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SINGAPORE: Walking through the park without a leash, the five creatures run from one side to the other of the slides, curiously sniffing the bushes and wagging their tails on the piles of leaves.
While everyone stays home amidst the “circuit breaker” measures, ring-tailed coatimundis at the Singapore Zoo have a chance to explore the park freely.
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With the circuit breaker in place Until June 1, there are no guests to visit the Singapore Zoo, and zoo keepers are free to creatively engage the animals.
For Ms Nurfarehan Khair, assistant supervisor in animal showings, this means taking charge of five coatimundi men to walk and prepare for new show routines with them.
“They are very curious animals, they behave like dogs,” Nurfarehan told CNA in a video call.
The keeper, who has been at the zoo for 16 years, said the coatimundis “are not much affected” by the lack of visitors, and have been trained to be easily managed in open areas or uncontrolled environments, which makes them very suitable for walking around the park.
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“They love to venture out, so working with them is very, very interesting and keeps you alert because they get bored very, very quickly,” he said.
Coatimundis, commonly known as coatis, are native to Central and South America. Ring-tailed coatis, or South American coatis, generally move in large groups, with females being the dominant species, Ms. Nurfarehan explained.
“Normally boys are loners. So our kids are kept together in a social environment because of the way we need them to work together in the shows. ”
According to their caretaker, coatis are closely related to raccoons, and with their long tails and banded markings, many people confuse the two. Mammals, which are “very sweet” and “extremely nimble,” are commonly kept as pets in the United States, but are rare in Asia.
Coatimundis are curious and agile, making them suitable for walking around the zoo. (Photo: Singapore Wildlife Reserves)
As part of the animal show team, Ms. Nurfarehan’s homework covers the shows presented at the zoo and trains the animals to raise them or show them their behavior.
“And apart from that, what we do most of the time, which a lot of people don’t seem to know, is raising our animals, and that of course would include cleaning, feeding and enriching them. they.”
Before the circuit breaker, the manager and her team of five coats usually do four shows a day, which adds up to two hours of work. But now, she can use the two hours to play with the coatis, let them explore the park, or work on training the brood, which refers to behaviors that would make it easier for the vet to carry out controls without sedation.
In addition to the coatis, Mrs. Nurfarehan also deals with otters, primates, and Patagonian maras. With social distancing measures in all parks of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), he rarely sees his fellow zookeepers and other colleagues.
“I think sometimes he feels lonely for me, because now for the team I’m working with, there are only five of us and we are so used to working seven or more,” he said, adding that there are still about 120 people. going to work in the four WRS parks.
“We have to practice social distancing, which means that we don’t bump into each other. So I could be working with a team of five, but I really don’t see them. Or if we see each other, we keep a distance.
Although occasionally the animals are brought out to “review” their performances, she misses reaching out to perform the animal performances to a live audience.
“You miss the exaggeration of having people in the crowd. That, for now, would have to be on hold, hopefully not for much longer. ”
The 36-year-old man began working on animal performances and training in Coatimundi about a year and a half ago.
“I love to present. I love the work of the microphone. And then one day it happened by accident. I was training, or maybe I was just trying to train with a primate, ”he said.
“And I had fun, surprisingly, and then the bug realized, and now it’s coatis, otters, and maras. And I really enjoy it. ”
Different animals take different amounts of time to master different behaviors, Nurfarehan added, and this could range from one to two days to a month.
“It is very, very difficult to measure (how long it will take), but every time we train an animal, we make sure that they are prepared for success, which means that we do not make them feel that it is not possible,
“The planning for each animal is different. You may want to make the goal a bit more achievable for some, which means we break it down into much smaller steps. And then, for others, they can get it at once. ”
With no guests at the zoo, Ms. Nurfarehan’s entire time at work is now focused on animals, which she sees as an opportunity to explore new things with them.
“And I am very sure that if COVID is cleared, we will never have the same opportunity to be with our animals at this magnitude.
“We are simply making the most of the time we have, and then when the zoo reopens, and when the guests enter, they would have a pleasant experience with our animals.”
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