Volunteering at Zoo Negara

Hey guys! I am about to share my mini experience on volunteering at Zoo Negara which I did yesterday. So, if you wanna find out more then keep reading. 😉

Before you start asking how the procedure on applying for this programme was, please note that this was an event held by one of my college clubs called Vos-Q (stands for Volunteering Squad btw). The club committees basically handled all the paperwork themselves so I have no idea how to apply for this programme individually – well yet.  All I knew was they needed us to pay RM35 (volunteer fee + food), fill the programme form and photostat our student cards. But thanks to Vos-Q for giving us another chance to volunteer at Zoo Negara since the last trip had very limited slots. And FYI, there are two shifts for the programme; 4 hours (8:30am - 12:30pm) and 8 hours (8:30am - 4:30pm) but we applied for the one with 4 hours.

Started our journey around 7am and it took almost an hour to reach Zoo Negara. As soon as we arrived, we took a group photo at the entrance and went straight to the education office somewhere further from the entrance. Then, we had a little briefing on the rules and regulations when volunteering by Kak Aida and all of us were split into few teams to work in different sectors (the aquarium, show area, children's world, savannah, butterfly farm etc). We were also given a sticker that said "KeeperKu".

Mine was the show area and believe me, it's not in THAT area. Due to some reasons, I cannot actually describe how the situation/environment was when we work there but all I can say is we cleaned the stores, swept here and there and managed to collect 11 garbage bags of dried leaves 😅. Photos weren't allowed during work time obviously and no interactions with the trained animals were allowed. Y'all know how cute sea lions are and yes I had to NOT interact with it *sobs*. But from what I heard from the teams of other sectors, their work was better so I think it depends on your luck where you're placed at.

We had a break at 10am so we went to the Wild Restaurant near the bear complex to get our refreshment. It was a really REALLY long walk because both places were at the ends so we had to walk back to our workplace 10 minutes before our break ended. Luckily the animal show started around 11am so we didn't actually work right away when we got there.

 Our shift started again when the show ended. Yada yada yada, work was done and one of the trainers in-charge gave us a chance to take photos and feed a trained parrot!

 And this is me being fascinated with how it did not bit my finger 😂. 

The best thing about this programme is that you can actually enter the panda centre for FREE if you're a volunteer! Mind you that visitors need to pay again to enter the centre and the zoo ticket excludes the panda visiting. Here's one of the pandas we saw named Fengyi(?). She was so CUTE. #canibringherbackhomeplease?

The bus came to pick us up at 1:40pm and went straight back to KTSN. The journey took a while but I think a had a pretty good nap in the bus lol. So when we arrived, the club committees gave us lunch and that's just how the day went! Even though we had a little hard time working in our sector but experience is an experience. You gotta expect the worst that may come up honestly. But most importantly I had a really great time working and strolling around the zoo. I think it has been years since I last visited a zoo haha. 

And to be really honest, I feel sad looking at it cause it's not as lively as it should be. The zoo's getting emptier, some of the shops are closed, animals getting thinner. So please to anyone reading this, make time to go there and spread the word! Invite your family, friends or Uni clubs to make a visit for our furry friends or better, volunteer! ♡ Here's a link if you wanna find out more on the process and stuff. 

Thanks for reading! 

x,

Hanan