Manila zoo orders therapy for stressed-out animals

By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters Life!) - Sisi slowly browses through the yellow pages, looking not for a phone number but for peanuts and sunflower seeds hidden in the directory.

Mali plays with a block of ice containing apples and oranges, crushing it with her feet to get at the fruit.

Sisi, a 23-year-old orangutan, and Mali, a 33-year-old elephant, are two of a number of mammals and birds undergoing behavioral therapy at Manila Zoo as part of a program to combat the stress and boredom of living in captivity.

The program is Manila's answer to criticism that conditions at its 49-year-old zoo, among the oldest in Asia, are dismal -- so dismal that other zoos refuse to send their animals there.

"As you can see, some animals here are living for almost 20 years and they are well taken care of," said Deogracias Manimbo, the zoo administrator.

"We feed them well and we are doing our best to improve our facilities," he said.

His zoo houses 688 animals, mostly birds and reptiles and a number of indigenous species such as the bear cat and long-tailed macaques. But there are few big animals, and a proposed animal swap with other zoos failed.

An animal rights group blocked the transfer of elephants and giraffes from Tanzania to the Philippines in exchange for crocodiles, warning that animals in Manila Zoo were housed in cramped and barren cages and exposed to sweltering heat.