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
500 species, not specimens???? Interesting. But I think the most of them will be fishes, reptiles and amphibians, isn't it?
@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.
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!
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
@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.
@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.
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).
An aquarium stocked with giant Mekong catfish would be quite a sight, has to be a huge tank, for some potentially enormous fish
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)
Sounds really exciting however I am not to sure about having arctic animals entirely indoors? Especially polar bears.
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)
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
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
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
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
a new press release from yesterday here: Singapore Zoos Parent Company Opens Asias First River Themed Wildlife Park Zoo and Aquarium Visitor News
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!