GEORGE TOWN, April 25 ― Have you ever seen a leopard cat or a colugo in its natural habitat?

Well, now you can watch a leopard cat sashaying coolly down the Langur Way bridge or catch a colugo peeking out from the trees at The Habitat while you stay home during the movement control order (MCO).

The Habitat Penang Hill has come up with an "After Dark Virtual Tour” to celebrate this year's Earth Day and its first session, held on April 22, was a success.

More than 140 people signed up for the virtual tour and got to visit the rainforest at The Habitat, complete with the sounds of the insects and animals in the forest, guided by naturalists.

A close-up picture of the Malayan banded gecko that was featured in the virtual tour. — Picture courtesy of Husni Che Ngah

The Habitat teamed up with Project GreenSmiths to curate the event and the latter’s co-founder, Christina Lind-Hunter, was also on hand to answer questions during the virtual event.

The Habitat managing director Allen Tan said the virtual tour was part of their special programming for April not just to celebrate Earth Day but Global Citizen Science month as well.

With the help of Google Meetings, participants get to experience the sounds, sights and videos of camera trap footage from the park.

The naturalists introduced us to the tiny creatures that make deafening noises at night as well as some of the little-known species of wildlife endemic to Penang Hill.

One of the videos showed a cat-like animal sauntering down the Langur Way bridge and participants were asked to guess what it was with some throwing various guesses from house cats to wild cats.

The nature guides then explained it was a leopard cat caught by the park's camera trap.

"Most of the pictures and videos are original content from our own stock supplemented at times with images from other sources,” Tan said.

Most of the over 140 participants who took part in the virtual tour were from Penang with several from other parts of Malaysia.

Tan said the virtual tour is part of the park's efforts to reach out to supporters and those stuck at home due to the movement control order (MCO).

"We hope to maintain our presence in the minds of our friends and supporters while at the same time reminding people of the good things that await us on the other side of this current crisis,” he said.

According to The Habitat Foundation general manager Justine Vaz, the event is to bring people together to celebrate nature.

"We were delighted to team up with Project GreenSmiths to curate an event for the public and have been overwhelmed by the enthusiastic response,” she said.

A picture of the colugo feeding. — Picture courtesy of Priscilla Miard

Lind-Hunter, who had moderated the virtual tour, said it was a good way to reach a wider audience, young and old, of like-minded communities curious about nature.

"We are happy to use these opportunities to connect and learn,” she said.

The Habitat Penang Hill, a nature park with trails for visitors to enjoy the greenery of the tropical rainforest, was severely impacted by the MCO.

The park, as with all non-essential businesses and tourism spots in the state, had to be closed from March 18.

Even though the MCO has been extended until May 12, The Habitat is taking steps to prepare for a new operational reality when the MCO is lifted.

Tan said they will have no choice but to adapt to survive and thrive post-MCO.

"Firstly, we are working closely with Penang Hill Corporation to address social distancing requirements and other measures,” he said.

He explained the park will also implement various measures to enforce and encourage social distancing as he is sure that even with the MCO lifted, every care must still be taken to ensure the safety of visitors to the park.

A screenshot of the virtual tour showing a red giant flying squirrel. — Picture courtesy of The Habitat

The park will also encourage visitors to book their experiences with them before arriving and that group sizes will be reduced to smaller ones, he added.

He said they will be tweaking their packages and activities to cater to the "next normal” due to the pandemic.

"We will focus on offering higher value experiences, increasing the yield per visitor and providing higher quality of service to our visitors,” he said.

As 45 per cent of the previous visitors to the park were foreign tourists, Tan said they will have to switch their focus to locals when they are allowed to re-open.

There is another "After Dark Virtual Tour” coming up at 5pm on April 28. The event is open to the public and free.

Anyone can register to attend the tour by sending an email to thf@habitatfoundation.org.my or contact The Habitat through its Facebook page.

A screenshot of the virtual tour showing a pit viper conducted by Christina Lind-Hunter of GreenSmiths, Dr Ahmad Zafir and Low Teck Joo of The Habitat. — Picture courtesy of The Habitat