Written By : Siti Khadijah
Hanna Hussein gets up close, virtually, with two feline species at Taiping Zoo and Night Safari
AFTER grabbing a bag of biscuits and a box of juice for a light breakfast, I cosily sit on the couch, switch on my Smart TV and start searching for Taiping Zoo and Night Safari in Facebook.
It’s almost 10am and I do not want to miss out on the “Online Now, Onsite Later” guided tour, a weekly live virtual tour organised by the management of Taiping Zoo and Night Safari, also known as Taman Mergastua Sultan Idris Shah, in Taiping, Perak.
The live streaming kicks off on time and starts with the introduction of its two hosts — veterinary officer Dr Muhamad Ridhwan Affendi and call officer Azyani Aripin — who will talk about the animals, while the video takes us on a tour of their habitats.
Lucky me, the programme I’m joining is a special tribute to two feline species. This fifth episode features the clouded leopard and the African lion, in conjunction with the International Clouded Leopard Day that fell on Aug 4 and World Lion Day on Aug 10.
The “Online Now, Onsite Later” guided tour is a weekly programme that aims to bring the zoo to long-missed visitors.
It made its live stream debut on July 4, featuring the estuarine crocodile, which gained a viewership of almost 60,000.
Due to the overwhelming response, the zoo is continuing with more episodes featuring selected animals like the Malayan tiger, the Malayan elephant, as well as the chimpanzee and Bornean orangutan.
The tour takes viewers into the animal’s habitat in the zoo. As they watch the feeding sessions, they also learn more information and fun facts about the featured animals.
The live session is free for the public, who can also watch past episodes on the Taiping Zoo and Night Safari Facebook page.
However, during this one-hour interactive live tour, viewers will be able to communicate and ask questions through the comment box and Dr Ridhwan will respond in real time.
ENRICHMENT PROGRAMME
“Before we show you our two big cats today, we will first demonstrate the feeding arrangements,” says Azyani.
She adds that the enrichment programme is usually prepared by the zookeeper, but today’s session is special as it will be handled by two practical students, Musnizam Ahmad Daud from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Keshaini Shunmugham from Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, who will explain the feeding arrangements for the two felines.
“Today, we have prepared a few enrichment activities for the feeding session,” says Musnizam, adding that the first is to tie a piece of boned meat to a rope and hang it on a tree branch.
Keshaini continues with the second activity, which is to use a banana trunk that has been cut out and stuffed with fresh meat. She adds that fresh poultry blood is also smeared all over the trunk to attract the felines.
Dr Ridhwan then explains that they selected these natural elements as they do not pose risks to the animals.
“The banana trunk, for example, will not harm to the lion because it is edible even though it is not their main dietary source,” he says.
They also place stool samples from four deer species that are also sprayed with poultry blood.
According to Musnizam, the faeces must be from the felines’ prey to encourage them to hunt for their food just like in the wild.
“The reason behind the use of blood is, as we all know, carnivores are attracted to it,” says Dr Ridhwan.
He adds that the enrich¬ment programme is created by the zoo to encourage the animals to maintain their hunting instincts and avoid being spoiled through direct feeding.
THE AGILE WILDCATS
Dr Ridhwan and Azyani then take us to see their first star of the day, a clouded leopard named Baby.
As the camera slowly zooms in on the glass enclosure, Dr Ridhwan asks the cameraman to show the viewers the placement of the banana trunk, which has been stuffed with meat, as well as the boned meat that has been tied to the branch.
A few seconds later, Baby is released into the enclosure and on my TV screen, I can see the cat beginning to explore its surroundings.
“We will watch her behaviour. She will probably start to sniff around,” adds Dr Ridhwan.
He explains that the zoo rarely uses banana trunks for its enrichment programme so this is a new experiment, and Baby will most probably head for the trunk first.
I can see Baby pausing for a while before slowly moving around, and according to Dr Ridhwan, this is a typical behaviour for a feline as it is very cautious of its surroundings in the wild, even though it has been to the same place before.
