In Kuala Lumpur: Stork or Stalker?

Dr. Roopali talks about being stalked in Kaula Lumpur. She shares her experience in a unique bird park, exclusively for Different Truths. 

I was being stalked.  Every time I stopped, they stopped too. I was getting a bit nervous. I had walked quite a distance. The forest was deepening. Evening shadows were spreading. A quietness was descending. 

Why on earth were they following me? Could they be purse snatchers? After a heart-thumping while, I braved myself and turned around to face them. Seeing me turn around they froze and looked away. 

After a short while in my silence, they slowly walked up. These two long legged fellas. They could, if they so wished, bore a hole into me. Like a bullet. Their beaks were long and sharp. 

Oh, so they had followed me since my stopover at the kiosk. That’s where I had bought a packet of branded potato chips.

They had their eyes on me. Oops, on the packet. I had put it inside my shoulder bag. They had both seen it. Their yellow and white eyes were both beady and a little bit greedy.

These free-flying cranes with long sharp beaks had already spotted me at the tea kiosk. Some of them were bold. These had even landed on my head to get a hold of some tit bits.  I sipped a cup of tea.

They live merrily in the park. Human interaction is a part of their free, yet confined life. They love the snacky stuff visitors give them. They are very friendly and more human than us. Although there is just something paradoxical here. Free yet confined. No migratory birds can come here, and no one can leave for faraway places. Something like a lockdown space with all facilities and creature comforts. 

Located in Taman Burung, Kuala Lumpur the Bird Park is a tropical paradise. Yet many tourists and visitors often give it a miss. They prefer to roam the glitter lanes and take selfies in front of the Petronas Twin Towers.  Yet, an estimated 200,000 visitors experience the park annually.

Students, accompanied by their teachers, visit the park to watch and study the birds closely. Artists bring sketch books and paint. Couples in love walk around holding hands. And you have the added pleasure of a rain forest vacation in a thriving busy city. 

Spread over a 20.9-acre public aviary, the bird park has 200 species of birds. It houses more than 3,000 birds and is one of the world’s largest covered bird parks in the world. A part of the150-acre park mimics a rainforest. There are more than 15,000 plants. High biodiversity allows birds to find their own habitat and even fruit and seeds to feed on.

Small natural springs and artificial lakes create a haven for the birds. Protected from human and other predators they multiply, adding to the ecological balance of the park.

One disturbing aspect is that the sky is not limitless here. A high netting spreads across and covers the complete area. Thus, limiting the birds to a natural as well as a created environment. This protected environment supports a marvellous ecosystem. This in turn benefits thousands of birds who would otherwise fall prey to human predators. There is a worldwide illegal trade in exotic birds. 

A collection of Brahminy Kites, Budgerigars, Parrots, Horn Bills, Cockatiels, Sun Conures, Pelicans, Owls, etc., live here. You can walk about and completely lose your urban self. It is a magical place. It’s a world in itself. For a few hours you can forget the traffic, the sky-scraping buildings, the marketplace, and malls. The restaurant and bars. The bird park is right in the heart of the city. And yet the city is far away. It is an experience that stays with you.

Certain areas of the park are marked for feeding. By 4 p.m., thick papaya slices are stuck on dry leafless trees for the birds to feast on. The care keepers open the doors of the living and nesting rooms of white owls and the Brahminy Kites. The birds hop onto the arm of the care keeper. It is feeding time. You can witness this amazing friendship. 

If visitors like, they may have papaya slices to feed the birds. It helps to get close to them and feel like we are bonding with them.  Unlike our relationship with domestic animals like dogs, cats, cows, pigs and horses, birds somehow remain distant or caged. Here in the bird park we get an opportunity to get close to each other.  They move about fearlessly. They remind us it is important that we feel intimacy with another species. 

As we watch these colourful creatures, we can’t help but wonder, who is watching whom?

Till then the chirping, whistling, quacking, hooting, clucking, warbling, tweeting, and singing continues.  

Photos by the author