Happy Birthday Taman Safari

Today I would like to introduce the birds in the center, give an update on the construction of the facility, and share some information about the festivities in the park, such as the 20th anniversary of Taman Safari Prigen. We also went to the immigration office to extend our visas, but we still haven't received them yet...

About 2 weeks ago, we celebrated the Chinese New Year. Since there are many Chinese people living in Indonesia, there were also some events in the park. However, we didn't participate in many of them, except for the small show of dancing dragons that we watched before lunch. Now it's the Year of the Dog, I think.

About a week after the Chinese New Year, we had a big celebration for the 20th anniversary of Taman Safari 2 Prigen. The park closed an hour early and at 6 PM, all park employees gathered under the huge roof of the Temple of Terror show stage. Employees were also allowed to bring their families, so the 2500-seat grandstand was soon packed.

The left part of the grandstand, with VIP seats in the front for the bosses and their families. Later, even the stairs were filled with people.

When we arrived, we were quite overwhelmed. People were crowded everywhere. In advance, all employees received food vouchers and a lottery ticket with a number, and of course, everyone wanted to redeem them. Roy took care of our food (a lunch box with savory and sweet snacks) while I lined up at the lottery counter, or I should say pushed my way through. Otherwise, I wouldn't have had a chance. There, you could immediately draw a ticket from a lottery pot. So to speak, an instant win. I got a blank ticket, and Roy's ticket said 'Manchester Glass' (in the end, we received 6 beer glasses that are probably called 'Manchester Glass' because of their shape. Unfortunately, these glasses will probably never taste beer...). Carola and Stephan, by the way, won a rice cooker :D

At around 6:30 PM, the show started. First, there were some dance performances, some of which were performed by the park's department managers themselves. For example, they danced in Native American costumes, which they had rehearsed for weeks especially for the celebration. Hard to imagine in Germany.

Then, the founders of the park and their families were welcomed, and there were speeches, including one from the park's general manager. After the speeches and more dance performances, there was a group photo of all the important people. Then, a huge cake was ceremoniously cut, and photos were taken with it, but it was quickly removed without being tasted.

After everyone returned to their VIP seats, all employees were honored, including those who have been working at the park since its founding. They were mentioned by name, received a certificate, shook hands, and took a photo. Then, the employee of the year was chosen. Every month, an employee of the month is selected, and at the end of the year, one of the 12 employees is named the employee of the year. I have no idea what criteria were used for the selection or who made the decision, but it was celebrated very solemnly, and the surprised winner received a certificate, a trip to Bali, and was allowed to give a short speech. There was even a small fireworks display. Hard to imagine in Germany. Maybe it could be a motivation!

And now, let's talk about our birds.

The 6 beos are doing well. They have now moved to building 2, have grown well or gained weight, and constantly want to be entertained.

They have moved to the almost finished building 2. The first enclosure on the left in the picture now belongs to the beos.

We don't want to play around with them too much, so they don't get too used to humans. However, humans are the most exciting thing for them, despite all the entertainment options such as food, ropes, branches, swings, boxes, pools, and live food like crickets. As soon as you enter the enclosure, you become their source of entertainment.

'Yellow' (because of the yellow ring) looks like he's about to attack me, very determined look.

However, 'White' is faster. By now, I only enter the enclosure wearing a hat because the beos are incredibly interested in my hair tie and love to tear my hair apart.

