Victory! Jong’s Crocodile Farm Makes Improvements

Crocodiles won’t have to lie on top of each other in crowded pens, deer will enjoy a bigger and more natural enclosure, and sickly macaques will receive proper veterinary attention following PETA Asia’s investigation and nearly a year of lobbying the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC). At a recent news conference, the SFC promised that welfare improvements would be made at Jong’s Crocodile Farm in Malaysia.

After receiving several tips from the public last year, PETA lodged an official complaint with the SFC regarding substandard living conditions for animals at Jong’s Crocodile Farm in Kuching. PETA visited and inspected the facility accompanied by a team of SFC enforcement officers. The team was immediately struck by the extreme crowding of the crocodiles in some of the pens, which measured only 6 meters by 10 meters and held more than 30 crocodiles each. Enclosures for other animals—including a turtle, deer, and wild boars—were barren and lacked environmental enrichment. Some animals did not have constant access to food and water.

PETA submitted a detailed inspection report and recommendations to both the facility owner and the SFC months ago, and action is finally being taken. The crocodiles are being moved to bigger pens, and the SFC has promised, among other things, to release the wild boars, move the deer to a new and bigger enclosure, enrich the barren pond that houses the farm’s solitary turtle, and euthanize an extremely ill macaque.

Virtual high-fives to the SFC and everyone who helped!

Posted by Agnes Tam