Went to Zoo Negara on 21/2/2015 for the 2nd time, last was 2009. 90% of the surroundings looked the same with some bits & pieces new structure /enclosure built for more animals and of course, the main state-of-the-art building solely for Xing Xing and Liang Liang, the 2 pandas flown in from China.
I must say it is very fortunate that China had insisted to have these pandas enclosure dictated, clearly spelt out from the start orelse it may suffer the same fate as the other animals in the zoo - not healthy looking, lack of shades from our perpetual hot weather, tiny space, not well-maintained enclosures. Some have such tall grass (lalang) grown so tall that children are not able to see from their height, mostly do not have signage /information of the animals. Sometimes we don't even know what we're looking for in the enclosures fillled with tall grass and dried leaves fallen from the trees.
The condition of the reptile area is the worse, with 3-4 aquarium closed with make-shift plywood, make-shift fixes within the aquarium showcasing the snakes.
Somehow we didn't see elephants at all. There happened to be an area that was totally empty with no animals, looked like a new enclosure for the animals but again, there wasn't any signage that says so. Families walked into that area realising it's not ready for visitors. Can't the zoo just close off the area till it's ready for viewing with signage that says - 'I'm coming soon, I'm excited to see you in March 2015' with visuals of animals saying that. Zoos should be fun! Make it sound fun.
And not forgetting, the toilet has no water! They provided big containers of water in front of the toilet cubicles for washing & flushing. That's what I hate most about Malaysian toilets... Either it is always wet and smelly, or not water at all. We were very fortunate none of us needed to do 'big business'. We have to improve on our toilet cleanliness if we want tourists to come back.
We took the shuttle (more like a long open-air buggy), paid RM5 per adult and RM3 per child so that we can go round the zoo for a quick peek of the animals incase we missed anything when we were walking. It was a quick peek indeed, the shuttle driver just drove passed everything very quickly (not even a leisurely drive for us to see the animals), honking anyone that is in his way. No, stopping to see or brief explanation. No time wasted as he drove with occasional texting on his mobile phone.
Food wise, he eatery I went to was a cafeteria or more like a shack. It is right opposite the giraffe enclosure, with a thin warping plastic-looking roof, non air-conditioned. The food was cut-throat expensive. We had 4 sticks of fishballs (4pieces per stick), 3 sticks of nuggets (3 pieces pet stick), 1 sausage and 4 cans of 100plus, amounting to RM77.00!!! They only served simple finger food, mee in mug, chicken rice and steamed corn in cup.
We couldn't help comparing it with Bali Safari which we went 2 months ago. All the animals looked happy, healthy & well taken care of. We could see the animals upclose clearly from within an 'air conditioned' shuttle that comes with an English speaking tour guide. She was jovial, funny, passionate & explained the habitats, names, habits of all the animals we passed by giving it a very personal touch. As though we knew the animals personally.
Their theatre performance was most impressive! They'd showcase and incorporate any animals that they could into the storyline - elephants, panther, ducks, birds, horses & goats. And yes, the theatre is so big it can showcase elephants.
For all its worth, do get the tickets to catch the Pandas. They looked and behaved like a soft cuddly soft toy bear. The panda was very gentle and delicate when picking the sliced carrot to eat. The zoo keeper left small pieces here and there.
Picture of panda is from Zoo Negara.
Pictures of upclose lion and leopard are from Bali Safari.
No comments:
Post a Comment