Tony Sumampau, the head of the team, said here on Monday, initially the 15-hectare wide zoo only had 1,500-2,000 animals but now their number had increased to over 4,000.
"We now clearly have an overload and therefore relocation must be done soon," he said.
According to Semampau, with the number of animals exceeding the zoo`s capacity, its conditions would deteriorate and make it increasingly difficult to ensure the animals` welfare. "Then they won`t get the attention they need. In fact, a few of them died recently due to stress," he said.
Semampau said the party having the authority to relocate the animals was the Forestry Ministry whereas his team could only recommend it.
"We have already made the relocation proposal in a letter to the Forestry Ministry, and we do not know to where the animals will be moved because it is the ministry`s authority," he said.
Semampau said the animals could be moved to other zoos or to another zoo that could accommodate all of them . Animals that needed to be relocated as soon as possible were tigers, pelican birds, hog deer, and others.
According to data the team had collected, as many as 245 animals had died in 2011, the number decreased from 2010 when as many as 269 perished in the Surabaya zoo. In 2009, 319 animals died and in 2008 the number of deaths was 364, But the highest number of animal deaths (528) occurred in 2007.
Semampau said the death of the animals in the Surabaya zoo was caused by many factors, but one of them was mismanagement by the previous caretakers.
(E002)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
