Melaka Bird Park To Emulate Singapore's Success - Chief Minister

From Nasarudin Omar SINGAPORE, Dec 19 (Bernama) -- The Melaka Government wants the Melaka Bird Park, currently under construction, to emulate the success achieved by the management of the Jurong Bird Park here. Singing praises of the republic's bird park which has the largest number and species of birds in the world, Chief Minister Mohd Ali Rustam said: "I am fascinated by its natural background, as well as the upgrades made on the bird park over the years. "This will be a good example for the Melaka Government (to follow). Speaking to reporters yesterday after a three-hour visit to the bird park which was opened to the public on Jan 3, 1971, Mohd Ali was given a briefing by Wildlife Reserves Singapore Chief Executive Officer Isabella Loh and Jurong Bird Park General Manager R. Raja Segran. The Melaka Bird Park will house 300 species on a 1.8 hectare of land in Taman Botanikal, Ayer Keroh, when it is set up by early 2013. This new tourism product of Melaka is part of the second phase of a landscape and tourism facilities development project spanning 92.5 hectares in Melaka's Botanical Park. Mohd Ali said Melaka would work with the management of the Jurong Bird Park which had maintained its popularity among tourists since it began operating about 40 years ago. "I am amused by the performance of a parrot here which can speak in several languages, as well as a scarlet macaw (another parrot species) which is able to fly to deliever a written message," he added. The chief minister said Melaka was also interested in buying the bird park's monorail, which runs 1.72km, for installation at the botanical park. "We will see if the monorail is suitable for use," said Mohd Ali, who was informed by Isabella that the Jurong Bird Park monorail would be replaced with a tram. Ayer Keroh is a town situated in the state of Malacca, Malaysia. The town is about 2 hours drive from Kuala Lumpur and one hour from Seremban. Ayer Keroh is also about 3 hours drive from Singapore. -- BERNAMA