12th Annual SEAZA Conference Communiqué 8-10 December, 2003 (Indonesia) The Twelfth Annual Conference of SEAZA (South East Asian Zoos Association) was hosted by Taman Safari Indonesia, Bogor, Indonesia. The theme of the Conference was “Capacity Building through Cooperation”. The Conference was officially opened at Taman Safari, Indonesia on 8 December 2003 at 9:00 am by the Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism, the Honorable Mr. Situmorang. Also present were the local Mayor, the Chief of Police, the Military Reserve Commander and representatives from the stakeholders of the world zoo community: WAZA, Dr. Peter Dollinger, EAZA, Dr. Koen Brower, ARAZPA, Mr. Mark Craig and PAZA, Mr. Michael Bester. The Ceremony was held in the beautiful setting of the Macan Tutul (leopard) Camping Resort at the foot of the famous Mount Gede-Pangrango National Park, the original habitat of the Javanese Hawk Eagle, the Javanese leopard and Javanese Gibbon. The Ceremony was opened with a welcoming speech by the Co-Chairs of the Organising Committee, Mr. Lukito Daryadi and Mr. Jansen Manansang, thanking the Board and delegates for their support. Following this, Senator Pisit na Patlung, President of SEAZA welcomed all and expressed his honor to be here at beautiful Taman Safari Indonesia. He thanked the hosts, the organizers and the Indonesian Zoological Park Association. Noting that this conference would be a “team building” process as the theme was “capacity Building Through Cooperation.” Over the course of the conference, delegates would be able to enrich their knowledge and spirit of cooperation as well as strengthen friendships. He stressed the need to combine imaginations to create exhibits that truly represent “Nature’s Showroom”, that show and explain the relationship between species and habitats while maintaining that zoos must be instruments for nature conservation. The President then announced the sad news of the deaths of Bapak Hadi Manansang and Dr. Ulysses Sammuel Seal this year. A minute of silence was dedicated to them. He expressed his determination that SEAZA would continue Dr. Ulie’s goal of making zoos a major part of ex situ and in situ conservation and an award for conservation breeding of endangered species had been established in his honour. In addition SEAZA would continue to focus on improvements to our facilities, our training and our education programmes. He continued with mentioning the regions challenges of animal welfare and ethics in the regions’ zoological collections and the rewards, with congratulations to Ching Mai Zoo in Thailand for their giant pandas and the Ragunan Zoological Park in Indonesia for their gorillas. He closed by stating no zoo or facility can accomplish the goals alone and must work together in cooperation. He closed by reminding everyone of their obligation to present a skit and to enjoy the conference. Short speeches introducing the World Zoo and Aquarium Association, the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the Australasian Regional Zoo and Aquarium Association were given by their respective representatives, Dr. Peter Dollinger, Dr. Koen Brower and Mr. Mark Craig. SEAZA Founding Father, General Ashari then opened his speech with the traditional SEAZA cheer. He stressed zoos and aquariums should utilize their public as image building through interaction between the zoos and their visitors. Our visitors will shape up the future of our institutions and by giving the right messages to the visitors, we can make each of them responsible for conservation, too. He expressed his happiness at the state of SEAZA now and how far it has come in the past thirteen years. Honorable Mr. Situmorang, Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism followed with an expression of regret on behalf of Minister of Culture and Tourism for being unable to attend this important conference. He then read the Minister’s speech, which emphasized the importance of the conference to not only discuss the preservation and conservation of natural environment but also deliberate on the utilization of zoos and their supporting facilities as a tourist attraction. Indonesia is fortunate to have a colorful and invaluable natural environment and it is very important for the development of national and international tourism. The challenge facing Indonesia is to balance the preservation of these beautiful natural resources with economic growth. He hopes that this conference will be able to formulate strategic and operational policies for the enhancement and improvement of tourism industry with the utilization of the natural environment, and include international cooperation. There is a growing demand for nature tourism that also must be balanced with the preservation of these “wild places.” We must find solutions that support and benefit many people, particularly the local communities whilst still conserving nature. He closes with an expression of his appreciation of the attention and cooperation of SEAZA organization and for choosing beautiful Indonesia as the venue of the conference as he officially opened the 12th SEAZA Conference. The first official event of the Conference was the opening of the Japanese House Macaque exhibit, followed by a tour of Taman Safari, the inauguration of the new Open Air Aviarys with the release of endemic birds and the signing of the dedication plaque by the President of SEAZA and the General Chairman of IZPA. Taman Safari kindly hosted a delicious lunch before the delegates returned to the Conference venue for the first plenary session. During the Conference’s six scientific sessions, a total of 34 papers were presented covering the topics of