as as beautiful as it was eerie.

" Oooooo, ooooooo,oooooo, " it floated in the air and added an element of

fright in a desolate ambience since it seemed as if it was coming from

somehwere very close by. Somewhat startled, I stood frozen in my tracks,

believing an animal had escaped. I looked back, but there was nothing, only

the sweet Golden Lion Tamarins hopping from branch to branch, in their cage.

But the voice continued and I decided come what may, I would have to walk

since it was getting late. I continued on my way, and this dirge continued,

sometimes low pitched and sometimes high, mysterious and entrancing, as

lovely as it was riveting. It was only when I retraced my steps to the North

American Timber Wolf enclosure that I discovered the source of this

extraordinary concert. These majestic Husky like creatures had erupted in

full throated song and I have rarely, if ever, come across an animal call

that is as poignant and enchanting. I stood there, transfixed, as I observed

each animal throwing its head to the sky and delivering its individual

rendition of a primeval orchestra. I could have stood there forever,

admiring this phenomenon, but I had to leave so I waved them good bye and

made my way out of the park. I have tried, on many occasions, to replicate

the lament of the wolves, some say with a frightening degree of resemblance

and accuracy. Even now, on a pallid moonlit night, I drift off to sleep and

the chorus of the Howletts Zoo wolves comes flooding back to me, melodious

and mellifluous.*

* It is therefore sad for me to see Howletts involved in this deal. I do

hope they are acquitted, but my gut feeling says they have made an error of

judgment in this case.*

* Thank you very much for bringing this note to our attention. It is raining

outside and it has been a nice occasion to recollect the memories of John

Aspinall and Howletts Zoo.*

* All good wishes and regards,*

 

**

* *

IN MEMORIAM

 

John Aspinall, 1926–2000

 

Reflections on one of the zoo world's most eminent `silver-backs'

*

 

by Jeremy J.C. Mallinson

**

 

`The old order changeth, yielding place to new,'* but it is difficult now to

have to think of the gorilla kingdom, and the zoo world, without the

passionate defender of wildlife and the charismatic presence of John

Aspinall.

 

There has been so much published about John's most inspiring and colourful

life that it is difficult to resist the temptation to plagiarise some of the

worthy writings and observations of others. However, as I have been directly

involved in the zoo and conservation world since the late 1950s, and have

witnessed so many changes that have taken place over the last four decades

or so, I shall attempt to record in this short appreciation, what I consider

to be some of the achievements and subsequent influence that John has had on

the global zoo community.

 

I first met John Aspinall at Howletts in the early 1970s, when I had the

opportunity to introduce him to the well-respected primatologist, W.C. Osman

Hill, who soon became a great admirer of the Zoo Park's many primate

breeding successes. Events such as participating in what John referred to as

one of his `posses of wildlifers', at a rally he organised at the Albert

Hall in 1972; chairing the first meeting of all holders of lowland gorillas

in the United Kingdom and Ireland, in the spacious surroundings of his

London gaming club in 1976; presenting papers at the same time as him at

international primate meetings at both Hanover and San Diego Zoos; as well

as speaking to an `All Party Select Committee' at the House of Lords with

him on the conservation role of both a private and public zoo: all provided

me with an invaluable insight into the inspiration, motivation and

charismatic personality of a truly remarkable man.

 

Being aware of the conservation objectives of Howletts almost since its

inception, and having been personally involved with Gerald Durrell, my

mentor, for a period of over 35 years, while reflecting on their respective

lives it has been fascinating to note the degree of resemblance between two

such outstanding and unorthodox zoo and conservation visionaries.

 

John Aspinall and Gerry Durrell were born within a year of each other in

India in the mid-1920s. As far as the animal kingdom is concerned, they also

shared many other significant landmarks. In their formative years they both

had exotic animals as their household pets. In the late 1950s, they both

established their own particular type of zoo, with similar objectives of

breeding self-sustaining populations of threatened species. Also, having

been inspired in the late 1940s by the magnificence and nobility of London

Zoo's lowland gorilla, Guy, by the end of the 1950s they had both personally

purchased lowland gorillas to be their house guests, Shamba and Gugis at

Howletts and N'Pongo at Jersey, the first members and – in the cases of

Shamba and N'Pongo – the founders of the successful colonies of gorillas at

both of these breeding centres.

