Jurug Park

Like other big cities in Indonesia, Solo also has an interesting zoo you can visit with your children. Jurug Park used to be in Sriwedari Park. As there was a major renovation going on there, Jurug Park was moved to the Bengawan Solo river area on Ir. Sutami street, a road connecting Yogyakarta and Surabaya. Still construction and renovating is ongoing so not all animals are here yet and the facilities for both people and animals are limited.

The park has an area of 14 hectare and has more than 200 animals. After entering you will be welcomed by many trees proving much needed shade. You can explore the park while seeing some kinds of animals. There are elephants and horses for you to ride too. There is a monument remembering Gesang, a maestro of keroncong (musical instrument) who was also the author of "˜Bengawan Solo'. At the monument, there's a studio which is often used for keroncong concert on Sunday

What's unique in this park is Tori. Tori is a 15 year old orang utan who smokes cigarettes. Tori has been smoking for 10 years. It started when a visitor threw away a cigarette into Tori's cage. Since then Tori is addicted to cigarettes. When Tori wants to smoke, he will raise his two fingers in the front of his mouth. If nobody listens Tori will become furious and throw away anything. Because it brought a lot of attention to the park the management decided very late that it was not appropriate for an Urang Utan to have a cigarette addiction. But the management has asked the COP (Centre for Orangutan Protection) to monitor Tori's habit and try to stop it. Are you curious on Tori's habit? Just come and see him for yourself.