 Elephant at Malaysian Zoo
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Dec. 4, 2003 — The deaths of 540 animals at the National Zoo in Malaysia over the last two years have been blamed on "poor management" and lack of experience in veterinary care.
The number of animals that have died represents about 20 percent of the zoo's population of nearly 3,000 animals.
The figures on the total number of deaths were included in the zoo's annual reports for 2001 and 2002.
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In 2001, 254 autopsies were performed at the zoo. Of those autopsies, the majority were performed on birds (44 percent), 18 percent were performed on reptiles, 15 percent on hoofed animals, and the rest were divided among other species.
That year, the zoo hospital treated 117 injured wild animals.
In 2002, the zoo performed more autopsies — 286, with 40 percent being done on birds, and 20 percent each on hoofed animals and reptiles with the balance performed on primates, felines, rodents and other species. In 2002 the hospital treated 56 injured animals.
A zoologist who works with the zoo blamed the number of deaths on the lack of experienced vets.
"Many young veterinarians were employed and they came with their degrees but had limited knowledge in the wildlife field," the zoologist told Bernama, the Malaysian national news agency.
"(The) National Zoo is up-to-date with medicines and facilities, there is no doubt about it," the zoologist continued. "But it is because of the poor management that many animals died at that time."
The zoo trains many undergraduates from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Universiti Putra Malaysia, and Tunku Abdul Rahman College as well as assisting veterinary students with their final year projects, which are carried out within the zoo.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia, an animal welfare group, believes that the present situation is just another example of why zoos need to take steps to protect animals from human ignorance and neglect through the enactment of stricter operating regulations.
"Zoos with high mortality rates through neglect or incompetence should be taken to task, and there must be a prohibition on further acquisitions," said S.M. Mohd Idris, president of Sahabat Alam Malaysia, in an interview with Bernama.
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