Bogor Safari Park Pays IDR 3 Billion For Panda Rental From China

The giant Panda at the Panda Palace of Taman Safari Indonesia, Cisarua, Bogor Regency, West Java. (ANTARA/M Fikri Setiawan)

JAKARTA - Two pandas from China, which are a collection of animals in the Bogor Safari Park, were obtained through a lease agreement with the Chinese government for three billion per year and went through a strict monitoring process.

"Chinapolicy carries out strict leases and controls, so we rent three billion a year," said Board Member of Taman Safari Indonesia, Agus Susanto, as reported by ANTARA, Wednesday, September 9.

Animal Curator Life and Science Taman Safari Bogor, Sharmi Prastiti, revealed that a pair of pandas named Cai Tao (jantan) and Hu Chun (betina) could be brought to Indonesia after passing the inspection stage and a series of strict regulations from the Chinese government.

"To get good intentions is not something easy, especially since Chinese regulations are very strict to get the animal and only one country can get two," said Sharmi, who was also present on the occasion.

He explained that the Chinese government only wants to rent a pair of pandas to selected countries that have gone through the selection and inspection process.

The panda rental process is carried out with a scheme between the Indonesian and Chinese governments (G2G) where apart from the zoo, a number of relevant government agencies are involved in inspections and preparations for the transfer of pandas to Indonesia.

"The inspection alone is more than three times and with different departments. There is from the health department, from the livestock department, from the zoo itself, it continues to exist from the national park itself," said Sharmi.

Before bringing the giant panda to Indonesia, the Bogor Safari Park first conducted an appeal study to neighboring countries that have zoos with panda collections to study all the needs and ways of captive animals.

"Until the day H panda left for Indonesia, several times we had to study appeals to Malaysia and Singapore because (the Regional Commander) was there," said Sharmi.

In addition to going through many strict inspection and preparation processes, the Chinese government also often sends a team of experts to monitor panda conditions living in the Bogor Safari Park at least once a year.

Sharmi explained that because the Bogor Safari Park has a responsibility to maintain panda as a symbol of China's country, special attention is needed so that health and survival are maintained properly, starting from feeding, adjusting habitat temperatures, to assigning the best handlers.