Foxes and zebra draw more visitors to Melaka Zoo

Adorable additions: VIsitors to the Melaka Zoo can now catch a glimpse of fennec foxes which were unveiled during the Chinese New Year holidays.

MELAKA: Melaka Zoo and Night Safari registered an increasing number of visitors during the Chinese New Year festive season.

The Zoo’s CEO, R. Raja Segran said some 15,000 zoo-goers were registered between the first day of Chinese New Year and yesterday.

“Visitor numbers rose to the highest the zoo has seen on non-school break and it's a motivation and precious Lunar New Year gift to us,” he said yesterday.

Raja Segran said 5,350 visitors were registered on Friday, 6,095 (Saturday) and 4,783 visitors up to 3.40pm yesterday.

He said the combination of new exhibits, including a family of fennec foxes and newborn zebra saw visitors flocking to the zoo during the festive season.

The fennec fox is a small nocturnal animal found in the Sahara and has a life span of up to 14 years in captivity.

The Melaka Zoo unveiled three of these foxes, two females and a male for the first time during the Chinese New Year festive break.

Raja Segran said the zebra calf was born last December and was the second calf born at the zoo here.

He said the first calf is now two years old and there are five zebras exhibited at the zoo.

The zoo now has a population of 600 animals with 150 types of species, he added.

The zoo has witnessed newborns since last year, including a pony, Waterbuck antelope, Bawaen deer, Timor deer, Eclectus parrot and mini hedgehog.

Melaka Zoo and Night Safari was privatised in 2013 and Raja Segran, an experienced zoologist, was headhunted to manage the menagerie last year.

The zoo now has 25 expert zoo-keepers with 80 staff while he focused on environmental conservation and educational tours as part of his management strategy.