Singapore Zoo & Night Safari
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Mon 22 Nov 2010 15:17
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Monday 22nd November
Amy and Jack are somewhat connoisseurs of
zoos and have visited many around the world so it would be rude not to pay a
visit to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari. First of all they planned on doing
the day zoo by themselves but Paul and myself couldn't resist taking a look at
this zoo that receives such good reviews. The zoo's showpiece animals include
endangered white rhino, Bengal white tigers, baboons and orangutans. Wherever
possible, moats replace bars, to try and resemble their natural habitat, and the
zoo is spread out over 28 hectares of lush greenery beside the Upper Seletar
Reservoir. The zoo is sensitive to conservation and environmental concerns
and now focuses on animals best suited to Singapore's climate. They are however
building a new enclosure for polar bears and pandas???
The moment we stepped in we were greeted by
free ranging cotton-top tamarins and white faced sakis and siamangs cavorting in
the trees. The feeling of openness continued throughout.
 Jack and Amy trying to fit in
with the Koreans, Chinese and Japanese
 We had him up above in the
trees and then this False Gharial down below in the water. False Gharials are
ancient animals, believed to have been in existence for the last 65 million
years.
 Bengal white tiger
 Like father, like
son
 Penguins and
snakes
 We weren't too sure what that
was!?!
  Who's who? A jaguar has black
spots in the centre of each ring of spots and leopards don't
To the left is a Jaguar and the
right is a Leopard
An interesting fact I didn't know
is that jaguars love water. They have a broad chest, compact body and relatively
short legs with broad paws to enable them to swim well. Being good swimmers and
agile climbers, they can pursue their prey into lakes and rivers and to the
upper branches of trees. Scary!
 Lions and Giraffe
 It was feeding time for most of
the zebras
 Can you spot the bird resting
on the rhinos back
 Elephants
 The disgusting, vile
gibbons
 A stork - the baby
carrier
 Finally a close up of a
proboscis monkey and a hornbill
As we're super keen zoo-ers we
waited around for the Night Safari to begin and joined up with quite a few over
ralliers. Next door, but completely separate from the zoo, is the acclaimed
Night Safari. This 40 hectare forested park is home to 120 different species of
animals, including tigers, lions and leopards. In the darkness the moats and
barriers seem to melt away and it actually looks like some of these creatures
could walk over and take a bite out of you. The atmosphere is heightened even
further by the herds of strolling antelope, which passed within inches of the
trams that took us around.
We even walked through the
enclosed Mangrove Walk for a creepy experience as bats flew past our faces and
over our heads while others ignored the screams and continued
to dangle from the trees a few feet above our head.
 All aboard the
tram
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