Medan Zoo Still Visited, Even Though Their Four Collection Tigers Died

The condition of the tiger and the cage at the Medan Zoo is not maintained. (Special)

JAKARTA - Around 50 tourists, both from within and outside the capital city of North Sumatra Province, are still visiting the Medan Zoo or Medan Zoo tourist attractions nearing the weekend, although four tigers there died.

"With the condition of the number of visitors, we are getting worse in finance for a longer time. If only 50 people enter, especially this is Saturday," said Acting Director of PUD Pembangunan Bambang Hendarto to Antara in Medan, Saturday.

He explained that usually every Saturday to Sunday is the second day for families to visit tourist attractions and entertainment venues in Medan City.

However, this condition cannot be utilized by Medan Zoo tourist attractions due to the financial crisis experienced in recent years since the COVID-19 pandemic hit.

The Medan Zoo in 2022 is recorded to have a total of 76 units of cages with 255 animals, consisting of 163 aves, 60 mammals, and 32 reptiles on 10 hectares of a total area of 30 hectares.

But now Medan Zoo, which is located on Jalan Bunga Rampai IV, Simalingkar B Village, Medan Tuntungan, has about 115 remaining animals, including nine of them.

The four tigers that died were two Sumatran tigers named Erha on November 3, 2023, and Nurhaliza on December 31, 2023. Then two Bengal tigers with the name Avatar also died on December 3, 2023, and Wesa was around 19 years old on January 22, 2024.