Lok Kawi Wildlife Park, Sabah, Malaysia

~Lok Kawi Wildlife Park (or Lokkawi Zoo) is located at old Penampang-Papar road, about 15km from Kota Kinabalu city.

~The visitors can see Borneo and Malaysia wild animals such as orang utan, proboscis , monkey , Asian elephant, rhino, hornbill birds, tiger, etc.

~The Lok Kawi Wildlife Park was officially open to the public on the 17th February 2007. It is located along the Penampang-Papar old road and is fully developed by the Sabah Wildlife Department.

~The park consists of two components: zoological and botanical. The main objective of the park is to become a family-oriented park and the emphasis is put on the Children’s Zoo.

~Among the inhabitants of the zoo (zoological component) are the Borneo Pygmy elephants, Sumatran rhinoceros, Orang Utan, Proboscis monkey, Malayan tiger, as well as some different species of deer.

~The botanical component, on the other hand; offers visitors the opportunity to go jungle trekking along the botanical trail. The paved trail is about 1.4 kilometers long. However, for leisurely strolls, visitors are only advised to walk halfway along the trail.

~Tariffs~
~Lok Kawi Wildlife Park is open for the public daily from 9.30a.m to 5.30p.m. Entrance fees charged are as follows:Children RM5 Adults RM10 (Malaysian) and RM20 (non-Malaysian).

~My opininon~

~In the past, I always wonder why Borneo never has a zoo of its own, since we have been telling the world that we have rich variety of wild plant and animals. We also enjoy making the mouth of our tourists open wide, with the number of blah blah species we have in Borneo. Whatever, all this impressive facts sound more like a number. Nobody really knows what are the “content”. Many locals don’t even know what are pygmy elephants and proboscis monkeys. At last, we have a “Lok Kawi Wildlife Park”. It is a good start, though it is not only showing animals that are native to Sabah.

~If you said Lok Kawi, I would think you mean the road between KK International Airport and Kinarut. Later I figured out the Lok Kawi Zoo is actually next to the Old Penampang road. If you follow the road from KK to Dongongon town, just go straight after you passby Dongongon town, after nearly 10 minutes, you will see its signboard at your left side. About 18 km from KK, but very near to people live in Penampang.

~. I went there on this year in last february and there were 30 to 50 cars parked there at any time. To see what are in their zoo, you may Check out the Trail Map I got with the ticket.The fee i already clearly explain in front my blog this . the funny things is i go with my cousin them then when we want to pay the fee , suddenly my cousin ask me "How old are u"? I said im 17 years old . hha . The staff also believe in me so thats i just need pay RM5 with my 1 small kid cousin . hha . Thas was so funny . Caused my face kinda look like A secondary student again . hha .

~What they have? They have birds, deers, orang utan, proboscis monkeys, civets, elephants, ostrich, hornbills, tigers, otter, rhino, etc. They also have a Botanical garden, but I haven’t explored it. For serious visitors who want to learn something, it can be a full day trip. However, they don’t have restaurant or cafe shop in the park to provide lunch. Overall, the facilities and trail are well planned. For bigger animals such as tiger, they have an allocated open space, and the visitors can see them from a viewing shelter, which is equipped with fans and description board.

~They also have elephant ride (for children below 12 only) at 10.30am - 11.30am and 3.30pm - 4.30pm . I personally think that morning is the best time to visit. Coz in the hot afternoon, most animals would become tired and sleepy, hiding in shaded area, no mood to move already.

~Overall, the park is well done, but I have a few suggestions:

1) Provide more shaded area for the animals
Goodness… I advise the people there take a walk in the forest and feel how cooling it is. Most area only provide a small tree or net covering roof. The excessive light still makes their surrounding very hot.

2) Animal Employee’s Right
Welfare for the animals again. The park should be closed for 1 day per week, so the animals can rest and release stress.

3) Offer Lunch and Food
With that number of traffic flow, it is probably not wise not to have a restaurant that provides food, something like stomach filler, not just light snap.