 

In order to put into some type of perspective how the `Zoo Establishment'

regarded such inspirational interlopers, it is interesting to note in Brian

Masters' excellent biography, *The Passion of John Aspinall* (1988), how Sir

Solly Zuckerman (later Lord Zuckerman), the Secretary of the Zoological

Society of London, had the feeling that Aspinall should not be taken

seriously or be encouraged, and how he thought of him as a dilettante.

Similarly, Gerald Durrell was never in any doubt that Zuckerman viewed him

in almost exactly the same way. However, as Brian Masters related, the

unscientific, intuitive methods adopted by Aspinall may have been more

fruitful than the orthodox approach. As zoo history now well records, this

has very much proved to be the case.

 

Soon after Gerald Durrell's death in January 1995 at the age of 70, John

wrote one of his usual most thoughtful letters to Lee Durrell, saying:

 

`Though we had a great deal in common, both being born in India of colonial

families, my father was a civil engineer with the Bengal Nagpur Railway

[G.D.'s father was also a civil engineer and railway builder], both

autodidacts, etc., I have no doubt that we would have become friends if our

paths had ever crossed. Like Oscar Wilde, he certainly put his talents into

his work and his genius into his life. Genius in both senses, that of

capacity and that of spirit. A great man whose apocalyptic vision I share

with mounting dread for the fate of the planet. If a dreadful nemesis is in

store for our own species I am unconcerned, because we deserve whatever

thunderbolts the Gods decide to hurl at us.'

 

Those of us who have had the privilege to visit either Howletts or Port

Lympne will have seen the great attention to detail given to the diverse

species represented in the two Wild Animal Parks, which have directly

resulted from John's passion and desire to do everything possible to provide

the best quality of life for the animals that come under their care. In

particular, in the way the park environments have taken into full account

the psychological and physical well-being of the animals, thereby ensuring

that they are being maintained at the highest of standards.

 

The significant sustained breeding successes of so many endangered species

at both Howletts and Port Lympne are greatly respected by those working in

the zoo and conservation world. John's private Foundation has recorded many

outstanding achievements, in particular in having developed the most

prolific and largest gorilla breeding colony in the world. The Foundation's

pioneering work with gorillas at the orphanage in Congo Brazzaville, its

attempt to reintroduce captive-bred animals to the wild, and more recently

its work in the Gabon, has provided the zoo world with an excellent example

of how zoos can aid in-country conservation programmes.

 

John was undoubtedly a maverick of outstanding qualities who lavished his

fortune on his passion for animals, with the ultimate aim for them to have a

future on the planet that he shared with them. He, like all true leaders,

led by example, in particular through his inspirational innovativeness and

entrepreneurial skills. Although there can never be another John Aspinall, I

am confident that his guiding spirit will continue to influence the zoo

world in its achievement of higher standards for the animals that come under

their care.

 

Like the knights of old, John has thrown down his gauntlet of high

conservation principles for others to emulate. And, like all such eminent

`silver-backs', he has demonstrated to the international zoo fraternity what

it is possible to nurture if the multi-disciplinary marriage between man and

animal can be achieved.*Jeremy Mallinson,*

 

*Director,*

 

*Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust*

The Gambling Zookeeper

 

If John Aspinall had been merely a misanthropic rogue who won and lost

fortunes at gambling tables while holding vaguely pro-nazi eugenicist views,

he would be dismissed as some kind of nasty freak and we'd all be glad he

was dead. But Aspinall channeled his considerable energies, prejudices, and

winnings in an unexpected direction. The misanthrope was an ethologist par

excellence, a revolutionary thinker about the proper treatment of animals

and the relationships between zookeepers and their charges. He founded two

zoos and under his philosophy they became, by far, the most successful

places anywhere at breeding tigers and gorillas. He was not a nice man, but

he counted among his friends many of England's luminaries, as well as large

numbers of animals.

 

Aspinall's most important idea about how to treat animals was that they

should be pampered like friends, instead of punished like prisoners. He took

this attitude so far that he spent hours in the cages with the animals,

grooming the gorillas, romping with the tigers, and probably constricting

with the constrictors. He was exquisitely sensitive to the needs of each.

 

For instance, realizing that wild gorillas live in troops of about 20, he

proposed that they should be kept in similar numbers in zoos, or not at all.

