Les Animaux J'ai Connu

The 2 days volunteering in our National Zoo (Zoo Negara) was indeed fun yet tiring. At the end of the first day itself, I started to appreciate home more. The warmth, the clean toilets, the warm bath...everything. Most importantly, my family's care and love. Really, try doing tough chores you were never asked to do in your life before for a whole day. It's difficult! I intended to do this for at least 5 days but then I fell sick just after 2 and started getting lazy. Pretty stupid and very insincere I say.

 

This monkey's name is Adam. He lives alone in a cage in the zoo because his wife died. Sad ain't it? While volunteering in Zoo Negara, I've gotten to know that all the animals there do have names but I really couldn't tell which is which. I remember Adam because to me, Adam looks sad. I don't know if it's because he's caged or he lost his wife and is lonely or both.

From my observation, every morning when the monkeys were released from the smaller cages into the bigger ones, most of them would shout and yell and shriek. I read it on the board stating that it was to mark their territory. At noon the shrieking sorta stops.

This snake is not on display, it's a pet! When the zookeeper shakes her head, this leaf snake follows...but when I shake my head, it just stays put.

One is called Hobbit and the other Wizard, forgot which is which.

This crocodile escaped from it's 'cage' a long time ago and now it's locked up in some cage in the Reptile House. Not on display.

See the orange remnants at the side of its mouth? It's papaya! I fed it a slice of papaya, skin included. This is an Aldabra Tortoise. It's freaking huge and heavy! The zoo has 4 and they're called Do, Re, Mi, Fa according to size. So it was very easy for me to identify them.

This is a cow's eyes. Its name is Manja.

I don't know what this bird is called. It just slipped my mind at this moment but the front bird broke one of its leg and now it's rotten...like all black. So it had to stand on the good one.

Flamingo!

I really don't know what are they but I do know some of them occasionally fly to Putrajaya. Are they sunbathing or shading themselves from the sun or releasing heat? Or looking for a mate?

I fed these squirrels too. When I tried to enter the cage and pin down the papaya on a nail, one jumped over and sorta hit my head, my left temple to be more precise. I nearly freaked  out.

Cute right? It's a porcupine's little paw! The zookeeper was afraid of letting me pet the porcupine though, because the black parts on it's quills are poisonous. Porcupines here love bananas.

Mother and child.

This iguana scratched me! I was helping out the zookeeper to put it on the weighing machine but it freaked out and I got scratched! Thank God nothing happened. And I don't think this minor scratch was the cause of me falling sick. The scar on my wrist is nearly gone now...how I wish I could keep it as a remembrance.

Reptile's incubation room. On the morning I volunteered, a tortoise egg hatched and the tortoise fell down from the table. Now that baby tortoise has a small crack on its shell.

I don't know how true some of the stories are because it was only from one zookeeper. Don't think he'll bullshit me though. And you know, these zookeepers are superbly passionate in what they do. They talk to each other about the animals in their care as if they were humans and their eyes will sparkle. Know how I wanted to be a marine biologist? The job requires a lot of passion and I'm unsure if I have it in me. Oh well, at least now I know how it's like to be a zookeeper.

There are lots more to tell although I was there for just two days but I'm tired already. Ta!