Petting zoos are gaining in popularity and host local and exotic animals. In Part 2, we ask how petting zoos are sourcing their wildlife, especially animals that are legally protected.
PALM COCKATOOS (Probosciger aterrimus) are handsome birds. Smoky black feathers, tomato-red cheeks, and a high mohawk crest. This bird – one of the few known to make tools for music – originates from New Guinea and northern Australia.
But in Malaysia, you might find them in petting zoos and zoos. Some have even been trained to perch on human arms for photos.
Wild individuals cannot be imported into Malaysia for commercial purposes, but captive-bred ones may. However, conservationists point to the murkiness surrounding sourcing these rare parrots.
(Feature image: Insta-worthy, but how much does providing such interaction help conserve wild parrots? | Photo by Lee Kwai Han)
Parrots are often used in petting zoos as props for photos because they sport vibrant colours and are trainable. These range from small parrots like Sun Conures (Aratinga solstitialis) to large ones like macaws.
They, or their parents, originate from countries ranging from faraway South America and Africa to neighbouring Indonesia.
In Peninsular Malaysia, some parrots are protected by law under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010. That means a license from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN) is required to keep them, and displaying them requires a permit.
For the Palm Cockatoo, additional restrictions apply: it is a totally protected bird that requires special permits to keep and exhibit.
Global trade of the Palm Cockatoo has been regulated by the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) since 1975. The treaty requires countries to report import-export records of this species. In 1987, wild-caught Palm Cockatoos were banned from international commercial trade.
Furthermore, being listed in CITES Appendix I means that international trade of wild-caught Palm Cockatoos is prohibited except for non-commercial purposes, for example, scientific research. If this bird is traded internationally for commercial purposes, it must come from a CITES-registered captive-breeding facility.
However, the CITES website does not list any captive breeding facilities for this species in Malaysia or indeed elsewhere.
Malaysian data
For Malaysia, the CITES Trade Database shows no record of non-commercial trade, and 3 instances of captive-bred Palm Cockatoo commercial trade since 1987.
In 2012, South Africa exported 20 captive-bred Palm Cockatoo to Malaysia. In 2018, the UAE imported 8 captive-bred birds from Malaysia. Subsequently, in 2019, Indonesia reported importing a whopping 500 captive-bred Palm Cockatoos from Malaysia.
“It’s an unusually large number [to be declared] for a species that is naturally rare, breeds very slowly, and takes a long time to mature,” said Serene Chng, programme manager of NGO TRAFFIC, which works against illegal wildlife trade.
According to Birdlife International, the Palm Cockatoo produces only a single egg in any clutch. In Papua New Guinea, it is estimated to nest only once every 6 years. Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia are Palm Cockatoos’ native range countries.
In 2023, the Palm Cockatoo was assessed by IUCN as near threatened. Its wild populations are at risk due to habitat loss, and increased trapping for pet trade in New Guinea.
This body of evidence prompts experts to question the sources of the “captive-bred” Palm Cockatoo.
Chng urged visitors to petting zoos “to really think about … like where these animals are sourced from, because a lot of them don’t think about it. They’re just like, ‘Oh I see it there, so it must be ok’.”
Illegal wildlife trade might be exacerbated when humans are encouraged to interact with wildlife in petting zoos.
One person concerned about this is Dr Kevin Lazarus, chairperson of The Malaysian Association of Zoological Parks and Aquaria (MAZPA). He gave the example of how, if a zoo used a baby orangutan as a photo prop, that experience could encourage visitors to want their own baby orangutan.
“We don’t want to portray that this animal can be used as a pet. It’s not good, it’s not supposed to be a pet. It’s a wild animal,” he said. Instead, petting zoos should “go for species which are commonly used for the pet industry now, like the corn snake which is captive bred and not venomous”.
Government efforts
In a written response to Macaranga, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability (NRES) recognised that premises exhibiting wildlife indirectly increase demand for wildlife pet ownership.
Meanwhile, in its National Policy on Biological Diversity 2022—2030, NRES also recognises the risk posed by the pet trade to wildlife conservation. The policy aims to reduce wildlife demand through public outreach and behavioural change.
The actions include an in-depth study to develop a public behavioural change approach to reduce demand and work with civil society organisations in law enforcement. It also wants to collaborate with various businesses, including pet shops and aquarium traders, to remove rare and threatened species from the supply chain.
In addition, the ministry told Macaranga that “PERHILITAN will continue its public awareness raising activities about exotic species, the responsibilities as exotic pet owners, potential threat to public health and the environment in reducing demand for exotic pets.”
The agency is strengthening its law enforcement to prevent natural resource overharvesting, smuggling, and illegal ownership, especially in wildlife trade premises and by members of the public.
In a petting zoo, visitor Riana Syazwanee told Macaranga that she felt interacting with animals “helps to get people to like animals. Because it’s a petting zoo, we can hold [the animals]. [That] makes us feel brave to get close and learn about all kinds of animals.”
Syazwanee’s experience lends support to arguments from some wildlife traders and petting zoo operators that their activities help conservation, not hurt it.
