VISITORS who are eager to visit the nature’s largest classroom and discovery hub – Entopia by Penang Butterfly Farm – would have to be patient just a little longer.
Entopia head of horticulture Lim Wui Tiong said that Entopia is currently boosting its butterfly population to ensure that visitors get the ultimate experience when they visit the premises.
“We used to have about 15,000 butterfly population at our garden any one time. We are now boosting the butterfly population and we are also working on other preparation before opening Entopia to the visitors.
“We have to be very careful. The butterflies need the right conditions to breed such as the right humidity and temperature.
“The average lifespan of an adult butterfly is around two weeks. Hence, we must release about 5,000 butterflies a week into the garden to maintain the butterfly population at about 15,000 at any one time.
“We would transfer the chrysalises from our farm to the pupa chamber located in the garden every morning.
“We will then wait for a few days for the butterfly to emerge before releasing them into the garden.
“The butterflies will normally emerge from their chrysalises in about seven days. Some may take longer than that, especially the big butterfly species,” he told Buletin Mutiara today.
Lim said that different divisions in Entopia (the breeder team, horticulture team, insect team, zoology team and others) were working very hard to sustain Entopia.
“Everyone has a role to play. We want our visitors to have a wonderful time here when we reopen,” he said.
Entopia chief of sales and marketing May Ang said that Entopia is scheduled to reopen on March 19.
“Our butterflies can’t wait to welcome the visitors!
“We will ensure strict compliance to the new normal standard operating procedures (SOPs) and we will continue to take precautionary measures to curb and minimize the risk of Covid-19 infection.
“We strive to provide a safe and worry-free experience to our visitors at Entopia,” she said.
Ang said the visiting hours (9am to 6pm daily with the last entry at 5pm) would remain unchanged from March 19.
“We will provide updates on our website so stay tuned!” Ang added.
Visitors can view the precautionary measures by Entopia via this YouTube link: https://youtu.be/cz1Ll5FH83Q
Visit https://www.entopia.com/ for more details.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian
