Kuala Lumpur Bird Park No Longer Flying High

By R. Ratcharathan KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 8 (Bernama) -- The Kuala Lumpur Bird Park which was once tourism icon with its collection of various species of birds, has now lost its attraction with the number of feathered occupants way less than what it used to be. Dubbed "The Biggest Bird Cage in the World", it used to house about 3,000 birds from 200 species, including 25 hornbills 12 years ago, but the number of species can be counted with just the fingers. Located at the Perdana Lake Gardens, with its listless features, it is now no longer an attraction among local and foreign tourists alike. A local tourist who wanted to be known only as Fazli, 32, said he was disappointed with the number of birds in the 8.36-hectare park, which was not like what was portrayed in the pamphlets. "The bird park will be more attractive if the management has more local birds and increase the variety of species," he said when met by Bernama at the park on Sunday. "This bird park is so big and nice. Unfortunately, the variety of birds is so little and there are a few places which are still under maintenance," said Mardin Swin, tourist from Iceland. Meanwhile, a worker of the park who did not want to be named, said most of the birds died because visitors fed them food which they could not digest. Another factor leading to the unhappiness of tourists was the high cost of tickets to get into the park. Muhammad Sharul, 35, an engineer, said the price of tickets for locals should be reduced in order to increase the number of Malaysians going there. Tickets are priced at US$7 (RM25) for adults and US$3 (RM12) for children while US$13 (RM48) for foreigners (adults) and US$10 (RM38) for children of foreigners. "The prices of foods and drinks sold here and inside the bird park are also too high with a bottle of mineral water costing US$1.14 (RM4)," Muhammad Sharul said. Checks by Bernama survey also found the same fate had befallen the KL Butterfly Park at the Lake Gardens, with a very small number of tourists visiting it even during the weekends and school holidays. Anandhi Sivarajan, 28, said the butterfly park which had more than 5,000 butterflies, exotic plants and ferns, was not attractive as it was narrow and not comfortable. Anadhi, from Tamil Nadu, India, said the entrance fee to the butterfly park which also included an insect museum and souvenir shop, was not appropriate. Bernama could not get a response from the managements of both parks. --BERNAMA