langkawi magazine
NEWS SECTION
Penguins, New Attraction At Underwater World Langkawi
The famed tropical island resort of Langkawi now has a new attraction - penguins.The bird can be seen at Underwater World Langkawi's new wing scheduled to be officially opened Saturday by former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who mooted the idea after he visited the Antarctica several years ago.
Underwater World Langkawi Sdn Bhd general manager Tanzil Md Noor said the company had brought in 20 rockhoppers and 12 blackfooted penguins for all to see.
"Many people will surely want to see the animal close range, to see how it looks like, how it acts and so on. Now is their chance," he told Bernama.
He said the rockhoppers were placed in a tank containing rocks and water with the temperature maintained at eight degree Celsius while the blackfooted penguins could swim freely in a 20 degree Celsius tank.
Tanzil said the rockhoppers, aged between two and three years old, were brought in last year to acclimatise with local condition.
They weigh 2.7kg each and were fed with "ikan kembung", "selayang" and cuttlefish twice daily, he said.
The blackfooted penguins were brought in from South America Friday and immediately placed for display.
"Another 18 blackfooted penguins will arrive by end of June to make the number of penguins at Underwater World Langkawi to 50," he said.
He said the penguins were bought at over RM26,000 each.
Tanzil said the project began in 2003 with an investment of over RM30 million to build a 60,000 sq ft complex to house creatures living under three ecosystems - tropical, temperate and cold.
Also on display at the new wing were the anaconda - a species of snake from the Amazon, the arapaima - world's largest freshwater fish, the capybara - world's largest rodent and the marmoset - world's smallest monkey, he said.
The new wing also had a 3D cinema with a capacity of 200 visitors at any one time, he said.
Opened in March 1996, Underwater World Langkawi has over 500 species of marine lives in over 100 tanks.
Entrance fee is RM28 per person starting this Sunday.
Langkawi 2005-05-27
