On Merdeka Day, I went to Zoo Negara

We've been through so much as a country, though 53 years of independence does not necessarily reflect our maturity as a country. We have had the Commanwealth Games, we've won several Thomas Cup, organized several international events. All of these, we did them together, regardless of ethnicity and background. We, however, still have a lot to learn from other countries particularly those that are more economically advance and politically stable.

As a Malaysian, I'm supposed to hang out at Dataran Merdeka today for the Merdeka celebration, instead I escaped the hustle and bustle of the city and paid my second visit to the National Zoo.

Since its establishment 47 years ago the zoo has been growing steadily with the country herself, and today it is well known throughout the world for its education and conservation effort.

Before entering the zoo, we sought to relieve ourselves in the toilet nearby. And you'd wonder why I said 53 years of independence does not necessarily reflect our maturity as a country... because we still have to teach our people to pee accurately, not on and around the bowl... =.=



The ticket cost Rm 25, quite pricey for a student don't you think?




Giraffe. They have seven neckbones, which is similar to us human, despite the long neck. Their long tongue could be as long as 53cm, and very agile~ Giraffes can only be found in Africa. When Zheng He went on his voyage he brought back a giraffe for the Emperor of China.


The Asian Elephant, a smaller subspecies of elephant found in India, Sri Lanka, jungles of Indochina and Malaya. This is a male elephant, because it has tusks. For African elephant, both sexes have tusks.


This elephant has got puncture wounds. Probably got shot?


A Pygmy Hippopotamus. All species of Hippos are confined to the African Continent. This species of hippo is about the size of a capybara. So sad...


A Cockatoo, one of the stars for the multianimal show.


A Common Flying Lizard. It flew over my head while I was walking and stopped on the back of a tree. I saw its yellowish beard and I got so excited. It was fleeing from another flying lizard actually, probably over some territorial dispute. You could see its 'wing' along its body, which actually is a layer of skin acting as a pair of glider.


The King Cobra, the largest venomous snake in the world. Can only be found in India.


A Giant Tortoise, probably collected from the Galapagos.


A Binturong, the largest of all civets~~


Dik Dik


Capybara, the largest member of the rodent family. Can only be found in South America. One of the favorite prey of Anaconda.


A Leopard Cat. This elusive creature only venture out at night, feeding on birds and rodents, as well as frogs and eggs.


Water crystal


White Rhinoceros. As I mentioned, this animal is critically endangered due to poaching and deforestation in Africa. Proactive measures have been taken to protect the animal. There is good sign in recent years that the number has been recovering slowly.


Flamingo. Beautiful product of evolution~


A Leopard pooping.


A Bengal Tiger. Click here to see more.


Wake up, Your Majesty~! Your Majesty has been snoozing for 22 hours today~..


Ops, caught in the act...


Random


Jungle Fowl. They are the wild version of our chicken today.. and they can fly~!


A raven on an Emu~


A seal performing for the multianimal show.


Humboldt Penguin. People around the tank were talking about how cool the penguin captivity is, well its not necessarily correct. This animal lives in coastal Peru and Chile, which is roughly 20 degrees south of Kuala Lumpur, how cool can that be? Its only around 10-18 C, which is the temperature of an air-conditioned room. It's not freezing cold inside la... not like Antarctica, which holds the lowest temperature ever recorded: -89°C




These pictures show how ignorant some of us are. It is written there CLEARLY: DO NOT FEED THOSE ANIMALS! And yet some of us are just..... annoyingly ignorant..
"ah nevermind la, once in a lifetime what"
"what? feeding animal also cannot? It is safe la, they are inside the cage"
"I see them hungry, so I feed them lor, what's wrong with feeding hungry animals? I'm being compassionate ma"

Enough is enough. If anything happen to the animals, eg diarrhea or food poisoning, which eventually lead it their death, can you bear with the responsibility? Do you know how hard it is to get approval to purchase an animal from Africa? Do you know how much it takes to purchase an animal from Africa and bring it over to the zoo? Do you know how long it takes for them to assimilate into the local community? Can you bear with the responsibility should some contagious disease spread out from the food that you'd given and causes all the animals to die? If the baboon grabs your child and pull him over the fence and bite, who would you blame? The ZOO of course! You certainly won't put the blame on yourself are u not?

Be responsible, to yourself and to the animals. Don't be ignorant la...


A Stork basking..

It was a fun trip throughout, and this is the first time I watched the animal show, and it was great.~~

Lastly, to all ignorant people out there: do not feed the animals =.= Let the zookeepers do it.

And to Malaysia: Happy 53rd Birthday~!! MERDEKA! =D



-Malcolm-