Take action this Action Indonesia Day
Visit rare wild cattle and pig species at the zoo and learn how to help them
Help secure us a future for three ‘little known’ and highly endangered Asian species this weekend, as we head toward Action Indonesia Day.
We're hosting a series of talks and activities on August 8 and 9 to raise awareness of the plight of babirusa, banteng and anoa, three Indonesian species facing serious declines in the wild.
Scientific estimates suggest there are fewer than 3,000 bantengs, a species of sandy-gold cattle, 2,500 lowland anoas, the world’s smallest buffalo, and 10,000 babirusas, wild pigs with unique noses and tusks, surviving in their island habitats.
They range from Critically Endangered to Vulnerable to Extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species, but we believe our supporters can make a real difference to their situation.
I would guess not many people know about these species – I didn’t before I started working at the zoo. So, we’re hoping to raise awareness, help people understand the risks they face and support their conservation around Action Indonesia Day, which falls on August 9.
Zoo Ranger Kat Whitfield
All three species are ecologically important, as they help transport seeds into new areas while they forage, and culturally important, as some of the oldest known cave art features them.
Indonesian people have cared about them for thousands of years, but globally they are little known.That’s a shame, because they face risks driven by global issues, like the spread of African swine fever, and habitat loss driven by demand for products like nickel.
Zoo Ranger Kat Whitfield
Visitors can find out more at a stand near the zoo entrance on both Saturday and Sunday.
From 1pm-3pm, rangers from the zoo’s conservation education and engagement team will run Action Indonesia Day crafts, including mask-making and a personality quiz to reveal which species visitors are most like, alongside a display of animal artefacts.
Rangers will also be at the main entrance from 9:30am-11am and 2pm-4pm, inviting visitors to take part in a debate on the species' conservation.
On Saturday, we’re also launching a series of special afternoon talks at the sun bear, anoa, banteng and babirusa habitats, followed by a keeper Q&A, which will take place daily until the end of August.
We recently welcomed baby anoa Mentari who was born here and is already charming visitors, so this is a great time to get to know these very important species at the zoo and to take real actions to help them.
Their habitats are affected by mining, so one thing you can do is reduce, reuse and recycle products that include nickel, like mobile phones, batteries and most electric appliances with heating elements, and you can also support our conservation work in the field.