(MY) Snake show

[Guest guest]

Zoo Negara under fire over snake show- New Straits Times

Elizabeth John

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Mon

--

A snake show at Zoo Negara that saw handlers telling visitors to hit

snakes on the head and throw them on the road to be run over will

continue despite complaints.

 

The zoo has promised that handlers will be instructed to drop such

advice from their performance.

 

" They may have used those lines in the show in jest, " said Zoo Negara

director Dr Mohamad Ngah in response to complaints from the public.

 

" It was just a joke so that the viewers would be wary of snakes, " he said.

 

The Wildlife and National Parks Department is looking into the

complaints and will be contacting Zoo Negara soon, its law and

enforcement director Misliah Mohamed Basir said.

 

A visitor who declined to be named told the New Straits Times the

audience at the show was told that if a snake entered their house,

they should hit it on the head and throw it onto the road where it

would be run over by passing cars.

 

He said as a centre for conservation, the zoo was sending out the wrong message.

 

He also described how a handler held a snake by the tail and threw it

towards the watching crowd before quickly yanking it back.

 

Asked if such statements could be misconstrued by visitors as the

right way to deal with snakes, Mohamad said: " They do explain the

right method of handling the animal later in the show but I have asked

the handlers to stop making such statements. "

 

The performance, featuring pythons and cobras, is part of the zoo's

multi-animal show held on weekends and the nocturnal animal show.

 

There are between three and four handlers per show, among them a

renowned snake handler from Penang.

 

Asked if the zoo had vetted the show before the public performance,

Mohamad said: " They (the handlers) have been doing this for years and

they know their work. "

 

 

 

On the treatment of the snakes during the show, Mohamad said he would

ask the handlers to discontinue that part of the performance but the

show would continue as scheduled.

 

Mohamad also denied that a cobra recently treated at Universiti Putra

Malaysia veterinary hospital had been injured during the show.

 

He said the snake probably suffered injuries when it was removed from

a home in Perlis by the Fire and Rescue Department recently.

 

The injured snake is expected to undergo surgery soon.