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River Wonders River Safari details revealed

Discussion in 'Singapore' started by Zooish, 21 May 2010.

  1. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Construction started on River Safari today. Details of the park:

    Size: 12 hectares
    Zones: 10 River systems, including Nile, Amazon, Mississippi, Yangtze, Mekong and Frozen Tundra

    Animal species: About 500, including Giant Panda, Polar Bear, Malayan Tiger, Manatee, Raccoon Dog, Mekong Giant Catfish / Stingray, Arapaima, Electric Eel, Howler Monkey, Anaconda, Soft-shelled Turtle

    The park can be toured on foot, via a slow boat ride (Amazon zone) and a white-water ride (Southeast Asia zone).

    It is tentatively set to open in March 2012, and will straddle day and night operations (9am - 9pm).

    Exciting stuff :)

    Links to news articles:
    Pandas, polars at new Safari

    Channel NewsAsia - Attractions of Asia's first river-themed park River Safari unveiled - channelnewsasia.com
     
  2. zoomaniac

    zoomaniac Well-Known Member 10+ year member

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    500 species, not specimens???? Interesting. But I think the most of them will be fishes, reptiles and amphibians, isn't it?
     
  3. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Lots of rivers on the frozen tundra...
     
  4. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    @zoomaniac: Yup, it will be heavy on fish and to a lesser extent amphibians and reptiles.

    More info from news reports:

    Other river systems featured are the Congo, Murray and Ganges (mostly displaying fish species).

    Other animal species:

    (Amazon River Quest boat ride)
    Jaguar, Brazilian Tapir, Capybara, Giant River Otter, Squirrel Monkey, Maned Wolf, Giant Anteater, Tamarins and Waterfowl (in a "cruise-thru" aviary).

    (SE Asia walking trail)
    Reticulated Python, Prevost's Squirrel, Lesser Mousedeer.
     
  5. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    is this supposed to mean 1500 specimens of 500 species? I'm not clear on it

    Zooish, do you know if the entire park will be viewable on foot, or if the boat cruise parts - notably the Amazon part - are only viewable from the boat; and also if those boat rides are an additional cost?

    I am really looking forward to seeing Mekong giant stingray and giant catfish! :D
     
  6. jwer

    jwer Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    There you go, you got my attention :)

    Here's an interesting species on the list, do you have any idea where these animals are coming from? Both the EEP as the SSP could do with some new blood in the next few years :D
     
  7. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    @jwer: I would like to know where as well! Its the first time I've heard about Giant Otters being part of the collection. I'll update if I hear any news ;)

    @chlidonias: The Mekong catfish have arrived and apparently the largest specimen is 1.5 metres long. Still got some growing to do... And yes, its 500 species, 1,500 specimens. The admission rate quoted should be inclusive of the boat rides.

    I've had a closer look at the layout plan for the park from a TV news clip. As mentioned, the park will feature 10 river systems, and it is toured mostly via foot along with a river boat ride and a white water rapids ride.

    Amazon
    The largest of all the zones, it is viewed by a combination of walking trails and a slow boat ride. The exhibits are:

    - "Sunken Forest", with Arapaima, Manatee, Giant Otter; (on foot only)
    - "Squirrel Monkey Forest", a walk-thru exhibit; (on foot only)
    - "Amazon River Quest", slow boat ride through open displays of Tapir, Capybara, Howler Monkey, Maned Wolf, Giant Anteater, Guanaco, Coati, Golden Lion Tamarin, Marsh Birds (a 'cruise-thru' aviary), Jaguar (some sort of glass tunnel); (by boat only)
    - Some individual exhibits - Macaw, Anaconda, Toucan, Ocelot, Dwarf Caiman (on foot only)

    Sungei Temasek
    A 'fantasy' river depicting wildlife that was once common in Singapore. Consists of a walking trail with Malayan Tiger, Prevost Squirrel, Reticulated Python and Mousedeer; and a white water rapids thrill ride with a partial view of the tigers.

    The zones below are viewed on foot only -

    Frozen Tundra
    Polar Bear, Wolverine and Raccoon Dog in a climate-controlled enclosure.

    Rivers of the World
    A gallery-type display with aquariums/vivariums, with the focus largely on fish. The rivers depicted are Nile, Congo, Ganges, Mekong, Mississippi, Murray and Yangtze.

