An interest in exotic animals sparked the idea of Kakak Raptor opening a mobile ‘petting zoo’
More than 40 exotic animals brought by Syazlin Hafisya when making the exhibition.
KUALA LUMPUR: An interest in exotic animals since childhood and a desire to share knowledge about them prompted a Digital Technology Diploma graduate to open a mobile petting zoo.
Syazlin Hafisya Mohammad Hasni, 22, who lives in Kulim, Kedah said the mobile mini zoo that opened since 2016, is now her source of income.
Interestingly, more than 40 exotic animals that Syazlin Hafisya brought to the exhibition include pythons, iguanas, African ground squirrels, sugar gliders, Dutch mice, water dragons and scorpions, all of which are her personal collection.
“All the animals are bought at pet shops in the country at a price of around RM100 to RM10,000 and for now I am indeed focusing full time on the mini zoo business and animal care.
“The ticket price charged is only RM5 per person and the purpose is to teach and educate the public about exotic animals,” she said.
According to Syazlin Hafisya, all the animals are kept in cages or aquariums inside the house equipped with alarm systems and closed circuit cameras (CCTV) to prevent unwanted incidents.
She said that although her pets have never been stolen, some have suffered serious injuries due to the carelessness of visitors.
“There was a snake that was seriously injured after the visitor did not handle it carefully, causing it to crash to the floor and suffer from bone complications that required treatment costs of around RM2,000,” she said.
Syazlin Hafisya, who is known as ‘Kakak Raptor’ on social media, said for now, she only holds exhibitions if there are invitations such as convocation events, school programs or carnivals around Perak, Penang and Kedah.
“I didn’t leave the northern area because I thought about the risk to animals if traveling for too long could cause them stress, illness or death,” she said.
Speaking further, Syazlin Hafisya, an only child who has similar interests to her father, Mohammad Hasni Hassan, 55, and mother, Salmiah Shaari, 48, said her love for exotic animals arose from childhood after watching a documentary on television.
Syazlin Hafisya said the main challenge faced was the hot weather in Malaysia because most of the animals came from abroad so she had to control the temperature and humidity according to the locality of the animal’s origin.
“For example, Chinchillas, need a temperature below 26 degrees Celsius, so I put them in a room with air conditioning while for an oath, I need to control the humidity so that they don’t get diseases such as respiratory tract infections,” she said.
Syazlin Hafisya said she has a license and permit to defend and exhibit exotic animals from the Department of Wildlife Protection and National Parks (Perhilitan).
“Most exotic animals require a license and the process to get one is very easy, just bring the purchase receipt and microchip to Perhilitan and it will be ready in just five minutes.
“I would like to advise the public not to easily believe rumors that say the Animal Welfare Department is very difficult to deal with if they want to defend animals according to the law,” she said.
At the same time, the graduate of Seberang Jaya Polytechnic, Penang also advised members of the public who want to protect and keep exotic animals to learn about them.
“Be diligent in researching and learning how to protect the animals before buying them because lack of knowledge can cause the animals to get sick and die,” she said, who plans to open a static mini zoo in the future.