Baby then starts to climb trees, going up and down, heading straight for the huge boned meat.
Dr Ridhwan says the animal will use the muscles of its cheeks to pull the meat out. As he mentioned earlier, the zoo does not make feeding easy to prevent the animals from becoming overweight, and to make sure they always hunt for food.
I can see Baby starting to sniff the meat and lick it. However, she then moves away and climbs up a branch to scratch her claws, as if to sharpen them.
“This is another behaviour of this species. They scratch the wood as a way to care for their claws,” he says.
“This is also the reason why the Malays call it harimau dahan as they spend most of their time on trees and on higher places,” he adds.
The zoo has placed wooden branches in the enclosure for them to use and made it just like in their natural habitat to ensure that they feel at home.
Unlike the Malayan Tiger’s enclosure which has more meadows and large rocks, the structures in the clouded leopard enclosure are definitely unique. It is higher and filled with lots of artificial trees to allow the animal to roam and climb.
The clouded leopard, or Neofelis nebulosa, is a nocturnal animal. This beautiful and shy feline is an inhabitant of tropical forests in Central and South Asia, and is considered a vulnerable species in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
There is also another species called the Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis Diardi) which is native to Borneo and Sumatra.
Physically, this amazing wildcat is slim and small, and it’s also not too bulky, which makes it an expert tree climber. Its body weight is usually between 25kg and 40kg.
The clouded leopard also has a thick and long tail, which it uses to stabilise itself when walking or jumping between tree branches. The tail can be at least a metre long, which is longer than the length of the feline’s body.
It also has big paws and claws to move nimbly on thin branches.
The gestation period for this species is similar to other cats, which is around three months (85 to 100 days), with one to five cubs produced per litter. This leopard species becomes sexually mature at 2 years old.
KING OF THE JUNGLE
After half an hour with the clouded leopard, Dr Ridhwan and Azyani move on to the African lion in the zoo.
Dubbed the “king of the jungle”, lions are one of the fiercest in the animal kingdom, and have been admired throughout history as a symbol of strength and courage.
Native to Africa as the name suggests, the African lion, also known scientifically as Panthera leo, is also another vulnerable species in the IUCN Red List.
Unlike clouded leopards, which are solitary felines, African lions have social hierarchy and live together in groups known as prides. This is also why they tend to communicate more with each other compared with other big cats.
In the live stream video, the zoo introduces its dominant mane and three lionesses — Zulu, Nala, Nangkuru and Mandisa — named after the places in Africa where they come from.
Prior to the animals being released, a team of practicum students make preparations for the enrichment programme. Just like what was done for the clouded leopard, they tie up a huge piece of boned meat on a tree trunk and scatter dear faeces in the enclosure.
While waiting for the pride to make its appearance, Dr Ridhwan goes on to explain the design of the lion’s enclosure, which is open with no fencing between visitors and the animals. It has eye-level displays, giving an unobstructed view to visitors.
In the background, I can hear the lions roar as they come out one by one. It makes me feel like I am there at the zoo.
“It looks like one of the enrichment programmes is successful,” says Dr Ridhwan as we see the first lioness going straight to the first enrichment post that the practicum students have arranged earlier, which is the meat in the banana trunk.
Another activity created for the lions is an olfactory enrichment exercise, which involves spraying stimulating scents throughout the enclosure, such as tree trunks, to attract the attention of the lions. That too, interestingly, has succeeded as another lioness begins sniffing around a tree.
Not too long after that, the mane is also seen sniffing the deer faeces before he slowly makes his way to the meat that is tied to the tree.
Hence, all the enrichment arrangements made by the practicum students may be considered successful.
“These lions can weigh up to 330kg for the mane and 180kg for the lioness,” says Dr Ridhwan.
The lions are plain golden brown in colour, which acts as camouflage when they are in their natural Savannah.
According to Dr Ridhwan, lions in the zoo can live up to 20 years, but the ones in the wild have a shorter lifespan.
