River-themed wildlife park River Safari will open its
doors to the public in a soft opening on 3 April.
The 12-hectare park, which is situated at Mandai between the
Singapore Zoo and Night Safari, will feature some 150 plant species
and 300 animal species.
Built at a cost of S$160 million, visitors will be able to explore
eight types of river habitats including the Mississippi, Nile,
Amazon, Ganges and Yangtze rivers.
Creature exhibits include the Giant Salamander, the Mekong Giant
Catfish and the Giant River Otter, the world's largest otter which
can grow up to 1.8metres in length.
On how park management selected its animals for display, assistant
director of zoology Ang Cheng Chye said the process boils down to
certain criteria.
"Of course we look at iconic animals, those (that) people associate
with the zone, the river, and of course when you talk about rivers,
you must have fish... (so) we have fish, we have crocodiles,
animals that hunt by the water, giant river otters," he said. "The
other selection is based on their status -- the endangered animals,
we want to have some of them so we can educate the public about the
threat to freshwater life, the whole freshwater ecosystem."
Ang also shared that only about 12 per cent of the animals at River
Safari were brought over from the Zoo and the Night Safari -- the
rest are "new" ones, either given to the River Safari as donations
or brought in from zoos overseas, some on exchange with animals
unique to the Zoo.
The giant panda forest, which houses Kai Kai and Jia Jia and which
has been open late last year, are also part of the main
attractions, along with the world's largest freshwater aquarium,
the Amazon Flooded Forest.
Director of exhibit design and development at the River Safari Cham
Tud Yinn also noted the educational and ecological importance of
the River Safari.
"We are surrounded by a freshwater habitat, and we felt that
freshwater habitats are highly endangered, more so than
rainforests," he said. "It's the best platform for us to show the
plight of this environment, how fragile freshwater systems and
animals are so in this, we hope to show people these rare
endangered animals, and learn to care and conserve them."
