AFP 12 hours ago
Animal rights activists Wednesday demanded the closure of an Indonesian zoo after skeletal sun bears were pictured begging for food from visitors and eating their own dung.
The bears at the zoo in the city of Bandung were shown waving their arms in the air inside their enclosure -- with their ribs visible through their fur -- as people hurled food at them.
In one video, a bear defecates in the enclosure and then eats its own faeces.
Many of Indonesia's zoos are poorly maintained and there are regular reports of animals dying in captivity. Bandung zoo came under fire last year after the death of a critically endangered Sumatran elephant.
The Scorpion Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group, which shot videos of the bears last year, said it now wanted the zoo closed down.
"The bears ate their own dung, this happened because they are very, very hungry," Gunung Gea, director of the Indonesian group, told AFP.
"The enclosure of the bears was dirty, and visitors were free to give them whatever they wanted -- they were throwing in junk food."
Linkback:
https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=85217.0