ZOO, Zoo

Hi, my name’s Scott, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: Singapore Zoo.

The Singapore Zoological Gardens, or Mandai Zoo as it is known locally, was officially opened June 27, 1973. Since 2000, it has been managed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore, like the nearby Night Safari, River Safari and the Jurong Bird Park. It is home to some 315 species of animals, 16% of which are at risk of extinction, and it attracts almost two million visitors a year.

The moment you enter, you’ll feel you’re in the middle of the jungle. Right from the beginning, Singapore Zoo was designed to show the animals in open areas that replicate their natural habitat. The enclosures are concealed, and all that stands between you and the animals are moats covered by vegetation or filled with water. Only in a few cases – when there is the risk that an animal might be able to leap or climb out of the enclosure – have glass barriers been erected.

The zoo is divided into themed areas, which include Wild Africa, Frozen Tundra, Rift Valley in Ethiopia, and Gibbon Island, or Primates Kingdom, home to the world’s largest colony of orangutans in captivity.

The zoo also hosts some extremely rare animals, such as the white tiger, the Asian elephant, the long-nosed monkey, the rhinoceros iguana and the naked mole-rat.

Visitors can also enjoy a number of educational shows organized by the zoo staff. I can recommend the “Jungle Breakfast”, which allows you to feed and interact closely with the zoo’s orangutans, and "Elephants at Work and Play", which shows how elephants are used as pack animals in Southeast Asia.

There’s also a more traditional show featuring seals and sea lions performing balancing acts, and you can watch the pelicans catching fish with their bills.

Let me leave you with an interesting fact: Singapore Zoo is the first zoo in the tropics to have bred a polar bear. His name is Inuka, and he was born here on December 26, 1990.