(MY) sabah park and rhinos

[Guest guest]

2007/07/08

 

Sabah park to go wild over endangered animals-New Straits Times

8/7/07

By : Jaswinder Kaur

 

KOTA KINABALU: A new wildlife park in Sabah will become a site for the

captive breeding of endangered animals such as the Sumatran

rhinoceros.

 

 

Visitors admiring a Borneo pygmy elephant at the Lok Kawi Wildlife

Park open day yesterday.

 

Sabah Wildlife Department deputy director Laurentius Ambu said the

Sumatran Rhinoceros Conservation Workshop, which ended on Friday, had

pointed out the need to have captive breeding of the animal.

 

" Captive breeding could be done here at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park. "

 

There are between 35 and 50 rhinoceros in the state.

 

The park will also become a focal point for environmental education

and research activities.

 

" This park will be used to create public awareness, " Ambu said at a

briefing for Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi

Manjun at the park's open day yesterday.

 

" A second component of the park is the planting of indigenous tree

species so that visitors can learn more about plants here. This effort

is being undertaken by the Sabah Forestry Department. "

 

He said other zoos and parks in the region had also started small and

later became a big hit, such as the Singapore Zoological Garden.

 

He said the park had collected nearly RM400,000 in entry fees since

its soft opening five months ago. About 95 per cent of visitors were

Malaysians.

 

The 112ha park is located 25km from the city and has more than 1000

animal species.

 

Masidi urged the private sector, especially oil palm companies, to

help the Sabah Wildlife Department, which requires more than RM2

million to run the park annually.

 

" Oil palm companies can adopt animals as part of their corporate

responsibility. Hotels can also sponsor animals.

 

" I will talk to tour agents to include the park as part of the city tour. "

 

Shangri-La's Rasa Ria Resort is the only organisation giving financial

aid to the park by helping to maintain the orang utan area.

 

Meanwhile, the Sabah Wildlife Department has signed a memorandum of

understanding with the Tokyo Zoological Park Society to work on the

exchange of animals, staff and knowledge.

 

The department was represented by its director, Patrick Andau, while

Tokyo Zoological Park Society chief director Yoshinobu Asa-kura signed

on behalf of the society.

 

Masidi said for a start, the Japanese would send flamingos to the wildlife park.

 

" We hope these flamingos can breed and create juveniles which we will

then send back to Japan. "