On our journey from Lukut to Melaka, we decided to explore the Melaka Butterfly & Reptile Sanctuary (Taman Rama-rama & Reptilia Melaka) at Ayer Keroh, just off the highway. I had read that perhaps this was not the best butterfly park in Malaysia (Penang and KL are reportedly better), so my expectations were low. But, this turned out to be a fascinating place to visit, and I just wish I’d had my zoom lens with me.
As we entered the park, an enthusiastic guide presented Lawrence with a stick insect to hold. This stick insect moved at some speed and was soon wandering around the back of his neck, to be quickly removed before disappearing down his shirt! And all this was accompanied by a collection of colourful, but noisy, love birds nearby.
Interaction with the animals is encouraged under the watchful eyes of the guides, and the most striking of the freely-roaming animals were a collection of lizards. I did not think at the time to get the names of these lizards as I was far too distracted! These large lizards (Green Iguanas from South America) were just loitering around the park, and looked far too easy to step on.
The chameleon (photo right) could be handled, but the fat blob of a lizard (photo left) was isoalted from visitors.
There are two butterfly enclosures filled with butterflies! They were everywhere, landing on our hands and arms, presumably to take a drink from our sweat-covered limbs. Some butterflies were resting on the ground so one had to be really careful not to step on them. Others were feasting on pineapple slices, but none of them stayed still for long.
There are birds here too! These parrots were not behind bars, and clearly used to being watched by curious visitors.
But some animals definitely needed to be behind bars… snakes, frogs, huge spiders, crocodiles… and much more besides.
There is a lot to see here, so take your time and enjoy the variety that Nature has to offer.
You can see some of these animals in action in the middle section of this video…
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