Voluntary Work At National Zoo

Voluntary Work at Zoo Negara ( 17/8, 7/11, 9/11, 20/11, 23/11/2012)

At the end of semester 2, Mr. Lim Chee Siong told us that we have an elective project in semester 3.  We were assigned to complete the community service for 20 days.  After discussing with my coursemates, we decided to complete part of the project in group and part of the project individually. They are five people in my group including Jiou Su-Xian, Low Yin Yee, Lam Jun Rong, Wan Hoon Mun and me. We decided to be volunteers in Zoo Negara after some discussion. We contacted the education officer in the Zoo Negara and registered as a volunteer. The objective of choosing Zoo Negara is because we want to expose ourselves to the community-based activities. We hope to get more volunteering experience as this is the first time we are involved in community service. Another important reason is because we realized the importance of conserving wildlife.

Zoo Negara is managed by a non-governmental organization namely Malaysian Zoological Society. It complies with the latest guidelines set by the World Association of Zoos and Aquarium (Waza) and South-East Asian Zoo Association (Seaza) and has increased its conservation awareness efforts. They are a total of over 5446 specimen from 476 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. The five pillars that Zoo Negara stands on are education to create awareness on wildlife conservation, wildlife conservation by breeding those rare species and releasing them back into the wild, provide a haven knowledge and experience for researchers, recreation and provide training in wildlife management for other zoos in Malaysia. We spent a lot of time working there and we had fun although it was not an easy task. On the first day of our volunteer service at Zoo Negara, we arrived there at 8am. We were separated by the zoo officer into two groups. Yin Yee and I worked in pair and we started our day in the Bear complex. There are several types of bear, including the Asiatic black bear, brown bear, sloth bear, and Malayan sun bear. Besides bears, there are different types of animals in this section such as tapir, kangaroo, deer and goat. We helped an Indian man who is the supervisor of this section to clean the surrounding area. First, he brought us to a cage that has many black goats in it. He gave us different task. Yin Yee was instructed by him to throw the tree trunks outside of the cage to a specific place near the cage. The specific place is a small empty land that is used to collect rubbish and animal waste from all departments in the zoo. There are rubbish collectors that come and collect the rubbish daily and some of the plastic bags that contain animal stools will be sent to the researchers.  On the other hand, I was following him into the cage to wash the area and clean the animal waste. He asked me to count the goats and make sure the number of goats is correct in case one of the goats ran out of the cage. I filled up the water tank with water and fed the black goats with grasses. Next, we proceeded to another large cage with many deer in it. There were a lot of dried leaves and tree trunks in the cage so both of us spent about two hours to sweep all the leaves.  We bagged up all the dried leaves and rubbish and sent the rubbish bags with a trolley to the specific place that was mentioned earlier. Then, we brought grasses into the cage again to feed the deer. After that, we had a break for lunch. When we returned after lunch, the supervisor brought us to a different cage that has kangaroos in it. We were asked to wash all the containers that contain food waste. The supervisor brought in a bucket that contains grasses and vegetables and asked us to pour them into all the containers to feed the kangaroos. We finished all the work and went home at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. 

  After our end of semester exam in November, we went back to Zoo Negara again for voluntary work. Members from another group including Tan Joe Jen, Tan Yee Yein and Eugene Ngim Kai Lun joined us as well. Early in the morning, we arrived at Zoo Negara and waited for the staff to separate us into different groups. Eugene, Su-Xian and I were working as a group and we worked at Children’s World department on that day. We got to work with horses, rabbits, fawns, porcupines and goats which are really very cute and friendly. Three of us were given a task to sweep and clean the area. We felt satisfied after sweeping the whole area as the place was much cleaner than before. After that, we took out a few buckets that contains vegetables and fruits from a store room and brought the food into different cage to feed the animals. Next, we proceeded to another place where there are many rabbits and porcupines. We helped to clean the bunnies’ feces, wash the container, refill their water container and feed them with carrots. After we had finished the task given, we went for lunch break. When we returned, one of the zoo keepers brought us to a place that has many bunny cages. He explained to us on how to clean the cages. Then, we started our work by raking up the animal waste and the unwanted grass mats. After we finished cleaning the cages, we put in new grass mats into all the cages. Bunnies like to rest on grass mats and these are their habitats. We finished up the task given and went home at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. On the third day, I was working in the same department with the same partners again. So, the work that we had done in the morning is basically the same like the previous day. We were sweeping the squirrel cages as well. Besides that, we were told by a zoo keeper that they need our help in repairing the old tyres to hang in the monkey cage.  Hence, we helped them to remove the screws on the old tyres and the rubber strap because the old rubber strap was broken and cannot be used anymore. Then, we used the old tyres and screwed them along a new rubber strap which is very long and thick. After we had finished screwing all the tyres, two staff climbed on to the roof of the monkey cage to hang the new strap of tyres. Three of us helped to push up all the tyres together with the rubber strip by using a long stick so that they were able to get the rubber strap and tied it on both side of the roof. The tyres are made for the monkeys to play with because they like to climb and there were no trees inside the cage so what they can do is to provide some tyres and make the cage like a playground.  

