Taiping zoo to get facelift

The new enclosure for these seven elephants at the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari will recreate life in the wild. Pic by Muhaizan Yahya

Taiping: Taiping Zoo and Night Safari will embark on upgrading work worth RM4 million in the coming months. The upgrade will include the main entrance, tram station, a new enclosure for the seven elephants and the creation of an African savanna.

Zoo director Dr Kevin Lazarus said the upgrade, funded by the Northern Corridor Implementation Authority, will start at year-end and completed next year. "We will try to recreate and mimic the actual scene of elephants and other African animal species living in the wild.

"The enclosure for the elephants will be based on the 'Elephants of Perak River' theme, complete with a waterfall and river bank." There will be separate rooms and an exercise yard for both the lone bull elephant (male) and the six cow elephants (female) in the zoo, with added security features.

Dr Lazarus said it was necessary to have separate sections as the bull elephant could turn sexually aggressive during "musth" -- a periodic condition. Testosterone levels in an elephant during this period can be as much as 60 times greater than at other times. "Besides, this is also to keep our elephant handlers and the general public out of harm's way.

Dr Lazarus also said it was high time the zoo shared the elephant's rich history with the public. "The elephant used to be a much-revered animal in the late 1800s, especially in Perak, where we used to have skilled elephant catchers. "Those days, the rulers and the rich used to own elephants," he said, adding that six of the elephants in the zoo were from Perak while one was from Pahang.

Of the seven elephants, three, including the bull elephant, were brought from outside. The other four were born in the zoo. The zoo is the only one in Peninsular Malaysia to successfully breed elephants.

On the African savanna, Dr Lazarus said the zebra, giraffe, rhinoceros, antelope, crane, ostrich and flamingo would be placed together in one huge enclosure for the public to view. The Taiping Zoo and Night Safari, which is the oldest public zoo in the country, celebrated its 50th anniversary last year.

-nst online.

www.zootaiping.gov.my