Singapore Zoo Singapore Zoo news 2007-2008

Hi boof, the new sun bear exhibit is actually the old komodo dragon enclosure which has been expanded and slightly remodelled. Its right next to the orangs' exhibit. It's not a mixed species display.

The dragons themselves had moved to a new exhibit further down.

 

thanks zooish. I really enjoyed my day a the zoo a few years ago. I think I might have to come back over.

 

2 female elephants at Night Safari have been given boots to wear to alleviate their foot problems. The boots were developed by a team from Gore-Tex. While elephants wearing boots are not unheard of, I believe this is the first time a well-known footwear maker has been roped in and high-quality boots manufactured for the eles.

Link to full story: Night Safari - World's First in Singapore

I own a pair of Gore-Tex boots and I can attest to their comfort and durability. Hopefully the eles will feel more comfortable with their new boots.

 

Has there been a baby manatee? It said on ISIS that there has been one?

 

Hmm... apparently there has! I'll go check it out soon, haven't been to the zoo in ages (for me that means a couple of months). But I realize that Singapore Zoo hasn't updated ISIS in a while, and the births indicator is now set to 12 months (it used to be 6).

For the recent months, I can confirm births for spotted mousedeer (1st breeding success at Singapore), ring-tailed lemur, giant anteater, capybara and Malayan Tapir whose watermelon stripes are fading already (check out the pic in my gallery).

 

Any News from Jurong?

 

Nope. Jurong rarely reveals births probably because hatching is done in the off-show breeding centre. They usually have an annual release of significant hatchings around June/July published in the yearbook.

 

finally, patrick visits singapore zoo!!

okay so the other day i finally did my singapore zoo visit.

what can i say, the location is gorgous. on the banks of a beautiful reservoir, with epyphitic plants and rainforest vegetation evrywhere you look. what amazed me is that even exhibits that are presumably new quickly become overgrown with ferns and vines clinging to the walls giving them a superficial "run down" look that is actually unjustified. it seems you can foprget about creating an immersion exhibit in singapore that represents anything but a rainforest for the jungle in the zoo just claims its own back.even the giraffe are walking around amongst butressed roots and overhanging birds nest ferns!! it unfortunately very difficult to navigate and one must inevitably backtrack alot to see everything.

it certainly has a lot of money and by and large its sets a scene that is no doubt the envy of the zoo world. i am not in the least supprised its world famous.

but hold on, i am patrick so obviously it wasn't all good.

the elephant show was appalling. i cant stress how much I HATED IT!!
in fact i walked out on the whole stupid bloody thing. soory but as the pretty girl i met on the plane who was to become my companion for the day so wisely stated "can't i just see them being, you know elephants?"

its seems not at the overhyped theme park atmoshere of singapore. instead we will be blasted with tacky electro asian beats and watch the elephants and their mahouts perform a series of trick that are of little difference to you classic circus routine. andunless they were saving it till the end and i missed it we can forget about hearing a damn thing about conservation also. just sit back and enjoy watching a silly humourous show of elephants balancing on logs, hauling logs around demonstarting their usefullness at logging all interspered with a massive dose reminiscent autistic trunk flapping that somehow we are supposed to think looks cute......"awww....he's waving"

the worst part? i dunno maybe the "dummy spit" look on one mahouts face as he struck his elephant on the end of the trunk with his bullhook when she didn't realise that enough flapping was enough.

then it was off to do elephant rides.

sorry but it was a crap aweful experience and it severly affected my overall view of this otherwise wonderful zoo.

overall - gorgeous looking, but disgustingly commercialised and hyped.

 

Patrick did you get to Jurong as well?

 

Glad to see you made it here Pat.

You are very right about the jungle owning everything. Ferns and creepers take root just about anywhere and they grow at unbelievable speed. The huge yam plants around sprout like weeds and are really difficult to remove (read: thick stems and itch-inducing sap). The zoo has surrendered to nature and will focus largely on the rainforest biome for future exhibits (except for the token African savanna/desert zone).

About the elephant show, I agree it is archaic and has no place in a modern zoo. Sadly, we are in Asia, where visitors EXPECT to see animals doing *tricks*. Speak to most Asian visitors to the zoo and you'll realize that they think of Singapore's elephant show as rudimentary. They will go on to highlight how much more "intelligent" elephants in Thailand are with their soccer, musical, balancing skills and what not. Most visitors need to see the animals doing such nonsense tricks to be convinced of the animals' intelligence.

Singapore Zoo has grown exponentially more commercial over the past few years as a result of the new team of CEO and most of the higher management being people who previously ran the local McDonald's franchise. They have zero experience running a zoo, so have decided to run it like a business. And they turned in a huge profit for the zoo which obviously pleases the authorities and so there's no turning back. It's just gonna get more Disney-fied in the future.

 

geez these chunky PC keyboards muck with my typing!!!

yes its a shame zooish isn't it, for there are some wonderful things about that zoo and its got potential to be world best.

the surrounding environment is ideal and the money and collection is there.

just need to ditch the tack!

i'll hit the bird park on the return journey home grant - expect i'll love that!

 

@ hornbill re: clouded leopard breeding- we have bred them a few times at belfast and one of the females bred here went on and bred at the satiago rare leopard project! off hand i think duisburg,frankfurt and the rare species onservation centre have bred them too!

 

Hi,

I heard that Singapore zoo has free-ranging langurs. Is it true and what are interactions with visitors? Do you think it is possible to introduce walk-thru exhibits or free-ranging langurs in European zoos?

 

Yes there is a troop of 20 or so Silvered and Javan Langurs free-ranging through the zoo grounds. They are almost semi-wild, they don't get fed but their population is managed.
They spend most of their time high up and don't come into contact with visitors at all.

 

zooish, singapore seems to add a new exhibit each year. Do you know if they have any thing planned for this year?
Do you know anything about the aquarium that is planned for singapore?

 

The zoo , night safari and birdpark are all undergoing massive redevelopment, with the zoo having a head start. This is probably to 'defend' themselves against the new Universal Studios theme park opening in 2010. The new aquarium will be part of the resort which includes universal studios. Its supposed to be massive with a lagoon for whale sharks. Its being developed by a private investor and has no links to the zoo.

The zoo will open a new 3-hectare kid's adventure zone, a new amphitheatre and launch a 15-min river ride this year.

The birdpark will open Dinosaur Descendants this year.

The night safari will finalize plans for a huge makeover by year end. Complete re-zoning of the park and expanding facilities to cope with increased visitorship.

A 4th park situated between the zoo and night safari is in the works, and will be a freshwater-themed zoo, featuring river systems like the Amazon and such. This will probably open after 2010.

 

THanks for that Zooish, Is the freshwater park being planned by the Green Chapter? i love their work!

 

thanks zooish. The fresh water themed area sounds great.

 

i wish more aquarium (and zoos) would exhibit Freshwater fish, At Adelaide the Siamang and mandrill moats (connected by a waterfall) are teaming with Rainbowfish (M. Fluviatis) and the tiger moat now contains some 25cm Silver perch, they are constantly swiming at the top and look great! the rainbows look really good little green stripes with red tails swimming around.

 

I agree with you on that Ben.