The Creatures of Permaisuri Lake

I've lived fifteen years of my life near the park which has a huge lake called Tasik Permaisuri. I always go there to walk and jog. It's a pretty popular park. Ask anybody they'll know where is it.

The park is really big with paths that go through the secondary jungle. In that jungle you'll find all kinds of living creatures such as wild chickens, civet cat, monkeys, monitor lizards, magpies, etc. Many of these animals I havs just mentioned can only be seen by chance especially the wild chicken, I saw it flew across a path into the jungle one day. Yup, I mean flew. Few feet above the ground. Chickens reared by people can't fly because they're not lean like the wild ones.

The lake is the biggest attraction here though. Many people came here to picnic and have a good time with their families. Many come here to exercise, There are some children came to swim in it too. I remembered I used to love to come feed the turtles and talapias with bread. I like to see the turtles come in big group and snap out the breads. However, the fishes beat them to it all the time. Lol!

Well, all of them have become a memory in the past. Not because I've grown tired of feeding them. It's because almost all the turtles are dead. Even the numbers of fishes has been reduced.

Why? The lake has become so polluted with rubbish, sewage water, and breads that eventually kills most of the turtles and many fishes. It didn't happen back then when toilets weren't built and the place isn't developed. After they developed the place, more people come and more brainless people throw rubbish and feed unscrupulously to the turtles.

How unscrupulously? Well, I'll tell you how. They throw the entire piece of bread into the lake. I mean come on, any common sense will tell us to tear the bread into smaller pieces to make it easier for the turtles to eat. Even the fishes go after the smaller pieces. And some people throw muffins (the pink coloured type used for offering at the Buddhist altar) for them. For goodness sake, turtles don't eat muffins. Not just one person, many other people did the same as well. Can't they see the first person who threw the muffins in the turtles have no interest in them at all? These eventually decay and pollute the lake later.

After that, I lost count the times I've walked around the lake and smell the smell of rotting flesh. I've seen many dead turtles and fishes floating on the surface. Flies flew around them and smaller fishes feed on their dead bodies. Now, nobody sit by the lake and feed the turtles anymore since none surface for a long time already.

Last year I got my wish. I've always wished there are ducks and geese swimming in the lake and it came true. First it was geese. There were two species. See the pictures below.



They were a great attraction at first. Many people stopped by to see them swim in the lake. Sadly, few months later all except one began to disappear. Later, three ducks were added but they too, disappeared.

Yesterday, we've finally found the source of the disappearance. It is the work of greedy people who see the geese and ducks as nothing more than food instead of decoration. Yesterday there was a man who swam into the lake and capture the last remaining goose. He was so happy. He even had a grin on his face. Unluckily for him, someone reported his theft to the city council guards who were patrolling there. They made him release the goose back to the lake but didn't fine him.

It is so sad indeed to see the lake's number of animals and environment deteriorating.