BINTULU: Somewhere in the middle of the concrete jungle and industrial town of Bintulu, there is an animal and plant sanctuary which is also very popular weekend spot for locals who love nature.
TIGER ATTRACTION: Visitors to Tumbina Park walking on the plank walk beside the Tiger Cage.
Situated some 5 kilometres from the town on the way to Tanjong Batu , Bintulu folk and visitors alike can still enjoy the well descriptive flora and fauna which are very educational and fascinating.
Tumbina Park Bintulu is a kind of unique visiting spot for any visitor who is in town as it would give us the quick inside knowledge of the animal and plant kingdom that we tend to forget that they too live among us and certainly among the Bintulu town folk.
Borneo Post Adventure Team (BAT) got started with the morning activities by visiting the park that was established in late 1990 by the Bintulu Development Authority (BDA)
The 57-hectare park is now home to many species of plants and some protected animal species in Borneo that not many people knew about. For instance, some of the animals and birds were brought to give people the opportunity to see them naturally but in man-made habitat that were as close to their natural homes.
BAT was quite fascinated by Greater Flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber), one of the bird inmates living in the sanctuary that was brought in from Tanzania, Africa.
According to the record, they arrived at the Park in July of 1991 and the bird is the largest of the four species of flamingo found in the world. The Flamingo fascinated the BAT when it displayed its unique eating habits. These birds used filter feeder way of eating whereby their beaks were used to filter minute food items by putting their head upside down in foul, alkaline or salt water. BAT also managed to get a close up when they tried to take a close up photos with these beautiful birds while they all flocked and walked in synchronised manner nicely together.
Tumbina Park staff told us that they had two latest addition which were born in 2009 and the park had 19 birds to date. Rosnah Mohamad who visited the park once a month with her children, nieces and nephews told BAT that she hoped that the place will give people closer to nature especially now the town folk are busy with life and tend to forget the beauty of nature. Rosnah who works for a private company said that it is a good weekend spot for families and that BDA must continue to keep the place properly maintained so that it would encourage more visitors to come. She said the children loved the place because they wanted her to bring them to see the Tumbina Park’s favourite animal, the Tiger named Mikhail.