On the fourth day at Zoo Negara, I was working with Eugene and Su-Xian again. We were arranged by the staff to work in Mammal Kingdom department. The Mammal Kingdom is full of nocturnal animals. It is a home to leopard cats, slow loris, Malay civet, pumas, leopards, raccoons, striped hyenas and Binturong. There are capybara and Malayan porcupine as well. This is the department that I like the most because we were feeding the animals most of the time. We followed a Malay man who is a zoo keeper that is in charge of the department to his office. We changed our boots and started our day by sweeping the surrounding area. Next, the Malay zoo keeper separated us as there are two sections in that department. Eugene and Su-Xian went to another section to help another zoo keeper to clean the cages while I was following the Malay zoo keeper to wash the cages around this section. I helped him to wash all the raccoon cages. Besides that, I also cleaned their food container and swept the animal waste inside the cage under his supervision. We cannot wash the cages alone because raccoons are quite aggressive and they might attack us. Next, the three of us proceeded to another pademelon’s cage to sweep the dried leaves and rake up the animal waste. After finishing our task, we had our lunch break. We were given two buckets of foods. One of the buckets contains small fishes whereas another bucket contains many packets of bread. First, a zoo keeper brought us to feed the otters. We brought the bucket with small fishes in it and threw them one by one into the big aquarium with many otters in it. The otters are very smart and they can catch the fishes that we threw towards them. We enjoyed throwing fishes to them and observing the way they eat. Next, we brought the bucket that filled with bread to the raccoons’ cage. We were standing outside the cage to feed the raccoons.  It was such a nice and memorable experience for us.

On the fifth day which is the last day for me to be a volunteer at Zoo Negara, there were only five of us including Joe Jen, Yin Yee, Su-Xian, Eugene and I who went to the zoo. This time, we got to work together as a group. Early in the morning, the staff separated all the volunteers into different department. There were volunteers from other secondary school that came on that day. The staff arranged us to work at Bear Complex. This was the second time I was working in this section. In the morning, we started our day by raking up the animal waste in the tapir’s cage and washing the cage. Then, Su-Xian and I threw the rubbish bags to the empty land while the other three people were sweeping inside the cage. After that, Su-Xian and I were following the supervisor to the bears’ cages. We were instructed by the supervisor to wash the food containers. After that, we had lunch break. We did not help much on that day because it was raining cats and dogs after our lunch break. However, the zoo keeper asked us to sweep inside the deer’s cage before we go back. Although it was still raining, we still obeyed what the zoo keeper told us to do because we knew that he needed our help. We followed him into the cage and sweep as quickly as we can for about half an hour. We went home at 4 o’clock in the afternoon.

Here are some of the photos taken during the community service in National Zoo.

 Day 1 (17^th of August 2012)

Photos taken at the entrance of National Zoo before we went home.

 

  I was pushing the wheelbarrow to another cage. 

Yin Yee and I were sweeping inside the deer's cage.


My group members : (from left) Jun Rong, Su-Xian, Yin Yee and Hoon Mun.

Day 2 & 3 (7^th and 9^th of November 2012)

Photos taken at the Children's World after we had our lunch break.

Photos taken inside the monkey's cage when we were
helping the zoo keeper to hang the rubber strap.

I was sweeping around the monkey’s cage.

Su-Xian and I were screwing the tyres  on the rubber strap.

We were cleaning the squirrel's cage. 

Day 4 ( 20^th November 2012)

Su-Xian and I were sweeping inside the pademelon's cage.

Photos taken while I was sweeping the dried leaves.

Pademelon

We brought the vegetables to feed the porcupines.

Racoon

I was feeding the racoon with bread.

Su-Xian, Eugene and I were feeding the otters with small fishes.

Our zoo keeper of the day who is quite friendly. 

       

Day 5 (23^rd November 2012)

Photos taken inside the deer's cage before we started cleaning.

We were feeding the deer with grasses.

I got a certificate that proved that I worked as a volunteer in National Zoo for 40 hours.

               That was my experience of being a volunteer in Zoo Negara. It is a memorable experience that I will never forget. I believe that we have made a difference in the lives of the Zoo animals. It is a good opportunity to get hands-on about helping wildlife. I get to appreciate the challenges of operating and managing a wildlife facility. I was also exposed to a wide range of experiences, people and situations that I would not usually encounter in my student life. It is a process of giving of ourselves for the benefit of others.