Eagle-feeding in Kuala Selangor

Pasir Penambang, a friend Chinese village by the river; famous for its fresh seafood, restaurant and eagle feeding.

Yup! You heard me right, alright. Eagle feeding.

And yes, it is in Kuala Selangor (sure you guys ingat Langkawi ajer ada kannnn).

Popularly known for its fresh seafood and seafood restaurant, Pasir Panambang sees Malaysian from all walks of life, visiting this quaint little fishing village often to enjoy sumptuous Chinese style seafood at an affordable price. But since a few years back, it has garners tourist to enjoy not just the seafood, but other activities as well, namely a trip to Sky Mirror, fireflies boat cruise (kelip-kelip in Malay) and now, eagle feeding.

Still an underdog amongst other activities (famous one being the Sky Mirror – you can click here to know more), I find eagle feeding is more on the relaxing side, especially for those who wants to take a breather and just spending time on the boat – watching nature takes it course. Well, in this case, a bit of incentives for the eagle – chicken skin. Few things that I gather is that, boats are coloured differently as it help the birds to tell the difference between the tourist boats and usual working boats (and all this while I thought all animals are colour blind, silly me [eyes rolling]). With this distinction and conditioning, the eagles knew when and which boat came to feed them. Another conditioning act that is being done by the locals is in ensuring the feeding time is consistent; between 3pm to 5pm daily.

Originally, there were approximately 30 nesting eagle pairs along the Selangor River, but now, it has grew to 200 to 300 eagles. The most common ones are Brahminy Kite Eagle, White-bellied Fish Eagle and Crested Serpent Eagle, to name a few. Occasionally, tourist will be greeted by seagull hoping for a piece of the meat (chicken skin I mean).

Brahminy Kite Eagle is found in the Indian subcontinent such as Southeast Asia, and Australia, and in Malaysia, they prefer mangrove forest and is therefore a lowland forest bird. As for the White-bellied Fish Eagle, they are usually sighted in coastal areas as well as inland. It is often rested in a tree, or soaring over waterways near the mainland searching for prays. Crested Serpent Eagle on the other hand is very common in all forests in Malaysia. Similar to the other two, Crested Serpent Eagle can also be easily found in lowland, mangrove and sub-montane forest.

The whole activity takes between 30mins to 40 mins (inclusive of the boat journey), and I have to say and share, the amount of eagles spotted is massive. Even more than the ones in Langkawi, I kid you not. It was such a joy watching them glide and dive for the food.

Price

Malaysia

Adult : RM25 p/pax

Kids : RM15 p/pax

Foreigner

Adult : RM40 p/pax

Kids : RM35 p/pax

7-Regale, Eat Travel Write Selangor 2018 Media Fam Trip is in collaboration with Unit Perancang Ekonomi Negeri (UPEN) Selangor and all its sponsors with #GayaTravel Magazine as media coordinator.