WATCH: Viral video shows bears begging for food at Indonesian zoo
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
First posted: Thursday, January 19, 2017 12:59 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2017 01:09 PM EST
An Indonesian zoo is under fire, again, after a video showing dangerously skinny bears begging visitors for food went viral earlier this week.
The video, posted to YouTube back in May but only now is gaining steam internationally due to an article published Tuesday by the Daily Mail, shows three seemingly malnourished Bandung Zoo sun bears trying to catch food being thrown into their enclosure by patrons.
On Wednesday, in an interview with the Jakarta Post, Sudaryo, a spokesperson for the zoo's operator, downplayed the video, defending the zoo's treatment of its animals.
“Does being thin mean being unhealthy or not having enough food?” Sudaryo told the newspaper. “On the other hand, looking fat does not mean an animal is healthy.”
The West Java zoo has faced criticism in the past, most recently last year when an elephant died in part due to an apparent lack of medical treatment, according to the Post.
Animal rights activists are fed up, with Scorpion Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group leading the charge through protests and an online petition.
"The enclosure is dirty, the water is polluted and unclean, and the floor has no grass,” Gunung Gea, a spokesperson for Scorpion, told the BBC. “There are no live trees in the enclosure.”
Sun bears wave their arms in their enclosure at the Bandung Zoo in West Java, Indonesia, on Jan. 18, 2017. (AFP PHOTO/TIMUR MATAHARI)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HbHChFYL4
WATCH: Viral video shows bears begging for food at Indonesian zoo | WATCH | Worl
POSTMEDIA NETWORK
First posted: Thursday, January 19, 2017 12:59 PM EST | Updated: Thursday, January 19, 2017 01:09 PM EST
An Indonesian zoo is under fire, again, after a video showing dangerously skinny bears begging visitors for food went viral earlier this week.
The video, posted to YouTube back in May but only now is gaining steam internationally due to an article published Tuesday by the Daily Mail, shows three seemingly malnourished Bandung Zoo sun bears trying to catch food being thrown into their enclosure by patrons.
On Wednesday, in an interview with the Jakarta Post, Sudaryo, a spokesperson for the zoo's operator, downplayed the video, defending the zoo's treatment of its animals.
“Does being thin mean being unhealthy or not having enough food?” Sudaryo told the newspaper. “On the other hand, looking fat does not mean an animal is healthy.”
The West Java zoo has faced criticism in the past, most recently last year when an elephant died in part due to an apparent lack of medical treatment, according to the Post.
Animal rights activists are fed up, with Scorpion Wildlife Trade Monitoring Group leading the charge through protests and an online petition.
"The enclosure is dirty, the water is polluted and unclean, and the floor has no grass,” Gunung Gea, a spokesperson for Scorpion, told the BBC. “There are no live trees in the enclosure.”
Sun bears wave their arms in their enclosure at the Bandung Zoo in West Java, Indonesia, on Jan. 18, 2017. (AFP PHOTO/TIMUR MATAHARI)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8HbHChFYL4
WATCH: Viral video shows bears begging for food at Indonesian zoo | WATCH | Worl