Chiew Yih Shin breeds and trades exotic pet animals. He told Macaranga that he had been in the business for 15 years. Early last year, he started a petting zoo, Zoo in Mall, in Selangor.
Chiew disagreed that the exotic pet trade contributes to species extinction. Instead, he said, “It’s the cutting of forest, it’s urban development. The cutting of forests is the most threatening one.”
Forests will be gone
He reckoned that forests would disappear and when there were no more forests, wild animals would have to live in human homes. He thought the real protection for wildlife would happen only when everyone understood them.
“The exotic pets that you see today, in 50 or 100 years, will become domestic animals,” he said.
So, humans must learn about these animals, to live with them, said Chiew. To him, petting zoos educate people about interaction with animals. “If children understand these animals, they will choose to love them, instead of harming them.”
Visit nature
But Chng, who researches wildlife trade, disagreed. If the reason to see animals is to foster a love for nature, Chng suggested taking walks in nature for bird watching, or visiting good, accredited zoos with strong conservation messaging.
“That is more effective than keeping a bird in your house,” she said. Keeping exotic pets “gives people the sense that this being has value, because ‘I own it and it entertains me on my terms’, rather than truly appreciating its natural values.”
Malaysia’s National Policy on Biological Diversity calls for zoos, wildlife parks, and aquaria to support conservation. Part of the effort is to breed wildlife in captivity. Ex-situ (“off-site”) conservation as such is overseen by PERHILITAN.
In the reptile section of Farm in the City, one of the largest petting zoos in Malaysia, a sign announces the zoo’s success in breeding critically endangered Elongated Tortoises (Indotestudo elongata).
The sign states that Farm in the City will “work with relevant agencies to rehabilitate these animals back into our rainforests”. Macaranga was not able to independently ascertain these claims.
Tapir breeding
Another big Malaysian petting zoo, 99 Wonderland Park, is also involved in ex-situ breeding. The zoo were loaned a pair of Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) by PERHILITAN in 2020. By late last year, the pair had birthed two babies, much to the joy of visitors, who feed them carrots and long beans.
The facility also has an “exclusive jacuzzi” for its tapirs, which won it a World Excellence Tourism Awards 2020 and a citation in the Malaysian Book of Records.
To Macaranga’s query, 99 Wonderland Park did not comment on their wildlife conservation efforts.
Due to the dire straits of biodiversity, ex-situ conservation is promoted in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and the IUCN Species Survival Commission’s position statement on botanic gardens, aquariums, and zoos.
But there are different schools of thought on ex-situ conservation, explained Dr Carl Traeholt, Team Leader of the International Program of Copenhagen Zoo. He has been working on Malayan tapir conservation in Malaysia for more than 20 years.
The main aim of breeding is to have a “security population”, not necessarily for release or reintroduction, said Traeholt.
Food dependency
If an animal is meant to be released or reintroduced to the wild, then it is not appropriate to develop the animal’s dependence on humans, he said. Hand feeding, for example, would not be advised.
After release, the animal might go to humans’ homes expecting food. It therefore creates “a conflict that didn’t exist there in the first place”.
In contrast, the other school of thought supports using captive animals that would never be released into the wild to create a sense of inspiration and interest in human visitors. Feeding a tapir might get people connected to it, said Traeholt.
What’s real?
But he warned that this approach carries “a high risk of creating this fairly warped impression of what nature actually is”.
Petting zoo visitors Riana Syazwanee and Dyana Munira told Macaranga that they liked the woolly alpacas the most because the animals came close and they got to touch them. They felt less for other animals like capybaras and raccoons.
“[It’s] because they are not quite responsive. They are like, a bit introverted, just sit around,” said Riana.
The warped reality of wildlife can also spill over into daily life. When wildlife expects to be fed by humans in urban areas, conflict happens. A common example is wild monkeys brazenly snatching food from humans.
Dr Sharmini Julita Paramasivam is working on reducing this conflict through her NGO Animal Neighbours Project (ANP).
ANP has been urging the public to not feed monkeys, because it creates their dependency on humans for food. And it may also cause health problems in the monkeys. ANP also takes the public to secondary forests and urban forests to observe and learn about animals in order to foster human-wildlife coexistence.
Effective learning
“Instead of making it [the experience] interactive by touching [the animals], make it interactive by learning,” said the associate professor in Veterinary Behaviour and Animal Welfare at the University of Surrey.
She added that if animals had to be kept in captivity, their welfare must be ensured and staff members should educate people about the uniqueness of the animals.
“Our messaging on how we interact with wildlife needs to be consistent: feeding and touching wildlife is not a good thing,” she said.
On petting wildlife, Traeholt warned, “If people get that human-created narrative that is really far from reality, then I’m not sure it helps conservation very much in the long run. It becomes more of a selfie moment…”
[Edited by SL Wong]
This story was produced with a grant from the Youth Environment Living Labs (YELL) and administered by Justice for Wildlife Malaysia (JWM). The contents of this story do not necessarily reflect the views of YELL, JWM, and their collaborators.
Lee Kwai Han produced this story after attending workshops on covering wildlife crime led by Macaranga, including last year’s workshop on reporting on wildlife crime in court supported by Internews Earth Journalism Network.
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