Singapore Zoo has announced the birth of a lion cub. He was produced through assisted reproduction techniques and has been named Simba. His sire Mufasa has never fathered a cub naturally due to his aggressive nature: Source: Wildlife Reserves Singapore's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=925093561564308 Log into Facebook | Facebook
Considering African lions aren’t difficult to source from South Africa, it’s surprising the genetics of any captive animal are valuable enough to warrant these measures; however, it’s fantastic to see success using these techniques that can hopefully be applied to more endangered felid species in a captive setting - namely Clouded leopard, which are notoriously difficult to introduce. These procedures have a low success rate, so hopefully lessons can be learnt from the rare successes like this one.
The last Mandrill recently passed due to old age. I'm not aware of any plans to bring back this species (for the Zoo or new Rainforest Park).
The calf has been named ‘Miata’ and was apparently a twin: S'pore Zoo's newest addition is a shy baby pygmy hippo named Miata Born on Feb. 23, Miata's name is of African origin and translates to "first born". She is the first calf of a 10-year-old male named Divo and a 11-year-old female named Psota. Miata was supposed to be a twin. Unfortunately, survival rates of twin calves are extremely low, and Miata lost her other twin. Miata is the 25th successful pygmy hippo birth in the Singapore Zoo and her father, Divo, was amongst this bloat of pygmy hippopotami.
A male gray-handed dourocouli named 'Fabi' is being transferred to Singapore Zoo from Shaldon Wildlife Trust in the UK. He will be paired up with a female there when he arrives. Information comes from the Shaldon Wildlife Trust's Facebook page.
Some updates from the Zoo: A male Malayan Tiger from Night Safari has been moved to the Zoo and now time-shares the exhibit with the White Tiger siblings. The tiger exhibit along the Night Safari's tram route has been temporarily closed due to adjacent heavy construction works. 3.2 Malayan Tigers remain at Night Safari and can be viewed along the East Lodge Trail. 3.0 Cherry-crowned Mangabeys will take over the former Mandrill exhibit (Mandrills will supposedly return to the Zoo in the future, in another exhibit). The exhibit is still being refurbished (and fortified with a generous amount of hot wire..). The Red-bellied Tamarins have been taken off display and their former exhibit now houses a large group of EEP surplus Bearded Emperor Tamarins. Plans to convert the former Polar Bear exhibit into a Californian Sea Lion exhibit have been shelved (temporarily I hope) due to the coronavirus pandemic's impact on the Zoo's attendance and finances. The underwater viewing gallery area is being turned into what appears to be an interim animal show venue (perhaps for birds or small mammals); the huge glass panel has been removed and the pool has been drained. I've heard that the Zoo is acquiring Arabian Oryx, but I do not have details of when they are expected to arrive or where they will be housed.
The Singapore Zoo was blessed with another newborn calf that goes by the name of 'Miata' which means "First Born" in the African language. She is a little shy and still getting used to the exhibit honestly but she resembles her mother so much and she is such a potato <3
Singapore Zoo recently received 2.0 Baringo giraffes, joining the existing 1.0 Baringo and his male hybrid offspring. The 2 new giraffes are not on display yet.
Mysore Zoo in India had committed to sending 2.0 giraffes to Singapore in exchange for 2 orangutans. These could be the 2 giraffes.
Thank you. Do you have any news about when the orangutan transfer is going to take place, and what species the orangutans will be?
I do think so. BTW: Hard pressed to believe the giraffe arriving are not Baringo (Rothschild's giraffe) and generic in origins. I am confident that Singapore Zoo could get giraffe from the European zoo association EAZA if ever asking for assistance (as SZ is a member of the EAZA as an affiliated zoo and participant in quite a few EEP programs.
I believe the orangutans had been transfered to Mysore earlier this year. Most likely Borneans as Singapore doesn't have that many Sumatrans to begin with.
I don't think they are pure Baringo either, but then again i don't think Singapore intends to breed them. Acquiring them from India probably has cost and opportunity considerations. Certainly much less costly to ship them to Singapore than to fly them in.