His gorillas were provided with a rich sensory environment and straw

underfoot to mimic forest conditions. He spread seeds, nuts, and raisins

around in the straw so that they had to spend hours foraging, just as they

would in the wild. Aspinall wrote, " A keeper who is happy to go off and

sleep between sheets and blankets in a sprung bed and leave his apes to roll

their bones on a concrete shelf is best dismissed. " It is difficult for

people not familiar with zoo practices to realize that, even today,

Aspinall's attitude is the exception. Most zoo animals are held in penal

conditions, and they repay their lousy treatment by developing mental

illnesses and refusing to reproduce.

 

Maybe it was because he never formally studied biology that Aspinall could

invent his theories, seemingly out of empathy, and out of whole cloth as

well. He must have realized early that he wasn't much of a fan of genus

homo, but he didn't own his first animal until he was 30, in 1956. He

purchased a capuchin monkey as a gift for his wife, soon afterwards acquired

a nine-week-old tigress named Tara, and then procured two Himalayan bears.

The tigress shared his bed for the next 18 months, and the whole menagerie

lived with him in an apartment. It was typically outrageous behavior for a

man whose life until then had been lived mainly for thrills.

 

He was born in Delhi to a well-off family and schooled at Rugby, in England,

where he was eventually asked not to return. After a stint in the Marines he

went up to Oxford, where he nourished a penchant for gambling. He missed his

finals to attend the races at Ascot and he put his entire term's grant on

the nose of a winner at short odds. After college he set himself up in

thecasino business, then illegal in England. His wealthy Oxford

friends would

drop fortunes at his tables playing chemin de fer. Aspinall had no

compunctions about taking their money. He said that he liked " the corrosive

effect that it has on such outdated concepts as the sanctity of money and

the dignity of labor, " adding that his luxurious trappings meant that

" gentlemen could ruin themselves as elegantly and suicidally as did their

ancestors 300 years ago. " He enjoyed being rich, and lived amid opulence.

When his tables were raided, the ensuing court case set a precedent by which

casino gambling was re-legalized in England, in 1962. He quickly took

advantage of the situation by opening a huge casino.

 

His notoriety only increased when it was suspected that he was involved in

the disappearance of Lord Lucan, a peer who had murdered his family's nanny

with a lead pipe blow to the head. (It was said that the real target was

Lucan's wife.) The London tabloids suggested that Lucan had shown up at

Aspinall's zoo and implored Aspinall to feed him to the tigers. Aspinall

later let it be known that Lucan had committed suicide at sea, but no trace

was ever found.

 

At some point Aspinall's mother admitted to him that he was not the son of

his surgeon " father " but of a British serviceman who had the pleasure of her

company under a tamarisk tree at a regimental ball in India. Unperturbed,

Aspinall tracked down the man in a retirement home and supported the old

soldier for the rest of his life.

 

In 1957, with money won at the races, he purchased Howletts, a derelict 18th

century country mansion near Canterbury, with 39 acres of gardens and

parkland that was to become his first zoo. Funds from his own gambling and

the casino business allowed him to build up a private collection that

included rhinos, bongo antelopes, Przewalski's horses, langurs and leopards.

Here he developed his philosophy of treating animals with respect – he said

that animals know and resent it when they are being treated as inferiors. He

regaled his retinue with diverse, fabulous diets and individual attention.

He gathered about himself a devoted team of like-minded keepers.

 

His methods produced great successes in the reproduction of gorillas and

tigers, species previously proven extremely resistant to reproduction in

captivity. Other successes in this department included snow leopards,

fishing cats, honey badgers and Przewalski's horses. In many cases it was

the first time a species had ever been bred in a zoo. Dian Fossey,

thestudent of gorillas, who hated zoos, made an exception for

Howletts.

Aspinall pioneered the reintroduction into the wild of animals he had bred,

and supplied animals to zoos all over the world that agreed with his

methods.

 

His methods, however, had their problems as well as their successes. Over

the years five keepers were killed in encounters with tigers and elephants.

