We’re back on the blog and starting off easy with pictures of cute animals. Zoo Taiping is about a 90-minute drive from our house on Penang Island to Taiping on the mainland in Perak (the next state over in Malaysia). We read online that early morning is the best time to go to avoid crowds and heat and to see the animals at feeding time. We were the first through the gate at 8:30a and didn’t see any other visitors for at least an hour. And feeding time is definitely the time to go!
Hippo feeding was as entertaining as it was impressive. The adults raised their heads up against the wall and opened wide! The were hand fed lettuce by the head, bananas by the bunch, and halved papayas. I always thought hippos had bumps on the sides of their nostrils. Turns out it is just those massive tusks poking through their jowls. You can see it in the third picture after you are done saying “awww” over the cute calf.
No visit to a zoo in Malaysia would be complete without seeing the orangutans. We saw a female and baby and a male. The female is working on her fashion by bringing back bangs and the male is committed to his dreads. And the little one is clearly a male with a similar annoying tendency displayed by human males… allegedly.
I’ll wrap up with a few more pictures. All in all, a great 3-hour morning watching breakfast time at Zoo Taiping.
