Lok Kawi Wildlife Park has some new additions to the family, which introduces more animals from borders beyond Borneo to curious visitors.
Through an exchange programme with Melaka Zoo, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park introduced five new animals to the park last month.
The animals arrived late in January and promises to make a new trip to the park well worthwhile.
Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s new residents include 2 zebras, four ankole cattle, four nilgai, two ring-tailed lemurs and two capuchin monkies.
Although the zebras and ankole cattle are African in origin, Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s particular residents are Malaysian citizens, as they were born in Melaka Zoo. In their first travel adventure, they visit the shores of Borneo, to add to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s other residents of African origin, most notably the ostriches.
Ankole Cattle
Ankole Cattle have large, distinctive, almost over-sized horns. The cattle have for centuries been an intricate part of African culture and were used as a source of food, currency for trading and status.
The king of each tribe would often own the cattle with the longest horns, and these were considered sacred.
Able to thrive in the excruciating heat of Africa, the cattle have adapted to survive.
Part of their ability to withstand great temperature in arid environments, lies in the big horns, which are honey-combed with blood vessels.
The blood flows into the horns where it’s cooled by moving air, before flowing back into the animal’s body thus reducing body temperature.
The horns can grow up to 12 feet, measured from tip to tip.
Nilgai
The Nilgai at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park is from the family of Asia’s largest antelope and is commonly seen in the wild in northern India and eastern Pakistan.
The animal is also referred to as the Blue Bull, as the adult male’s coat often has a blueish appearance.
The female and young Nilgai, however, have short, yellow-brown coats.
The males will gradually darken as they reach maturity and can also be distinguished by white spots on their cheeks and white colouring on their lips.
See if you can spot the differences between the males and females on your visit to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.
Ring-tailed Lemurs
If the animated movie Madagascar was an educational tool, it would have served its purpose by introducing previously lesser known animals to the public at large.
As such, you might recognise Lok Kawi Wildlife Park’s Ring-tailed Lemurs as those fuzzy, upright-walking, monkey-like creatures, which – in the movie Madagascar – liked to move it, move it!
Like all other lemurs, the Ring-tailed Lemur is found only on Madagascar.
Readily identified by the long bushy tail, interesting facts about the Ring-tailed Lemur are that the tail contains 26 black-and-white rings, and that the tail always starts with a white ring and ends with a black ring.
Although listed as a vulnerable species, the Ring-tailed Lemur is the most populous Lemur in captivity, partly due to the fact that they easily reproduce in captive conditions.
Capuchin Monkey
You may recognise this new resident of Lok Kawi Wildlife Park from several Hollywood movies.
The Capuchin Monkey is a South American native with a white upper torso and head, with distinctive black arms and a black cap on the head.
Considered one of the most intelligent monkeys, they are highly trainable and hence their frequent silver-screen appearances.
As daytime animals who, unlike most other monkeys, sleep during the night, they are sure to be a star attraction at Lok Kawi Wildlife Park.
They are arboreal animals, which means they spend most of their time in trees.
During the day they forage for food, which, in the wild, would include nuts, fruits, berries and leaves, but also insects, bird eggs and small vertebrates.
Capuchin monkeys living near water can also feed on crabs, often cracking shells with rocks.
Zebra
Needing no introduction, zebras are the black-and-white striped animals we all know from school as representing the letter Z.
Interesting to note is that the stripes of a zebra is as unique as a human fingerprint and that no two zebras have exactly the same stripes.
Compare the two visiting Lok Kawi Wildlife Park and see for yourself.
Another interesting fact is that in the UK, zebra is pronounced ZEB-ra, and in North America, it’s pronounced ZEE-bra.
With the interesting new additions to Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, complementing the park’s established residents, a visit to the park makes for a good day out.
A mere 25km from the city centre, the trip takes less than 25 minutes and is easily accessible by road.
Entrance fees are RM20 for adults and RM10 child for overseas visitors, and RM10 and RM5 respectively for local visitors.
The park is open daily from 9:30am and the last entry is allowed at 4:30pm, before the park closes at 5:30pm.