I don't think I mentioned the bear enclosures except to say that I saw a colugo next to the sloth bears. However, now that you bring it up the sloth bear enclosure was too small. The Asiatic black bear enclosure was not bad -- not huge but not tiny either. The enclosures which Zooish's post is about (the bears, tigers, and white lions) were all there and occupied on my visit, so this is just the official launch.
My mistake then, I thought it was a bear enclosure you had a major gripe with but thinking back it could've been the hyena enclosure that you described as a small platform!
I generally describe all the enclosures for larger mammals at the WRS collections as "small platforms".....
It seems that Nyala have replaced the Lechwe at the Night Safari, or at least on the map. I assume the Lechwe have all died out? THe Nyala have presumably been moved across from the Zoo, where their exhibit has been replaced by one for African Wild Dogs.
There may be one or two elderly Lechwe left, but yes the species is being phased out. The Nyala herd was relocated from the Zoo as you've mentioned.
I would think the nyala are more suited to local climatic conditions than the lechwe anyway (plus aside ... it is probably more difficult given the paucity of lechwe in S.E. Asian zoos to source them or at least maintain a credible presence in local zoos).
A female Asian Elephant calf has been born at Singapore's Night Safari - the first in 6 years, taking the herd to 2.4! Photos here: https://wrscomsg.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/baby-elephant-joy-for-night-safaris-22nd-anniversary/
Supposedly 3, the other 2 are males. Sang Wira was born in 2001 and still lives at Night Safari; Nila Utama was born in 2010 but died at a young age.
And another up-date of the Elephant-calf : Night Safari's Elephant Calf Gets a 'Love'-ly Name - ZooBorns
The Night Safari tram route was open for an afternoon walkathon today. Not all the animals were on display though, only the elephants, lions (Asian and African), Malayan tigers, moon and sloth bears, spotted hyenas, red river hogs and babirusa could be seen. Photos will be posted in the gallery.
I just had a look at the current Night Safari map, and the number of species shown on the map has decreased substantially, although I am not sure if this means they are no longer in the Night Safari collection (I certainly hope they still are). They are mostly hoofstock, and almost exclusively species seen along the tram route, rather than the walking trail. Is there a reason for this? Species no longer on current map (compared with Nov 2016 map) include: bharal, mouflon, flamingo, zebra, oryx, nyala, red river hog, bearded pig, dhole, sambar, thamin, gaur, and banteng.
