Zoo
Negara Malaysia, opened in 1963, is described on its home page as the first
local zoo for Malaysians. Covering an
area of 110 acres, it is promoted as an “open concept zoo with over 90% of its
animals being kept in spacious exhibits with landscape befitting its nature.” As advertised, the zoo grounds were expansive
and many of the exhibits appeared to be quite spacious. There were also many green forested areas, a
large pond that had two islands in its center, and a river that ran through the
property.
There
did appear to be some issues in terms of uneven levels of maintenance. Some of
the exhibits, especially the panda exhibit, were very clean and modern. On the other hand, some exhibits seemed to need
updating and repair. Below is an example
of a sign that probably should be replaced.
Although
I spent about five hours at this zoo, I will only discuss the exhibits and
facilities that I spent more time observing.
Ape Centre
This area featured Bornean and
Sumatran Orangutans.
There
were two orangutans on display in this area.
Giant Panda
Conservation Centre
This area was clearly the
crown jewel of this zoo. Information on
the internet indicates that the panda facility was opened in 2014. And, as could be expected, the whole building
still has a “new and clean” feel to it.
The best part was that the entire interior was air-conditioned. I’m sure that the air-conditioning was
installed for the comfort of the animals, but even for the human visitors, it
was a nice respite from the humid Malaysian summer outside.
Before
going to the zoo, I read comments posted on social media that described long
lines for this popular exhibit and that advised visitors to go directly to the
panda centre immediately after entering the zoo. I also noted rules posted in the facility
stating that the viewing time for each visitor was limited to 20 minutes, a further
hint that this facility gets very crowded.
Luckily, on the Tuesday that I visited, there were very few visitors,
and I was able to leisurely take as many photographs as I wanted. (Even then, I didn’t need to exceed 20
minutes.)
Besides
the adult pair, there was also a panda cub born earlier this year.
There
was a lot of educational signage explaining the characteristics and living
habits of pandas.
Within
the same building, there was a souvenir shop with lots of panda goods.
There
was also a small snack bar area decorated with panda posters.
Panda
cupcakes: 6 ringgits a piece, drinks also 6 ringgits (plus tax).
African Savannah
This area featured an exhibit of
3 rhinoceroses.
Next
to the rhinos, there was a very large open grass area that was maybe 110 to 150
meters long and maybe about 30 to 40 meters wide. In this area there were 4 giraffes, 5 zebras,
and 6 ostriches. The area was quite
spacious, and for the first time ever, I saw giraffes in a zoo galloping on
grass.
Towards
the rear of the zoo, there was an area with pools intended for
hippopotamuses. The pools were unoccupied,
and the vegetation surrounding the pools was overgrown. (There was a hippo in another part of the
zoo.)
Big Cats
The areas for the lions and
tigers were also relatively spacious compared to other zoos that I have
visited. These areas seemed to be even
larger than the big cat exhibits that I saw at the Los Angeles Zoo (July 14, 2017) and the
Denver Zoo (July 2, 2016) in the United States.
The
areas had a lot of vegetation, and I imagine that the lions and tigers might be
difficult to see if they took a nap towards the rear of the exhibit.
Malayan
tiger.
Next
to the Malayan tiger, there was a White Bengal tiger. The inclusion of the white tiger in this
collection is notable because there is debate among zoos world-wide about
whether the inclusion of a color-morph animal might teach visitors the wrong
lessons regarding wildlife conservation.
Because of health risks associated with intentionally inbreeding animals
to achieve rare color-morphs like white tigers, many zoos choose to not keep or
breed white tigers.
Near
the lions and tigers were the cheetahs.
I was surprised to see that the space between the guard rail for
visitors and the chain link fencing for the cheetahs was less than one meter. There were signs posted instructing visitors
to not stick their hands into the enclosure.
At
the time of my visit, there were two cheetah cubs, and I could understand why
some visitors might be tempted to try to pet the new arrivals.
Bee Museum
This
facility had a very interesting concept, showing different bees from around the
world. Almost half of the facility was
dedicated to sales of various bee honeys and bee honey products.
Unfortunately,
the displays were old and in need of clean-up and repair.
Outside the building were hives for stingless bees. They may be hard to see in the below photo.
Some Malayan animals
Malayan Sun Bear
Malayan
Tapir
Bintarong
Close Encounters with
Animals
There
was a Children’s zoo that had ponies, goats, rabbits and other small animals.
There
was also a Butterfly Garden. If you
stood still for a long time, a butterfly might even land on your shoulder.
And
although you couldn’t touch them, there were other animals throughout the zoo that
might be encountered at relatively close range.
When I first entered the zoo grounds, I came upon a bridge occupied by
storks – it was quite an intimidating sight and I did not know if it was okay
to cross. As I stepped forward, the
birds all retreated and gradually flew away.
In
front of the tiger exhibit, I spotted this squirrel. They seemed to be common throughout the zoo
grounds.
Some
close encounters may be unintentional.
The Tapir in the exhibit shown below is standing on the wrong side of a
protective moat.
Please
note the electrified wire attached to the cement walls of the moat under the
Tapir’s nose. Ordinarily, electrified
wire would be used to discourage the animals from climbing up to the visitors’
side of the protective moat. For some
reason, the Tapir was on the visitor side of the moat, and if visitors wanted
to touch the Tapir, it would not have been difficult. The Tapirs were very docile, so perhaps the
zookeepers aren’t afraid of visitor accidents.
Food and Souvenirs
In addition to the souvenir
store and snack bar located in the Giant Panda Conservation Centre, the map of
the zoo shows six other food stands and four souvenir stands.
There
were many souvenirs for sale such as key chains, stuffed toys, bags, T-shirts,
refrigerator magnets, etc.
Interestingly, I could not find any zoo pamphlets to take home as a
souvenir.
Getting There
Zoo
Negara is located on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. The zoo home page says it is 5 kilometers from
Kuala Lumpur, but my ride from downtown KL seemed like it was a little longer. I had been told that there were differences
in taxi prices depending on taxi companies, and that some taxis’ meters seemed
to rack up the fees faster than other companies’ taxis. I inquired at the taxi desk in front of my
hotel, and I was quoted a flat rate of 50 ringgits to the zoo. Not knowing if this was expensive or cheap, I
got in, and the ride took approximately 20 minutes going out. For my return trip, I asked a worker at the
information booth in front of the zoo to call me a taxi. He called me a ride using a smartphone
application called “Grab”, which apparently is the Malaysian version of “Uber”.
The ride back into town, traveling over the same route as the trip out, cost only
18 ringgits.
There
were separate entrance fee schedules for Malaysian citizens and for foreigners
(foreigner prices were further differentiated with slightly lower prices for foreigners
in Malaysia on a working permit and citizens of other ASEAN member
countries). The admission prices in each
schedule were scaled by age: adults, children 3 to 12 years old, children below
36 months of age, and senior citizens 60 years old and above. As a foreigner adult, it cost me 82 ringgits
to enter the zoo. The price for an adult
Malaysian was 43 ringgits.
(Note:
All photos in this post were taken during a visit made on September 4, 2018. The comments in this post are based on
observations made at that time.
Conditions may have since changed.
Please check it out for yourself!)