A young boy had his arm ripped off by a chimpanzee, and there were other

injuries as well. Aspinall frequently appeared in public with his face

scratched and bruised from overzealous romps with the animals. He was

unrepentant, noting that humans were much bigger killers than animals. " One

tiger in 12 has this aberrant streak, " he noted of Zeya, who killed two

keepers. " With humans it is one in three. "

 

Such a view was sadly typical of his mindset. He thought the human race had

far too many members, and he rejoiced at the news of natural disasters and

plagues that carried off thousands. He said, " I would be very happy to see

3.5 billion humans wiped out from the face of the earth within the next 150

or 200 years and I am quite prepared to go myself with this majority … Let

us all look forward to the day when the catastrophe strikes us down! " He

also wrote, " The sanctity of human life is the most dangerous sophistry ever

propagated by philosophy and it is all too well rooted. Because if it means

anything it means the in-sanctity of species which are not human. " He tended

toward eugenic beliefs that oddly allied him with the English upper classes

he fleeced through gambling: " Broadly speaking, the high income groups tend

to have a better genetic inheritance. " " Reason is the worst possible guide

to human affairs, " he said a few years ago. " It is merely the undertaker

that you send in after the battle to explain the logic of the affair.

Instinct and prejudice are much better guides. " He harbored a special

loathing for wealthy women with left-wing bents.

 

Despite these addled views, Aspinall was clear-headed enough to be able to

earn a fortune whenever he wanted. He used his gambling and impresario

talents to support his zoos (there was soon a second) to the tune of

millions per year. At least three times he abandoned the casino business,

only to have reverses that forced him back into it. Each time he attained

greater success than he had experienced previously. " I'm like an old warrior

who can galvanize himself when he's threatened, but I'm pretty idle when

I've got no threats, " he said. He only opened up his zoos to the public in

the early 70s, when his finances were at a dodgy point after a market crash,

and then only after selling paintings and jewelry to feed his animals.

 

Nearing death at age 74 from cancer of the jaw, he wanted to be dispatched

by one of his own tigers, but this wish was not to be granted him. He was

pleased, however, to leave his zoos in the hands of his eldest son Damian,

who had built up excellent friendships with many of the animals. It was

typical of Aspinall that he would think of animal friendship and his own

bloodlines when considering the fate of his quirky and amazing projects.

 

 

 

 

On 1/17/09, Merritt Clifton <anmlpepl wrote:

>

> From ANIMAL PEOPLE, January/February 2009:

>

> Senior Ragunan Zoo curator speaks out for orangs

>

> JAKARTA, Indonesia--Ragunan Zoo senior

> curator Ulrike Freifrau von Mengden on December

> 30, 2008 for the second time in three years put

> her unpaid job and her home inside the zoo at

> risk by speaking out on behalf of the orangutans

> she has looked after ever since the zoo opened.

> Prompting von Mengden's concern each time

> were the implications for nearly 50 orangutans

> of a long-evolving deal whereby the Ragunan Zoo

> is reportedly to acquire a female gorilla from

> the Howletts Wild Animal Park in Britain in early

> 2009, in trade for 12 primates of Indonesian

> species.

> Brokered by Gibbon Foundation director

> Willie Smits, a Dutch-born Indonesian resident,

> the exchange was disclosed in February 2006.

> Five silvery gibbons and several Javan langurs

> were sent to Howletts. Smits credited Howletts

> with curing the gibbons of diseases and getting

> them out of small cages.

> Preparations to receive the female

> gorilla are still underway, Ragunan Zoo

> spokesperson Bambang Wahyudi recently told

> Mariani Dewi of the Jakarta Post.

> The female gorilla is expected to arrive

> after a Ragunan Zoo veterinarian, a senior

> keeper, and a data base administrator complete

> three months of training at Howletts. Their

> training started in October 2008.

> The series of animal swaps that are to

> culminate in the Ragunan Zoo acquring the female

> gorilla began coincidental with the opening of

> the Puck Schmutzer Primate Center in 2002, when

> Howletts sent four young male gorillas to the

> Ragunan Zoo. Only three of the gorillas have

> been mentioned in recent Ragunan Zoo

> announcements and media coverage. The

> International Primate Protection League has

> received a report that the missing gorilla died

> from head injuries, but has not been able to

> confirm it, IPPL founder Shirley McGreal told

> ANIMAL PEOPLE.

> Schmutzer, the Swiss patron of the

> Liechtenstein-based Gibbon Foundation, and

> longtime sponsor of von Mengden's position at the

> Ragunan Zoo, funded the primate center in 2000.