    Giant Panda Habitat
    Following on from the Yangtze display will be the climate-controlled Giant Panda habitat which may also house Red Panda.


    The cost of the park is approximately $130 million US dollars. Construction and labour costs are much, much lower in this part of the world.
     
    Last edited: 22 May 2010
  8. snowleopard

    snowleopard Well-Known Member 15+ year member Premium Member

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    @Zooish: thanks for the wealth of information that you have on Singapore's latest and greatest wildlife attraction. I love reading all of your updates, and I continue to eagerly anticipate one day travelling to the region.:)
     
  9. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Polar bears don't seem to fit the theme, but since they are being moved there from the Singapore Zoo to a bigger climate-controlled habitat, it must be a good thing.

    The fact that you cannot see jaguars, etc except on the boat is a bit troubling though. But overall I am sure it will be great, as their two existing parks appear to be the best in Asia (from what I have seen online).
     
  10. kiang

    kiang Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    An aquarium stocked with giant Mekong catfish would be quite a sight, has to be a huge tank, for some potentially enormous fish
     
  11. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I hope the Mekong catfish and stingrays will be in (huge) aquariums and not in pools or "rivers", because then they will probably be largely invisible (as is the case with the arapaima at the Singapore Zoo)
     
  12. Quartz92

    Quartz92 Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Sounds really exciting however I am not to sure about having arctic animals entirely indoors? Especially polar bears.
     
  13. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    any chance you know a species list for this section? There are some great possibilities, and I suppose the intention will be for large spectacular species (eg, tigerfish, mahseer, Murray cod, paddlefish, that sort of thing; as well as the Mekong cats and stingrays)
     
  14. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    I've been doing some googling, looking for more info on the river safari but there's not much out there other than what Zooish has already provided (although I did find one site that said there would be 5000 specimens representing 500 species, which does make more sense than 1500 specimens)

    However I did find a recent article (26 April) about the raccoon dogs that will be on exhibit
    Japan's cute and furry raccoon dogs come to Singapore | CNNGo.com
     
  15. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    About the polar bears part, I agree that they don't quite fit, but as Arizona Docent put it, ANY improvement over the present (bad) enclosure is a good thing! Unfortunately with the hot and humid climate in Singapore, indoors is the most ideal for the bears; even the pandas have to stay indoors. I only hope that the enclosures will be designed to allow natural light in.

    @Chlidonias: The official word from Wildlife Reserves Singapore puts the number of specimens at 5,000 (mostly small fish i would presume). And I'm quite sure the fish will be put in glass aquariums. I don't have the species list yet, but what you quoted sounds reasonable ("Mississippi" will likely be anchored by an Alligator Gar display since they have quite a few 3 foot long specimens at the Zoo already; and the plan was to acquire Chinese Sturgeons for "Yangtze", although I'm not sure if that will materialise).

    Check out the Singapore gallery for a look at the park layout :)
     
  16. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    A bit more info from graphic-panels shown to the media during the groundbreaking ceremony, the highlighted species for the respective river zones:

    Mississippi - Alligator Gar, Snapping Turtle, (possibly) Beaver
    Congo - Dwarf Crocodile, Lungfish
    Ganges - Gharial
    Mekong - Giant Catfish, Giant Stingray, Crab-eating Macaque
    Murray - Barramundi
    Yangtze - Chinese Alligator, Giant Salamander, Sturgeon, Golden Pheasant, Red Panda
     
  17. CGSwans

    CGSwans Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    There are no barramundi in the Murray-Darling river system. They are from northern river systems.
     
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  18. Zooish

    Zooish Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    I thought so too. But the picture shown was definitely barramundi. Could be graphics designer's error, or just as likely that the park is conveniently lumping all Australian species into the "Murray" zone :rolleyes:
     
  19. Chlidonias

    Chlidonias Moderator Staff Member 15+ year member

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    a new press release from yesterday here: Singapore Zoos Parent Company Opens Asias First River Themed Wildlife Park Zoo and Aquarium Visitor News
     
  20. zoopalooza

    zoopalooza New Member

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    Looks promising. A bit surprised by how they can squeeze it between Night Safari and Singapore Zoo. Can't wait to see the pandas, Inuka and Sheba in their new exhibits and take the unique boat ride!