China will be loaning a pair of giant pandas to Singapore for 10 years from 2011. They will be housed in a climate-controlled enclosure at the new River Safari park, due to open in early 2012. The pandas are planned to arrive in late 2011 for acclimatisation before the park opens. My personal guess is that they will be part of a Yangtze River themed zone.
@Shirokuma: Yes and no. River Safari is a new attraction that will be carved out of the existing Singapore Zoo/Night Safari land. It will be managed by the same organization as the Zoo, Night Safari and Jurong Bird Park, and will be a separately-ticketed park.
I see, that makes sense and was my understanding. I was actually thinking about Singapore as a possible destination for pandas quite recently. Where next I wonder...
@Zooish: thanks for the news, and giant pandas and the new River Safari Park are two more reasons why Singapore is becoming a zoo mecca for many people on this website.
It is clear, that a new zoo park like River Safari Park must have a special attraction. But on my opinion, it doesn't match with the Giant Pandas here. Giant Pandas are living in bamboo-wooded mountain regions, not in riverine habitats like the Yangtze River. Also - if I am informed correctly - the River Safari should become a place, where visitors travel by boat from one exhibit to another. So why built a climated (indoor?)-exhibit? Or will the riverjourney lead along/thru the Panda exhibit directly? By the way: Singapore is also one of my favourite zoo destinations.
Any rumors as to which species will be on exhibit in the River Safari Park apart from Pandas? I hope that the other species will be new to Singapore and not just taken out of the zoo, as was done with the Singapore Night Safari. Singapore Night Safari has many rare gems and truly outstanding exhibits, but because it gets dark early, it is almost impossible to get exhibit photos. For me, exhibit photography is 50 percent of the fun when visiting zoos, so with all due respect for the Night Safari, I will take the Zoo next door over it any day
@zoomaniac: I had the same thought. It was definitely a strategic move to pull in visitors to the new park. Its a bit of a stretch, but the WWF considers the entire Yangtze Basin to be one eco-region. The mountain habitat of the pandas form the watershed of the Yangtze river. I guess River Safari's panda habitat could be planned along these lines. The boat ride will only be one part of the park, there will almost definitely be walking trails (the press release for the park emphasizes "interactive experience"). The indoor panda habitat should be seen on foot. @Baldur: Unfortunately not. The zoo management is keeping a tight lid on the new park. Although recently they've brought in some Red River Hogs which i'm guessing will end up at River Safari (they've just been put on display in a vacant bongo habitat at Night Safari). The River Safari's official press release promised new species, so I'm curious to see if it delivers. Actually when Night Safari first opened, almost half of the species displayed were new to Singapore. Over the years there have been movement of animals between it and the Zoo, so the collections now overlap a bit. Yeah, photography is a huge challenge at Night Safari. A tripod helps immensely though.
pandas on a river safari?? well i guess they are kept at ocean world in HK! how much is singapore paying? did you know that chang mai zoo - which despite having pandas is really pretty typical b-grade zoo at best only pays $100,000 for theirs?
China did a special deal because it's in a developing country, I can't see the same happening for Singapore.
The amount paid by Singapore wasn't disclosed which leads me to believe that it is significantly less than the $1-mil most other nations are paying. Its not just a question of money, its politics as well. Asian nations which China is on good terms with will definitely get a cheaper deal than western nations.
this is so fantastic! I love Singapore! I have many relatives that live there and I just want to live there when I grow up! My kinda place! The MRT are fantastic. And the zoo is absoulutely brilliant! the Keepers are so friendly! Singapore no doubt will take good care of their pandas!
That would be much more fantastic (and interesting) than Giant Pandas. (So I cross my fingers as much as I can
what sort of chance? A good chance or are you just being hopeful? Time-frame? I wonder how golden snub-noses would do in the Singapore climate. I will definitely get back over there if they do arrive
I'd say there is a 60-70% chance. 2 pairs of Golden Monkeys have been exhibited at the Singapore Zoo before, once in the 80s and once in the 90s. Each pair stayed about 6 months. Up until the mid-90s, the Singapore Zoo had short-term displays of rare animals on loan from other zoos (eg. Koalas, Snow Leopards, Giant Pandas). Also, the Zoo had participated in snub-nosed monkey conservation work in China a few years back. If they do come, the monkeys would most definitely be housed in a climate-controlled enclosure. They (and any other China wildlife) would be housed with the Pandas at the River Safari's "Yangtze Basin" zone. Apparently the Panda negotiations are part of a package deal. The Zoo's CEO mentioned in press reports that the Zoo was in discussions with the China Wildlife Conservation Association (they manage all export of endangered Chinese wildlife to foreign zoos) on "conservation collaborations" for Manchurian Cranes, Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys, Chinese Alligators and Chinese Sturgeons.
