Safari park director: "The number of foreign visitors has dropped a lot" (0'27")

Orangutans' imported powder milk costs a fortune in Indonesia

The wardens of the park, on the outskirts of the capital Jakarta, say they may have to run it down completely, with dire consequences for some of the world's rarest animals.

The park has several rare Sumatran tigers whose forest homes have been destroyed to make way for farms and plantations. Now the tigers are again facing hunger, thanks to Indonesia's severe economic crisis.

"Feeding the animals is the most expensive thing for our park at the moment," says the park's director Tony Sumampau.

Deers may soon become tiger food

"If the economic situation remains the same for the next six or seven months, I think we cannot afford to keep this park going, unless we start to reduce our range of species," he says.

So the deers of Tamn Safari park might end up as tiger meat. But spiralling costs and fewer visitors mean an uncertain future for all of the park's animals.

With the collapse of the Indonesian currency, the imported powder milk of the orphaned orangutans now costs more than four times as much.

There are still enough bananas to keep the elephants happy

The park has tried cutting food rations for some animals to save money. But with the young apes it is simply impossible.

The management believes that it soon has to close if the economy does not pick up.