Last weekend, Lukas with his parents came to visit his grandparents (my parents) in Melaka. Then on Sunday afternoon, I brought him and my family members to Zoo Melaka, one of the best Zoos in Malaysia.

It is the second largest Zoo in the country encompassing 54-acres with more than 1,200 animals of over 200 different species. It is also the first Zoo in the region to exhibit the rare and endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros and Gaur. And the entrance fee charged is only RM7 for adult,children below 6 is free if not wrong.

The Zoo was established in 1963. It is a major zoological park located besides Lebuh Ayer Keroh (Federal Route ) in the town of Ayer Keroh in the state of Malacca, Malaysia. In 2007, along with the “Visit Malaysia” campaign, Zoo Melaka was visited by 619,194 visitors; the highest number ever recorded. Wow! this number is surprising high considering the fact that it is not the main Zoo in Malaysia.

Within decades, it greatly expanded to become a large zoo and now houses a great number of birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, insects and today its status as the second biggest zoo behind Ulu Klang’s Zoo Negara is indisputable.

The Attractions in this Zoo

It is the first zoo in Malaysia to exhibit the critically endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros. It also houses overseas as well as local beauties such as the White Rhinoceros, Asian Elephants, Red Panda, Malaysian Gaur, the Serow, the Squirrel Monkey, the Molurus Python, the Grey Wolf, the Mongolian Wild Horse, the Green Tree Python, the Giraffe, the Blue-and-yellow Macaw and also the Indochinese Tiger as well as the Malayan Tiger.

Then, we started our journey into the Lost haven!

I will only share with you those worth stretching your eyes:

Capybara is the largest rodent in the world. In case u dont know what a rodent is, think of the mice, rat or guinea pig. This is one of the animals not to be missed in this Zoo.

We missed the Rhinoceros as they were sitting far far away. !@#$%^&*()

Guys, this was my favourite beast of the day. It was elegantly resting on the wall, ready for photographing and you can molest it too!

Gaur is said to look like the front of a water buffalo with the back of a domestic cow. They are the heaviest and most powerful of all wild cattle. Males have a highly muscular body, with a distinctive dorsal ridge and a large dewlap, forming a very powerful appearance. Females are substantially smaller, and their dorsal ridge and dewlaps are less developed.

* Body Length: 250-360 cm / 8.3-12 ft.

* Shoulder Height: 170-220 cm / 5.6-7.2 ft. On average, males stand about 1.8 – 1.9 m at the shoulder, females about 20cm less.

* Tail Length: 70-100 cm / 28-40 in.

* Weight: Males often 1000 – 1500 kg / 2200 – 3300 lb, females 700 – 1000 kg / 1540 – 2200 lb.

You only get to see this Gaur in this Zoo, even Zoo Negara doesn’t have it.

Ok, the highlight of the day went to this fella:

Ok, this chicken like bird species is one endangered animal found in this Zoo. It is beautiful, just look at its fur and bloody red cock head.

This ape is caled Mandrill, closely related to the baboons and even more closely to the Drill. The Mandrill is the world’s largest species of monkey. The word mandrill means “man-ape”, so this might be our common ancestor.

And the last animal we saw:

Well, RM7 is definitely worthwhile for this visit. Moreover, I must compliment the Zoo’s mgmt team for making the Zoo really like a natural habitat for the animals. The whole area sucks because it is simply smelly,unkempt, flies abound, marshy and dirty…..just see for yourself:

Anyway, this Zoo is really worth visiting when you are in Melaka. Now, it is visited annually by 400,000 visitors; averaging 1093 visitors a day. “It also maintains a healthy, cool green background by planting exotic and rare plants while labeling them. This can potentially cool the zoo in very hot days and symbolically mimics the rainforest.”