Melaka Zoo » Melaka Zoo

Melaka Zoo
24-01-2008

I have no knowledge as to whether the zoo officials here had any involvement in the Taiping 4 saga , so this thread is about the zoo itself

I visited the zoo about 17 years ago , and at that point it was a fairly good zoo albeit the vegetation hadnt had much chance to mature .
Since then , it has turned into a luxuriant leafy zoo with heaps of shade for its inhabitants .
It is quite a large zoo in area , located beside a lake on the outskirts of Melaka

However , I was somewhat disappointed to see the lack of improvements for the animals benefit ( which Taiping Zoo stood out ) The majority of enclosures could have easily been enlarged , even if only a little bit . There was heaps of unused land next to the majority of enclosures .
There is a main roadway that goes around the zoo in the shape of a big sausage , and smaller pathways go off that to various exhibits . The middle of the zoo is an undeveloped core , that probably has service areas ( it is out of bounds for the general public )
Good points included ; a large animal hospital , a good big cat exhibit , a large collection of numerous cattle exhibits , more elephant enrichment than found in other Malaysian Zoos ,( but see below for another issue ) and long term plans to try to keep Malaysian tiger from extinction by way of a neighbouring sanctuary .
Negative points included ; a circus that had high volume sound ( I never went into the circus during show time ) small mammals building that is a disgrace in all areas , an elephant that had a suspicious head wound , possibly from angkus misuse , and a nearly empty reptile house .
Alot of the cattle enclosures were turned to mud , but then thats quite common in a country that has heavy downpours on every second day .....
As far as the zoo was concerned ( not the directors ) Melaka Zoo is approx on the same par as Taiping Zoo

The signage was somewhat faulty , with reference to a cat bear . This turned out to be what appeared to be a binturong ( I hadnt seen these until I was in Malaysia ) There was one in a walk through aviary system . These appear to be common in malaysia Zoos , where they have several aviaries atteched to each other .

Quote from a book about Melaka ;
Established in 1963 , the second largest zoo in the country with 54 acres
Over 1200 animals . It is also the transit zoo for animals being sent within Malaysia or abroad to other zoos , so there are stringent health checks on the animals The endangered Malayan tiger has been successfully bred at the zoo , and the zoo has provided Malayan tigers to San Diego , Leipzig and Singapore Zoos . In 1996 the SEAZA conference was held at the zoo .
The zoo also functions as a research centre foor topics including disease research and patterns

zoomlk@tm.net.my

Zoo Melaka

24-01-2008

bear-cat is a common alternative name for the binturong (more used in some countries than others). Cat-bear is/was a name used for the red panda, but the "cat" and the "bear" are often swapped round.

26-08-2008

I know Zoo Prague just got a young male tiger not directly from Melaka (but Lok Kawi Wildlife Park), but both of his parents were born in Melaka. Hopefully his bloodline will spread in Europe.

26-08-2008

I went to Taiping when I was young, about 6 I believe I had always hoped that the little zoo could become something magnificent one day, I think I very well could be wrong though,
Melaka zoo, hmmmmmm, I have quite a few questions on the elephants in Melaka
The other male with tusks, not Adun did he come from singapore zoo is his name Lasah and did he sire a calf over there? And is Muadzam still alive?