Singapore Zoo » Singapore Zoo

Ah Meng has passed away
09-02-2008

Singapore Zoo's famed orang Ah Meng has passed away today, at the age of 48. She died of natural old age.

The zoo has really lost an icon; she will be greatly missed.

09-02-2008

That is sad news, however 48 is a grand old age for an Orang!

11-02-2008

Does Singapore actually keep Manatees with sea lions and peguins. I never been and i always thought of it as a more for the animals sort of zoo but i guess i'm wrong.

11-02-2008

pat, singapore is like any other zoo in relation to the way it treats its animals. they are undeniably among the world's top zoos, but like all the others have not evaded accusations of animal cruelty and the likes. if you ever can go see for yourself, but personally, i found amongst this gorgeous tropical rainforest environment, plenty of tiny enclosures.

the area you talk of is the "splash amphitheater". as its name suggests it is a small amphitheater with a small show pool with a glass-fronted wall. at one end is an even smaller manatee display pool and the other end a very small penguin display pool. sliding doors allow the animals into the center "show" pool. first time i strolled past a sealion was performing (catching frisbees, thrown by audience members) in the show pool. later when i returned, no show was on and the largest manatee was given access to the larger show pool.

i assume the sealion is kept "out back" someplace when shows are not on.

overall some of the exhibits are world-class and very few can be called "bad" but certainly its not without its flaws.

11-02-2008

Thanks for that Patrick. Here i was expecting a huge tank with a Manatee, A few penguins and a sea lion swimming around trying to take a bit out of them all.

11-02-2008

Sorry to hear this news Zooish, she was a doll

11-02-2008

The sealions have access to salt-water pools at the back (off-show), and that's where they hang out most of the time. The water in the main exhibit is fresh.

11-02-2008

Yeah she was...

Without going into a debate over the ethics of 'humanizing' animals, it was amazing to see 4,000 people turn up early Sunday morning to attend her memorial.

Few other animals can command such adoration. She was truly iconic.

11-02-2008

The sealions have access to salt-water pools at the back (off-show), and that's where they hang out most of the time. The water in the main exhibit is fresh.

The manatees have access to the larger pool at all times. They stay away from it during show times as keepers feed them in the smaller pool. The only time when they are confined to the smaller pool is if they need to be isolated for whatever reasons (medical, transport etc)

Likewise, the penguins have access to all pools, but only the penguins have access to their small private pool.

Its a weird mix, but the animals get along swimmingly (pun intended), with all the species in good health and reproducing regularly.

**Sorry for the double post, not sure what button i hit by mistake

12-02-2008

wow! whilst it was obvious the animals shared space i didn't know it was at the same time!!

wonder why they keep the "main pool" fresh? penguins (african from memory?) and caribbean manatees (with exceptions) are both also marine species.

also zooish, whats this "jungle" exhibit thing the zoo is building near the splash/elephant areas?

12-02-2008

The main pool was built a long time ago (late 80s i think), at that time the technology wasn't too advanced yet. To totally retrofit the pool and turn it saltwater was deemed too expensive. So they decided to just build several saltwater pools in the sealion den. The sealions seemed to be the ones most adversely affected by freshwater, with eye problems, so the saltwater tanks were built to alleviate the problem.

The "jungle" exhibit is actually a new covered amphitheatre. They're gonna have a new show called "The Rainforest Fights Back" in May. Sounds tacky enough... lol

12-02-2008

Hmm... interesting. Longleat keeps their sealions in a freshwater lake and as far as I know, there have been no problems.

However, if I recall correctly, the keepers do give them salt tablets inside the fish, so this may be a reason why there have been no troubles...

13-02-2008

thanks zooish.

"rainforest fights back" sound very singapore. i'm hoping it doesn't include orangutans with boxing gloves

it's of little surprise that manatees are cool with the fresh water. they inhabit it naturally. but i am no fan of keeping true marine species in freshwater, though its common enough in many zoos around the world.

love manatees!!!

13-02-2008

[quote=Writhedhornbill;13630]I hope i'm still on the topic here, Does the zoo breed clouded leopards? The only 2 zoos that I know have done it are The aspinal parks and San diego zoo.

Jo, I think the New York zoos conservation centre have bred quite a few Clouded leopards with a lot of sucess with the species, I am not sure if they still have them or not it maybe on the ISIS website or there own site. I love this species, Stunning animals.

13-02-2008

the most successful place with clouded leopards i believe is this CRC, which is funded by the national zoo in washington (?)...

Adopt a Clouded Leopard - National Zoo| FONZ

read the bottom section on the "international effort" - is says they have bred over 70 at the CRC...