Kelantan to reopen Kuala Krai Zoo in June next year

State Local Government, Housing and Health Committee chairman Dr Izani Husin said currently, construction works on animal enclosures and infrastructure at the zoo were underway.

He said the zoo would adopt the urban forest park concept that allows animal-visitor interaction.

However, Dr Izani said wild animals such as tiger, crocodile, lion and elephant would not be housed at the zoo due to the high maintenance.

“At the zoo, we will place animals such as bird, porcupine, deer, goat as well as various other species where visitors, especially children, can get up close with as well as feed them,” he said when contacted by Bernama yesterday.

Dr Izani said built on a 2.22-hectare zoo hilly area on the outskirts of Kuala Krai, the zoo will also be equipped with complete facilities including surau.

He said visitors would be charged a certain amount of entry fee to cover animal maintenance and rehabilitation, as well as to pay staff salary.

It is learnt that the Kuala Krai zoo and Museum had operated for years before being closed and replaced with a Bird Park in 2007 which was shut down in 2010 due to high operating costs.

Formerly known as the Mergastua Museum, the Kuala Krai Zoo was established on Dec 24, 1964.