Singapore Zoo » Singapore Zoo

29-03-2008

Do they have a website at all?

29-03-2008

yeah its a privately-run zoo. Not easy finding homes for 2 sub-adult male chimps these days.

29-03-2008

I'll try to go to Taman Safari too when I'll be back to Indonesia.
Do you know if purple faced langurs will be put on exhibit for summer 08 at Singapore zoo ??

30-03-2008

In fact, the PKBSI (Indonesian zoo association) president is director Jansen Manansang from Taman Safari. He is a visionary guy and plays a pivotal role in most CBSG/ISIS planning exercises! Tempu dulu will eventually prevail in Indonesian wildlife conservation.

Re NGO's and conservation: please give a thought to Walhi, the Kalaweit Foundation and all those other NGO's striving desperately for better conservation programmes of flora and fauna in Indonesia and introducing ethics in sustainable development. Sustainable biodiversity instead of poverty and clearfelling for quick profit (and only driven by western consumers)!

30-03-2008

Very unlikely. No suitable enclosure is available to display them currently. I can't be sure but this species may eventually be phased out and the remaining animals returned to their native Sri Lanka.

31-03-2008

Too bad! I'd really love to see them and take pics for my website ... Do you think there's a way to do that??

01-04-2008

Well, you could try to sneak into the off-exhibit holding area. Not easy though as it is located away from the main Zoo compound.

Otherwise, that area is entirely out of bounds to non-staff.

19-04-2008

Jelle, as requested, more info on the new kids attraction at Singapore Zoo.

For now, the name Rainforest KidzWorld is being used for this project. Essentially it is a self-contained children's zoo. Key features:

Animal contact zone - Small mammals, domestic animals, small reptiles, invertebrates and birds will be used for supervised contact sessions.

Rides - Pony rides for kids; horse-carriage ride around the perimeter of the attraction for families.

Show - A new show targeted at kids, featuring domestic animals. From initial plans, dogs and cats adopted from local animal shelters will be involved in the show.

Obstacle course - A kids obstacle course set in a rainforest environment, with rope and water courses.

Water play area - In a rainforest setting as well.

Boat ride - as this attraction is located at the furthest end of the zoo, a boat ride from the entrance area will ferry visitors there. The boat ride is part of a larger, future development planned as a "river safari".

Of course typical touristy facilities like restaurants, shops and a carousel are included in this project as well. Expected to open in September 08. Not much of interest for true-blue zoo fans, but it is targeted as kids afterall, and they are the zoos' biggest target group.

20-04-2008

[quote=jelle;44572]In fact, the PKBSI (Indonesian zoo association) president is director Jansen Manansang from Taman Safari. He is a visionary guy and plays a pivotal role in most CBSG/ISIS planning exercises! Tempu dulu will eventually prevail in Indonesian wildlife conservation.

Hate to break the news, but Jansan Manansang is far from the enlightened conservationist he might want us to think he is. It is fact that Taman Safari has "warehoused" dozens of Sumatran tigers in substandard off-exhibit enclosures for years. Australian, European and American zoo associations have all tried to convince him to send some animals--important new genetic material for the small Sumatran tiger populations in those regions--but he has held out, proposing large sums of money as the starting point of any conversation about transfer. In the meantime, the lack of new founders has essentially condemned the North American population to "phase out" status; EEP and ARAZPA populations are likely to follow.....

The orang situation in his park is equally dubious.

20-04-2008

Its never easy dealing with the Indonesian zoos. They have lots of fantastic species in their zoos, but it is really hard for foreign zoos to acquire them. And they are not averse to shady dealings with the black market...

23-04-2008

Back to the topic..is the polar bear enclosure at the Singapore Zoo as bad as it looks on the youtube clips? It looks quite ugly, with the weird unnatural looking rock formation and the bear back and forth along the back wall of the exhibit.

23-04-2008

Yeah pretty much. It is a remnant from the 80s. At least the pool is decent, barely though. Zoo officials are not gonna do a major upgrade as the bears will be phased out... eventually. The polar bear pair consists of a mother (30 years old) and son (16).

Originally it was planned that the male would be moved to a temperate facility once the female dies, but the Zoo's animal welfare and ethics committee reversed the idea. While the reversal is controversial, the members of the committee are not zoo staff but respectable figures from local nature, animal welfare and conservation circles.

24-04-2008

Fine that the Committee are well respected individuals from among nature, animal welfare and conservation circles, but one can not explain to informed members of the public why 2 individuals of an endangered species with no current or future conservation perspective at Singapore Zoo should have to languish in the tropical heat, whereas they could be relocated to temperate climes and yet contribute their valuable genes to sustaining the captive population and ensuring a safe back up stock for wild polar bears? I find that really difficult to comprehend and/or explain, in particular if you are a serious conservation breeding institution like Singapore Zoo ....

24-04-2008

Good point Jelle. The female is too old to breed, so moving her serves no captive breeding purpose. The young male is not being moved to provide companionship for the old female. The Zoo's director did say in passing that depending on when the female dies, they may consider moving the male. If he is too old to contribute to breeding by then, a move would serve no conservation purpose.

Very few zoos are willing to take in an adult male bear. The Zoo had put up the male for transfer to the international studbook holder (Rostock Zoo) in mid 2007, but apparently there were no takers.

26-04-2008

If the young male's mother did die would Singapore zoo still keep a healthy breeding program? When i went there to visit my cousins my uncle said that singapore is a zoo that aquires animals and exports them to other zoos. Unlike some other zoos that i know of.
On the contrary is singapore zoo going to or did they ever? Have a breeding program for tigers? the three white tigers are siblings and plus Omar the male probably hasn't learnt how to mate because he never watched from his father- apparently.