World Animal Day is an international day of action for animal rights and welfare, celebrated on October 4 every year, with a mission to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe. This annual celebration dates back to 1925 and has since united the international animal welfare movement, making the world a better place for all animals.

In conjunction with this year’s World Animal Day, Sunway Lagoon’s Wildlife Park held a special campaign to promote its initiatives towards sustainability. The park is an interactive and educational zoo, featuring more than 150 species-specific exhibits of exotic animals and a diverse range of birds, fish, reptiles, and mammals from around the world.

In recent times, the Wildlife Park at Sunway Lagoon has stepped up efforts towards being more sustainable. Among these, Sunway Lagoon announced its support towards two of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) set by the United Nations. The SDG programme contains a total of 17 goals, which the United Nations aims to achieve by the year 2030. It is a universal call to action, in a bid to end poverty, protect the planet, and to ensure that all people can enjoy the diverse richness which Mother Nature exudes.

Of these 17 goals, Sunway Lagoon’s Wildlife Park has, without equivocation, committed towards supporting two of these goals. These include Responsible Consumption and Production (Goal #12), aimed at ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns and Life on Land (Goal #15), which aims to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, and halt biodiversity loss.

“With Sunway Lagoon being Asia’s premier theme park, we realise that our operations and undertakings leave a significant impact in the community. We therefore see it as our responsibility to make this impact a positive one. Especially with an attraction like the Wildlife Park, which is one of our most famous, it is essential to conduct our efforts and initiatives in a responsible and sustainable manner,” said Sean Choo, General Manager of Sunway Lagoon.

“This is why we have pledged to support the two Sustainable Development Goals, which are highly pertinent to our operations. This, we hope, will further cement our commitment towards acting in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner, even as we celebrate World Animal Day,” Sean added.

The World Animal Day celebrations at Sunway Lagoon’s Wildlife Park also took on an exciting yet heartwarming turn this year, when the park announced the arrival of its latest “resident” – a new sun bear cub. Sunway Lagoon will also be presenting one of the most unique and wildest dining experiences at its Wildlife Park together with some of its animals, which include its White Lions, Black Panther, and White-handed Gibbons.

Wildlife enthusiasts, both young and old enjoyed a host of activities and initiatives specially curated to mark the celebration, such as a special appearance by the sun bear cub, a display by the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (PERHILITAN), a multi-animal show, a contest to name the new sun bear cub, a scavenger hunt aptly titled WAD-a-quest, and a Save the Earth Pledge Wall, where visitors can mark their pledge towards protecting and preserving Mother Nature.

“For World Animal Day this year, we wanted to create an experience where people of all ages can enjoy Sunway Lagoon Wildlife Park, while learning more about how they can play a role in protecting our environment. All this ties in with our commitment to be more responsible and sustainable, yet presenting a unique and exciting opportunity for the public to enjoy, especially the younger ones, because they are the future of our planet, and will take on the baton towards environmental conservation,” said Sean Choo, General Manager of Sunway Lagoon.

*Images and information by Sunway Lagoon Wildlife Park.