Singa Ditemukan Tewas Terjerat Tali Baja di KBS Surabaya
Lion Found Hanging in its Cage in the Surabaya Zoo, Indonesia
Editor : Cahyani Harzi
Translator : Dhelia Gani
 b.jpg)
KEBON Binatang Surabaya (KBS), memicu kemarahan pembaca MailOnline di seluruh dunia setelah mengekspos bagaimana KBS memelihara hewan peliharaannya, sedang diselidiki oleh polisi menyusul kematian singa berusia 18 bulan, bernama Michael.
Namun bangkai singa telah dipindahkan sebelum polisi datang memeriksa dan hingga kini belum diketahui keberadaannya.
Seorang perwira senior Polri menolak mengatakan apakah pihak pengelola KBS berupaya menghambat penyelidikan polisi.
Michael ditemukan dicekik di kandangnya setelah lehernya dijerat dengan kabel baja, seperti dilaporkan Jakarta Globe hari ini.
Tragedi itu terjadi hanya 24 jam setelah diketahui bahwa rusa kutub mati di kandang akibat masalah perut, meskipun kebun binatang mengklaim hujanlah yang menjadi penyebab hewan malang itu mati.
Kematian Michael singa sudah pasti menyebabkan tuntutan lebih lanjut dari pecinta hewan di seluruh dunia untuk mendesak pengelola KBS bertanggung jawab.
Menutup kebon binantang, bagaimanapun, bukanlah solusi karena tidak ada kebon binatang lain yang berminat merawat hewan tersebut.
Statistik terbaru, antara Juli dan September tahun lalu, mengungkapkan bahwa 43 hewan mati di kebun binatang selama periode itu.
Di antara hewan yang mati di sana sebelumnya adalah jerapah yang di dalam perutnya ditemukan 20 kilogram plastik di dalam perut dan pada harimau sumatera ditemukan saluran pencernaannya membusuk setelah diberi makan daging yang dicampur formalin.
Terkait pengungkapan kasus matinya singa bernama Michael, juru bicara KBS Agus Supangkat membantah bahwa kematiannya disebabkan oleh kelalaian petugas KBS.
"Kami masih menyelidiki bagaimana kabel baja bisa menjerat leher singa Afrika tersebut," katanya kepada Jakarta Globe seperti dilansir Mail Online.
´Michael relatif muda. Dia baru berumur satu setengah tahun. Bisa jadi bahwa ia bermain-main dan entah bagaimana lehernya terjerat tali baja."
Agus mengatakan setiap singa di kebun binatang - sekarang tinggal empat ekor - yang berada di dua kandang yang berbeda.
Setiap pagi, singa dibawa ke kandang terbuka di mana pengunjung dapat melihat mereka. Kemudian, pada sore hari mereka dipindahkan ke kandang lain untuk beristirahat, kata Agus.
Dia menjelaskan bahwa kebun binatang menggunakan kabel baja untuk mengamankan kandang sehingga petugas KBS tidak harus membuka secara manual atau menutup pintu kandang dengan tangan mereka.
Ini, katanya, adalah tindakan pencegahan keamanan untuk mencegah para penjaga yang terluka.
Michael dikirim ke kebun binatang Maret lalu oleh Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam Jawa Timur.
Kasat Serse Poltabes Surabaya, Kombes Farman mengatakan kepada Globe
bahwa tim kepolisian telah mengunjungi KBS untuk mengumpulkan bukti tapi bangkai harimau tidak ada lagi.
Dia mengatakan bahwa jika bangkai singa dapat ditemukan ´kita akan menunggu hasil otopsi, maka kita dapat lebih memeriksa kasus ini. "
Sebuah penyelidikan MailOnline ke KBS pada akhir Desember lalu menemukan sejumlah kasus hewan berada dalam kondisi menyedihkan, termasuk gajah muda yang dirantai tiga kakinya, salah satunya kakinya cedera karena ikatannya terlalu ketat.
Puluhan petisi dilontarkan untuk mendesak ditutupnya KBS dan kelompok hak-hak binatang telah menambahkan suara mereka dengan tuntutan.
Namun tim manajemen, dipimpin oleh Walikota Surabaya, Tri Rismaharini Mrs, menolak petisi tersebut dan menyatakan mereka ingin mempertahankan struktur asli yang didirikan oleh kolonial Belanda pada tahun 1916.
THE WORLD`S cruellest zoo has claimed another victim after an African lion was found hanging in its cage, it emerged today.
The Surabaya Zoo in Indonesia, which has outraged MailOnline readers around the world after an expose on the treatment of its animals, is being investigated by police following the death of the 18-month-old lion called Michael.
But the lion´s body was removed before police were able to examine it and cannot now be found.
A senior officer declined to say whether it was believed the zoo was trying to hamper the investigation.
Michael was found strangled in his cage after his head became stuck between steel cables, the Jakarta Globe reported today.
The tragedy comes just 24 hours after it was learned that a wildebeest died in its enclosure from a stomach problem, although the zoo said that the wet weather was partly to blame.
The death of Michael the lion is certain to cause further demands from animal lovers around the world for urgent action to be carried out at the zoo.
Closing it down, however, is not an option because no other zoo has expressed an interest in taking the animals.
Latest statistics, covering the months between July and September last year, reveal that 43 animals died at the zoo during that period.
Among those which have died there previously is a giraffe that was found to have 20 kilograms of plastic in its stomach and a Sumatran tiger found to have a rotten digestive tract after being regularly fed meat laced with formaldehyde.
In the wake of Michael the lion´s death, zoo spokesman Agus Supangkat denied that his death was caused by zookeepers´ negligence.
´We are still investigating how the steel cables could entrap the African lion´s head,´ he told the Globe.
´Michael was relatively young. He was only one and a half years old. It could be that he was playing around and somehow his head got stuck.´
Mr Agus said each of the zoo´s lions - there are now only four left - spends its days in two different cages.
Each morning, the lions are taken to a display cage where visitors can view them. Then, in the afternoon they are moved to another cage where they sleep, said Mr Agus.
He explained that the zoo used steel cables to secure the cage so zookeepers did not have to manually open or close the cage door with their hands.
This, he said, was a safety precaution to prevent the keepers being injured.
Michael was sent to the zoo last March by the East Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency.
Surabaya Police detectives chief Senior Commander Farman told the Globe that a team of officers had visited the zoo to gather evidence but the corpse was missing.
He said that if the lion´s body could be found ´we are going to wait for the autopsy results, then we can further examine the case.´
A MailOnline investigation into the zoo before Christmas found numerous cases of animals living in miserable conditions, including a young elephant that was chained by three legs, one of which was ulcerated because of its tight shackles.
Dozens of petitions were started pleading for the zoo to be closed and animal rights groups have added their voice to the demands.
But a management team, headed by the Surabaya Mayor, Mrs Tri Rismaharini, has resisted improvements saying they want to retain the original structures erected by Dutch colonialists in 1916.
