Given the presence of manatees, I guess the fish take a back seat. Wasn't there a sign for Piraíba when you visited? It got me excited back in May but they weren't there yet. Were the Murray cod, giant goonch and giant freshwater stingrays on display?
Yes the manatees were a beautiful sight. The Piraiba were not on display yet, though the sign is there, as are the signs for a few other fishes. Murray cod was on display, but they were hiding at a corner, people would just walk past them thinking the tank is empty, with all the renovations going on. Giant goonch is not yet on display, I feel the width might not be enough for an adult goonch. Giant freshwater stingray are on display, but seems like the third piece isn't in the tank. All these said, I'm looking forward to the full opening of the entire park, as well as the last tank yet to be opened in the Amazon area.
Great. Thanks. How big were the Murrays? Apparently the goonch is a juvenile about a foot long at the moment. I don't think either tank (Murray or Goonch) is suitable for full-grown specimens.
Actually all the tanks (except the manatee one) are insufficiently sized if the fish in them were to attain maximum size. Which "last tank" at the Amazon area are you referring to?
The pair of cods are each about a foot long. The Goonch could be transferred to the gharial tank once it reaches a large size.
I think you are referring to the piranha tank: http://www.zoochat.com/1550/wild-amazonia-amazon-flooded-forest-315730/ It is temporarily closed for repair works.
If their goonch originate from southeast Asia (yes the exhibit is called Ganges, but they may well have sourced some fish from elsewhere), it's unlikely to reach a huge size. See my comment here Looking forward to my visit
WRS staff had a preview of the Amazon River Quest boat ride today. The ride should open to the public very soon. It's approximately 10 minutes long with about 30 species of animals to spot along the way. Separately, I'm trying out a little project to photograph as many species of freshwater fish at River Safari as possible. Freshwater fish are rather under-represented in the galleries, so hopefully my collection will serve as a useful reference. Photos will be posted in the River Safari gallery under the title "fish files".
Your freshwater fish project sounds like it will be a useful and much appreciated addition to Zoochat. Is it possible that you may be able to photo document the new Amazon boat ride when it opens too so that we can all tour that experience with you?
@Zooish, cannot wait for your Singapore freshwater fish expedition here? Would be nice to see what species stand out vis a vis what is exhibited here in Europe. Thanks in advance. Come to that, any fish photographic material from the new River Safari is welcome!
Confirmation that the boat ride will open in December, exact opening date to be advised soon. River Safari's new attraction lets you glimpse native animals from boat Species featured on the ride: - Jaguar - Maned Wolf - Brown-nosed Coatimundi - Giant Anteater - Linne's Two-toed Sloth - Brazilian Tapir - Guanaco - Collared Peccary - Capaybara - Mara - Agouti - Black Howler Monkey - Red Howler Monkey - Brown-headed Spider Monkey - Brown Tufted Capuchin - White-faced Saki - Red-backed Bearded Saki - Emperor Tamarin - Golden Lion Tamarin - Greater Rhea - Caribbean Flamingo - Scarlet Ibis - Scarlet Macaw - Green Iguana
That's a lot of species to see in ten minutes! I imagine it will be fairly difficult to spot many of them (especially the smaller primates).
I used to work for WRS and now I maintain good contact with them. According to a colleague, they will have multi-species exhibits as well as viewing of two different exhibits simultaneously by looking both left and right, so it seems possible to view the 30 or so species in just 10 minutes. As for the smaller primates, I think they will be in multi-species exhibits with different species of primates or even other mammal species (or bird species). I'm not quite sure.
It will be hard to spot the animals indeed given the speed at which the boat moves. Like what LiveInSingapore has pointed out, the animal exhibits line both sides of the boat channel and are very lushly planted. If I recall correctly all of the primates are individually displayed by species rather than mixed.
Here you go folks, a kind soul (not me) has filmed and uploaded the Amazon River Quest ride onto Youtube. Note that the video is edited and must have been filmed over at least 2 separate rides. The ride was run for a couple of days last week for WRS staff as well a (unannounced) public trial. The video uploader reserves all rights to the video.
