Life of a Numbnut

Trip to Zoo Negara, The Uncensored Version (17-12-2005)

"You are going to the ZOO?!" was one of the reactions I got when I told them about going to Zoo Negara. After all, who would want to go to Zoo Negara after visiting a world class zoo before this? So I replied, "Why not? I haven't been there for a long, long time already. I would like to see how it is like now." So off, I go, together with Jyrenze and YSlim. The day started off pretty gloomy. It started drizzling right before the elephant show started. Nevertheless, a little bit of rain will not stop our wise old jumbos (they looked old to me). Our jumbos were amazing. All they need is just a signal from their trainer and they will execute their performance perfectly. I wondered how long have they been doing the same thing over and over again. The elephants here still perform circus tricks as opposed to the ones in Singapore Zoo, who showed us what they do in the wild and in the logging industry. One of the tricks that the elephants were instructed to do, was to do a full turn on a small tree stump, showing everyone their sense of balance. However, Mr Jumbo decided that just doing a full turn was not enough, and that he should add in some other elements. He decided that the audience will prefer to see him poop while doing a full turn! (Video is available for request). Some of the poses the elephants did were rather interesting, especially this one, and we thought of Ashes, who wasn't present on that day immediately.

Interesting pose...

Side note: Since Jyrenze has written a bit about the zoo, I won't be writing about everything. Some photos can be found on her blog.

I must say that zoo trips are really educational for ignorant people like me. I have always thought that orang utan and chimpanzees are in the primate category. However, I was so very wrong. Orang utan and chimpanzees are apes and apes do not really get along well with primates. Apparently, some apes kill monkeys. Since it was feeding time, there was a zoo staff selling fruits to the public for them to feed the apes. The orang utans that we have in our Zoo Negara were really old. I mean, I haven't seen such big and old looking orang utans elsewhere. It is strange, that the ape world, especially orang utans, is comparable to human society of the past (perhaps the present as well), probably around renaissance period. When I was small, I read a book about the UK people in the past. About how the poor will wait for the rich to finish their feast and then scramble for the left-overs. I actually saw something like that. High up on a platform was a fat old orang utan (the King), waiting for us visitors (the servants) to throw the fruits to him. And when the fruits failed to land in front of him and dropped onto the ground, all he did was look down, looked back at us, and gesture for us to throw more fruits to him. Kingly actions indeed. One of the zoo visitor shouted at him for being so lazy. Wrong move dude, you would have been beheaded in the past for shouting at His Royal Highness. On the ground, there was another old orang utan (the beggar) who was scrambling around hurriedly, collecting all the fruits that didn't reach the King, stuffing everything into his mouth to be carried off somewhere. I was so afraid that he'll choke.


The King, high up on his "throne".


The Beggar. Just how much fruits can he stuff into his mouth?!

As mentioned in Jyrenze’s blog, we met a lovely, lovely kid, a handsome young goat who SEEMED to be affectionate. “Seemed” is the keyword here. Mr. Young Goat was tied to a post where we could touch and play with it. So we played with it. We (Jyrenze and I) thought that it’d be cute to stand beside the goat and take picture. Before YSlim could snap our picture, I dropped my camera. Cursing, I bent down to pick it up. Suddenly, I felt someone pushing me from behind. I turned around to see who the offender was, but all I saw was a young innocent looking goat. Hmmmm...Must be my imagination. Then, photos taken, we still stood around the goat to play with it. First, it walked up to Jyrenze and started rubbing it’s head on her legs. Awww...how cute. Then, he turned his head in a way that the horns were hooking up behind her knee. NOT CUTE! Jyrenze was smart enough to catch hold of it by the horns and moved away. At this point in time, we still did not realize what the young goat’s true intentions were. Then, it decided to be affectionate with me. Then is did the same thing again. Unfortunately, both my hands weren’t free and he successfully hooked his horns behind my knee and pulled back. That almost caused me to fall flat on my butt. ALMOST. Only then did we start questioning each other about the young goat’s true, perhaps evil, intentions. Until now, I still can’t figure out whether it was trying to sharpen its horns on my leg, be affectionate with us, or whether it was trying to attack us. If it was attacking us, well, that was the first time I got gored by a goat then. (Video is available for request)


The Evil Young Goat.

Oh, right, about the Nipple Pinching Monkey, well, that's not it's real name of course. I can't remember the breed, but the action of this female monkey really caught our attention. I was taking video of a cute baby monkey and his antics when I noticed this female monkey, pinching and pulling at her chest. On closer inspection, we realized that she was pinching and pulling her tits (whatever for?!) and then licking it. I could only think of three reasons. One, it was itchy. Two, she was cleaning it. Three, she was sexually frustrated. But I realized that it can't be reason number three, as she ran away when a male monkey approached her. And the board did not state anything about this monkey's behaviour, unlike the previous zoo I went to which had explanation about the baboons' big red butts. (Video is available for request)

I noticed however, that our zoo has MANY more giraffe's than the one in Singapore. Recently, a baby giraffe was borned. Can't remember her/his name. I was also surprised to find hyenas in our zoo, as well as this interesting Bearded Pig. It was the first time I have seen such a pig.


A pig with bushy German moustache.

It is always important that animals should eat only what they SHOULD eat, and not junk food handed out by visitors. However, I noticed that some visitors still feed them. Either they can't read or they choose not to read the signboard. One visitor proved that he CAN read the signboard. Instead of feeding the deer, he decided to POUR his soft drink onto the deer. I'm not too sure if it's water or soft drink, but the deer won't be licking its body like this if it was water, right?


It's...sweet?

I have also not seen a hippo for a long time (most of the time it's pygmy hippo). So when I saw it, I was really...in awe. The skin looked so slippery and rubbery! Felt like touching it. I wonder what's the texture like?


Blubber blubber bounce bounce...

And let's not forget the once famous KFC building in the zoo...


I was telling Jyrenze to imagine if we were locked in the zoo, and we decided to shelter in that abandoned building. I wonder what would we have found inside? Rats? Lizards? Or something more...? Storks seemed to love that place very much. Come to think of it, I don't even remember where the entrance is. The next time anyone else is going to the zoo, please do remember to investigate. :D

Finally, we left that place late in the evening. I must say that the zoo wasn't too bad, in fact, it was quite enjoyable (go without expectations and you will not be disappointed). I was glad to see the "upgrading work in progress" signs in some cages. I hope it simply means that the animals will have nice new places to live in.
For RM10.00 per entry, it was really worth the money.



-Fin-

Labels: Numbnut Explores Malaysia

posted by StephanieC @ 8:18 PM