Starving bears at Indonesia's 'death zoo' spark outrage

The heart-breaking images of a skeletal bear in Indonesia's 'death' zoo being forced to eat its own faeces have prompted online petitions to shut the zoo.

Video taken by animal welfare group Scorpion at Bandung zoo on the island of Java showed one emaciated animal in a small dirty pen.

Footage shot earlier this month showed how the sun bear had become so desperate for food that it ate its own faeces.

Volunteers from Scorpion reported that the sun bears in the zoo were only a fraction of their healthy 80kg weight.

They asked zoo officials for permission to visit and inspect the animals but said they were refused access.

The organisation has now started an online petition  calling on the local mayor to close the zoo which has no resident vet.

Last year Bandung zoo, known as the 'death zoo', came under the spotlight when a 34-year-old Sumatran elephant died there after months of mistreatment.