The other birds are luckily calmer and less aggressive. On the contrary, it took a lot of patience to get somewhat decent photos of them. Most of our birds are from Java and are threatened or endangered. The last picture below explains the threat levels determined by the IUCN on the Red List of threatened species. As bird populations are rapidly declining in some cases (due to habitat loss, hunting, trade, etc.) and the IUCN can hardly keep up with updating everything, it is very likely that some species have already moved up one or two categories. Here are our protected birds:

Golden-bellied Bulbul (NT - Near Threatened)

White-capped Thrush (LC - Least Concern)

Javan Pied Fantail (VU - Vulnerable)

Gray-headed Canary-flycatcher (LC - Least Concern)

Pied Bushchat (EN - Endangered)

Balistar (CR - Critically Endangered)

Javan Myna (VU - Vulnerable)

Male Leafbird (NT - Near Threatened)

Female Thick-billed Flowerpecker (VU - Vulnerable)

And our newcomer: one of the six new Java Sparrows that I already mentioned in our third blog post (CR - Critically Endangered)

In the wild, the Java Sparrow is no longer found, so it will probably soon be classified as EW - Extinct in the Wild.

But what does 'endangered' or 'threatened' actually mean?

These terms often sound less serious than they actually are.

That's why I wanted to give you the exact explanations from the IUCN for each category:

EX extinct, there are no living individuals left in the world EW extinct in the wild, there are only individuals in captivity, culture, or introduced populations outside the natural range RE regionally extinct, equivalent to 'extinct in the wild' in national and regional Red Lists CR critically endangered, at extremely high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future EN endangered, at very high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future VU vulnerable, at high risk of extinction in the wild in the immediate future NT near threatened, not qualifying for 'threatened', 'endangered', or 'vulnerable' categories, but close to qualifying or likely to qualify in the near future LC least concern, not qualifying for 'threatened', 'endangered', 'vulnerable', or 'near threatened' categories DD data deficient, not enough data to make an assessment of extinction risk NE not evaluated, the species exists, but no assessment has been made, for example for invasive species

https://www.silentforest.eu/

Building 2 is also almost finished, so we will soon be able to accommodate some of our birds and new arrivals there. Building 1 is already full except for a few remaining quarantine spaces!

We now have concrete paths (just built around big stones), water trenches, an almost finished staircase for the path down to the buildings, and most importantly: our own toilet ;)

Occasionally, something collapses and needs to be completely rebuilt, like our water trench.

Roy and Seger also built this fancy bamboo compost, so that we can eventually have our own soil (and don't have to walk so far to dispose of the waste)

Above the buildings, an office with a meeting room, office, toilet, and kitchen is also being built. There will be a small parking lot in front of it.

The path from the buildings to the top. about 6 weeks ago, we had to make our way through the bushes. There will also be a security watchtower about 6 meters high (the steel monster in the top left). Behind that, there will be the office building, and a little further, a modern quarantine area will be built.

From there, you have a beautiful view of Mount Arjuna... if the weather is good :D

On March 1st, we went to the immigration office (Imigrasi) to extend our visas, which initially only lasted for 2 months and now need to be renewed monthly. This meant: 1 driver, 1 woman from administration, Carola as support and interpreter, and almost 2 hours drive to Malang. We waited there for a while, then filled out a form. Waited. Filled out the same form again because we filled it out in blue instead of black. Waited. Then we were told that we have to take photos and give our fingerprint. Waited. For whatever reason. In the end, we were informed that we have to come back on Monday because the filled out forms need to be scanned online, which takes a while. So no photos and fingerprints after all. Two hours just to fill out a form! That's also Indonesia. Although I'm not even sure if it's really that different from German authorities...

Unlike us, the other people waiting had to take a number because they wanted to go to the civil registry office, which is also located in the Imigrasi.

In the end, we didn't go to the Imigrasi on Monday, and the appointment has been rescheduled several times. Now it's scheduled for Thursday. We'll see. The important thing is that we have submitted the application, so at least we are registered and cannot be deported :D

Finally, our new work clothes! It's just the preliminary version, as the name and the patch with the logo of the Kasi Foundation are still missing, but at least it's dressing! Without Stephan's insistence with the responsible persons, we would have received the finished clothes in June or August...

The A-Team (the Ark Team) or the B-Team (the Bird Team)

And one more with Toni, the Big Boss emeritus.



Goodbye and thanks for reading!