No more food allowed into Melaka Zoo

Visitors will soon no longer be allowed to bring food into the Melaka Zoo, according to its director Azman Gazali. Azman said the prohibition of outside food, which will be implemented as soon as possible, was for the safety of the animals. This new guideline follows the recent death of an Arabian horse and a sun bear due to eating contaminated fruits. Azman said, “Every visitor will be checked before allowing them into the zoo to avoid them from feeding the animals with the wrong food.” “This is because, every animal has its own diet and is sensitive to certain types of food,” he added. The zoo will also be hiring more zoo keepers and guards to watch over the animals and the movement of visitors. “It is very upsetting to see the animals dying in such a painful way. All the animals are on observation now… we are monitoring their movement and have given them lots of water to drink,” he said. Even though the cause of death is identified as poisoning but the source in terms of where the fruits came from remains unknown. “Investigation is being carried out by the police department to identify the ones who fed the animals with those contaminated fruits,” he said. He also said they are waiting for the lab results which will determine what kind of chemicals were used to contaminate the fruits. Meanwhile, Perhilitan Director Mohammad Khairi Ahmad said contaminated fruits were also found inside the barns of the horse, bear, chimpanzee, Orang Utan and the tapir. Fortunately, the tapir and chimpanzee did not eat the fruits, he said. He said the Orang Utan ate some of the fruits but had been given immediate medical attention and has been brought to a stable condition. The zoo's veterinary officer Dr Zubaidah Kamarudin said the sun bear, aged about 14 to 16 years—was found dead on Sunday, while the 17-year-old horse was found dead yesterday. Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, who visited the zoo after the tragedy, said closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras will be installed soon as possible.