Published on The Brunei Times
Langkawi well-kept Wildlife Park exceeds expectations
Well-cared for: An emotive emu. Picture: Liz Price
Liz Price
LANGKAWI
Sunday, January 6, 2008
I'VE never really been a fan of zoos and wildlife parks in Asia as the animals are often kept in less than ideal conditions. So when a visiting friend wanted to go to the Langkawi Wildlife Park I was a bit reluctant. When we arrived at the Park, the taxi driver said he would wait for us. Seems this is normal for the drivers here, so we said OK, especially as I didn't expect to stay long.
I was wrong. The animal park actually exceeded my expectations and we were inside until almost closing. Our poor taxi driver was wondering what had happened to us. I had been expecting just to see birds, but the park is much more, housing a variety of small mammals and reptiles as well as lots of birds.
The animals looked quite well cared for, in adequately sized cages, and with fresh food and water. The place used to be called the Langkawi Bird Park but is now known at the Langkawi Wildlife Park.
We entered into the macaw's courtyard and these birds were stunning with their multicoloured plumage. Some of the birds even seemed to pose for photos. I was interested to see that several of the birds were perched in pairs, so I assume these were couples who had paired for life, which was nice to see. There were macaws, parrots and cockatoos, from SE Asia as well as from Africa.
I am not a great bird lover, as my Malaysian birding friends know, but I did spend quite some time admiring these birds. Nevertheless, as soon as I saw the first mammals, small-clawed otters, I hurried over to see them. These were sleek and shiny, though I was amused to see they were snacking on dog biscuits.
Next was a large pen containing mouse-deer. These tiny deer feature prominently in Malay folklore. The greater mouse-deer is only about 30 cm high, whilst the lesser species is much shorter. I've seen these little creatures at night in the wild in Taman Negara, but it was good to see them at close quarters and in daylight.
The next section contained a variety of birds and mammals in separate cages. A binturong was sitting on a tree trunk in full sunlight as if sunbathing. I thought he must be so hot with his thick, shaggy dark fur, but he seemed content, even though they are normally nocturnal creatures. Binturongs are also known as bear-cats and are actually large civets. A giant squirrel resided in the opposite cage. Further on were more mouse-deer and one cute little guy came right up to the wire mesh to see if I had any fruit for him.
There were common macaque monkeys, as well as some beruks, which are the pig-tailed macaques used in kampungs to collect coconuts. Even the birds held my attention again, especially a pair of buffy fish owls. My friend thought they were stuffed as they didn't move, but I noticed the eyes moving on one as it watched me zoom my camera. It was holding a half eaten fish in its talons. The electus parrots always fascinate me as the male is predominately green whilst the female is red. I'd recently seen these in the wild in the Moluccas, which is where they hail from. One grey palm cockatoo was breaking up some small black stones with his beak and I was surprised he didn't chip his beak. This was the only animal I saw acting strangely, I'm not sure if he was stressed, or maybe he was looking for minerals in the stones.
We went through a walk through aviary, and the brightly coloured budgerigars zipped around like streaks of coloured lightning. As we walked to the exit some budgies followed us and I thought they wanted to escape, but instead they had spotted some grain left in a pile near the door. From there we entered the pond area, and on the way saw a solitary crocodile. There were many types of birds in the pool, such as flamingo, crowned cranes, pink backed pelicans, various ducks, and some black swans which hail from Australia. Fish were swimming in the same pond and didn't seem concerned about the birds.
Langkawi is famous for its geology and has recently been gazetted as a Geopark. Many of the rocks are limestone, there are many caves, and in recent years there are several marble industries on the islands. Crystals feature prominently and even in the Wildlife Park, there was a display on crystals, mainly from Brazil and China. There's even an exhibit of the world's largest crystal ball, weighing a whopping 668kg.
The path inevitably led us through the crystal shop, but as we had no interest in making a purchase we hurried through, eager to see more animals. We were rewarded with different types of hornbills, as well as some eagles which are the symbol of Langkawi. One white-bellied sea eagle was kept on a perch and would sit on a visitor's arm to pose for photos.
Outside was a solitary cassowary from Australia. These birds are fascinatingly ugly, with their horn-like casques, and a neck covered in keratinous skin. The three-toed feet almost look too big for the body. The middle claw is used as a dagger. Cassowaries are related to emus and ostriches. I find emus very cute with their big eyes, large flat beaks and fluffy heads. The largest of these birds are the ostriches and one made a determined grab at my camera as I tried to take close ups of its head.
The park claims to have over 3,000 birds of some 150 different species from around the globe — South East Asia, South America, Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Russia and China. As we left, a peacock began displaying to a peahen, but she looked less than interested. We were virtually the last remaining visitors — our driver had already been in to check if we were still there.
The Brunei Times
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Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2008/01/06/langkawi_well_kept_wildlife_park_exceeds_expectations
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