Saturday November 17, 2007
THE STAR Lifestyle
It doesn’t matter if you are not a fan of birds because once you step into the Langkawi Wildlife Park, you are in bird paradise.
By LIZ PRICE
I’ve never really been a fan of zoos and wildlife parks in Asia, as often the animals are kept in less than ideal conditions. So when a visiting friend wanted to go to the Langkawi Wildlife Park, I was a bit reluctant.
However as we had little else to do that afternoon I agreed, and we hailed a passing taxi. When we arrived at the park, the taxi driver said he would wait for us. Seems this is normal for cabbies here, so we said OK, especially since I didn’t expect to stay long.
Perched high: There are different kinds of hornbills at the Park.
I was wrong. The animal park actually exceeded my expectations and we were inside until almost closing. Our poor taxi driver was left wondering what had happened to us. I had been expecting to see just birds, but the park is much more, housing a variety of small mammals and reptiles as well.
And 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 as the Langkawi Wildlife Park.
We entered the macaw’s courtyard, and these birds were stunning with their multi–coloured 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 South–East 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, I hurried over.
The small-clawed otters 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 30cm 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 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.
Sink or swim: The otters were snacking on dog biscuits.
A giant squirrel resided in the opposite cage. Further on were more mouse-deer – 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 the kampung 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 of them 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 if 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 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 swan 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, so there are many caves, and in recent years there have been several marble industries on the islands.
Crystals feature prominently, in the Wildlife Park. There was a display on crystals, mainly from Brazil and China. We saw 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 a round the globe. As we left, a peacock began displaying to a peahen, but she looked less than interested. I was surprised to find that we were virtually the last remaining visitors, and our driver had already been in to check that we were still there.
Despite my initial reservations, I actually enjoyed my visit.
Langkawi Wildlife Park
Lot 1485
Jln Ayer Hangat
Kampung Belanga Pecah
07000 Langkawi
Opening hours : Daily, 9am to 6pm
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