behaviour, ecology, reproductive technology, genetics, captive breeding, veterinary care, nutrition, environmental enrichment, conservation education and keeper training. The Conference was attended by 154 delegates from 15 countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United States of America, and Vietnam. The conference received media coverage by four television stations, two radio stations and four national newspapers. The second day consisted of a full day tour to Ragunan Zoo Primate facility, and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (Beautiful Miniature Indonesia Park) where an impressive IMAX film highlighting the cultural and environmental diversity of Indonesia was shown. This was followed by a visit to the unique Freshwater Aquarium with the theme of Indonesia and the freshwater world. Then the delegates were able to view the small but beautiful Insect museum before moving on to admire the tradition house of Sumatra and the new Bird Park. The new Bird Park celebrates the incredible bird diversity of Indonesia through two clusters of giant domes. The dinner that evening provided an opportunity to dance together and practice the skits for the final dinner! The third day began with the final three Plenary Sessions. Of note was the speech by Dr. Dollinger introducing the history of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums and the important role it plays today to facilitate regional conservation cooperation. The General Assembly session began with an introduction to the Taiwan Zoo, host of next year’s CBSG and WAZA meetings. Also covered were: The reading of the letter by Mr. Jansen Manansang, the regional convenor for CBSG Indonesia from the new CBSG Chair, Dr. Robert Lacy expressing regrets for his absence. Dr. Lacy stressed three points, the need for global cooperation, and the important role of regional networks and necessity of continual training to build capacity within our region. He thanks SEAZA for creating the Ulie Seal award to recognize Ulie’s leadership, knowledge, dedication and great inspiration to all SEAZA members. President’s closing remarks also included thanking the hosts and organisers again for their wonderful hospitality and acknowledged the hard work they have done. Along with his expression of appreciation to the world zoo community representatives for their attendance, He reported their involvement at the Executive Board meeting to discuss regional issues and seek their advice. These issues involved the gorillas at the Taiping Zoo, which are expected to move in January to South Africa but may be delayed. Another challenge facing the regions is the orang-utan issue in Thailand. There are over 100 young orang-utans in Thailand. The Board of SEAZA will request the Thai Government to seek CITES Secretariat advice and offered assistance to the Government to handle CITES animals in Thailand. Other news in the region were the arrival of giant pandas to Thailand and gorillas to Indonesia. Also at the Board meeting, a Malaysian representative was invited to join the Board and this is pending the approval by the Malaysian Government. The next meeting of the Executive Board will be in Singapore at the end of February and would also hold a strategic workshop for SEAZA future. He sought volunteers to help the Chairs of the various Board Committees. President Pisit complimented the excellent papers and the success of Taman Safari in the reproduction of the White Rhinoceros. He felt the new Schmutzer Primate Centre within the Ragunan Zoo enclosure would become the new standard for exhibits in South East Asia. He announced that the Nutrition course would follow this meeting, Thanked General Ashari for his assistance in organizing the wonderful visit to Taman Mini and Expressed the Board’s regrets for the loss of the Sumatran Rhinos at a breeding center in Malaysia, requested more information and offered assistance if a center should be started again in the future. The Chair for Conservation Education reported the financial situation of the Association and requested all members to please pay their current dues. The President finished by thanking the Board for their support and the delegates, by country, for coming. The President of the Indonesian Zoo Association representing the organizing committee thanked all for joining the conference and making it a success, the Board for their support and faith and apologized for any shortcoming that may have happened. President Pisit then formally requested the Founding Father of SEAZA to write the history of SEAZA. General Ashari then invited Board member, Mr. Richard Tenaza to assist as he was instrumental in prodding the General to begin SEAZA. The 13th Annual Conference of the South East Asian Zoos Association was confirmed to be held in Hong Kong from 2 – 7 September 2004 with the theme “Inspiring Conservation through multicultural and multigenerational approaches.” The 14th Annual Conference of the South East Asian Zoos Association would be the Second joint meeting with ARAZPA in Melbourne, Australia in May 2005. The 12th Annual Conference officially closed with the farewell dinner, hosted by Taman Safari. The traditional skits were enjoyed by all. On a serious note, the first recipient of the Ulie Seal Conservation Award was announced. Honourable mention went to Thailand Khao Kheow Open Zoo for their work on Clouded Leopards and the award was given to Taman Safari for their multi-species breeding successes, coupled with conservation education, and population, habitat and viability assessments as a result of collaboration. A post-conference tour, Safari Trek would be conducted on the day following the Conference.