CORONAVIRUS | The Malacca Zoo has created a special fund for donations to help pay for food supplies during the movement control order (MCO) period.

President of the Hang Tuah Jaya Municipal Council (MPHTJ) Shadan Othman said the Malacca Zoo Donation Fund was launched on April 4 and has so far collected about RM6,000.

“The MCO period has been challenging for us to manage Malacca Zoo as it is not open to visitors in order to protect public safety and that of the animals, whereas part of its income is derived from ticket sales.

“Just for food alone, we need RM180,000 a day for 650 animals... we hope the public can contribute to the zoo through this fund,” he told reporters after visiting the zoo today.

Also present were director of Malacca Zoo and Bird Park, Zanariah Khamis, and head of the zoology department, Azman Ghazali.

Shadan said the public who want to contribute to the fund can do so through the Zoo Melaka CIMB account, with the name Zoo MPHTJ and account number 8009600869.

He also urged private companies, government bodies and private individuals to (financially) adopt the animals in the zoo so that they get adequate supply of food and medicine, and are properly managed.

He said even during the MCO period, the zoo is managed as usual while the sanitisation and cleansing processes are conducted every three to four days.

The zoo, which has 32 zookeepers, was started in 1963 and is the second largest zoo in the country, with about 650 animals of 150 species from around the world.

It is also a conservation, research and educational centre.

- Bernama 

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