> A longtime friend of Howletts founder John

> Aspinall, who died in 2000, Schmutzer died in

> 2006. The Gibbon Foundation appears to have

> subsequently collapsed.

> Von Mengden has contended since soon

> after Schmutzer's death that Schmutzer would not

> have approved of the subsequent actions of

> Ragunan Zoo director Sri Mulyono. Hired in 2004,

> Sri Mulyono is the eighth Ragunan Zoo director

> von Mengden has worked under. A German-trained

> medical technical assistant, von Mengden

> emigrated to Indonesia in 1952, and soon became

> a volunteer at the former Cikini Zoo in Jakarta.

> " Forty years ago the then-Jakarta

> Governor Ali Sadikin, Cikini Zoo director

> Benjamin Galstaun, his biologist wife, and I

> moved the zoo from Central Jakarta to Ragunan, "

> von Mengden recalled in 2006. " Since then I have

> lived in a part of the zoo not open to the

> public, rearing young orangutans, babies of

> killed mothers, and animals who have been

> confiscated from people keeping them illegally as

> pets. We prepare them to be released into their

> natural habitat, " a goal that Aspinall,

> Schmutzer, and Smits all favored.

> The primate center had semi-autonomy

> under the previous directors, but Smits'

> " critical remarks and public protest against the

> wide destruction of the rain forests in Indonesia

> and clashes with the departments in charge,

> created high tension, " von Mengden charged in

> 2006.

> When the Gibbon Found-ation was no longer

> able to fund the primate center, von Mengden

> said, " In May 2006 the city government handed

> over the management centre to the zoo director.

> This resulted in the dismissal of a number of

> qualified employees. The well-equipped workshop

> with good technicians was closedŠNow I don't have

> much left from my old age pension for food for

> the neglected animals, repair of old cages, for

> medicine, and for salaries of many workers.

> " The original plan was to keep animals

> only from Southeast Asia to promote knowledge of

> them among the people, especially children, but

> was abandoned, " von Mengden alleged.

> " The original aim of the center catering

> to the poor was diminished, " von Mengden added

> in her December 2008 statement, " since entry

> into the primate center requires a separate fee,

> prohibitively expensive for poor Indonesian

> children. The center currently houses a variety

> of primates, " she noted, " including

> chimpanzees, three African gorillas, gibbons,

> siamangs, lorises and a few fortunate

> orangutans. "

> But the Primate Center does not house the

> whole Ragunan Zoo orangutan collection, von

> Mengden wrote to the Jakarta Post.

> " Unbeknownst to most visitors, " von Mengden

> said, " there are close to 50 other orangutans

> living at the zoo. These orangutans could not be

> accommodated in the primate center, but were

> promised new enclosures. That promise has been

> unfulfilled. For more then 10 years, " von

> Mengden added, " I have been waiting for the

> release of several eligible orangutans back into

> the wild. Currently, they are waiting patiently

> in rotten dark cages, some of which were built

> for bears and cats, and were used for quarantine

> areas. Many times full-grown orangutans have

> tried to escape. One managed to lift a piece of

> iron fence from the concrete walls, so desperate

> was that orangutan to see sunlight.

> " My hopes quickly turned to bitter

> tears, " von Mengden said, " when I learned that

> [construction at the zoo] would become a new

> gorilla enclosure! How can Indonesia's beloved

> national treasures sit and rot while the zoo

> builds a beautiful enclosure for an African

> animal? Who will care for Indonesia's red-haired

> children, " she asked, " if not the Indonesian

> people themselves? "

> Commented McGreal, " IPPL fails to

> understand how exhibiting gorillas will help

> Indonesia's unique red apes, who are in

> desperate straits. England often has dismal

> dreary weather, totally unsuitable for

> rainforest primates. It seems that a lot of

> money has been spent on this questionable animal

> deal, including plenty on travel. This was

> money better spent on protecting Indonesia's

> forests and wonderful animals. "

>

> --

> Merritt Clifton

> Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

> P.O. Box 960

> Clinton, WA 98236

>

> Telephone: 360-579-2505

> Fax: 360-579-2575

> E-mail: anmlpepl <anmlpepl%40whidbey.com>

> Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

>

> [ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent

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>

>