Bird Paradise Bird Paradise news 2025

0.1 White-winged Duck has been added to Songs of The Forest

the female Wattled Crane is now on display with the male, Gru

Pascale the female rockhopper has been released into Penguin Cove

Does the female wattled crane share the same fenced area or they are still kept at separate sides?
 
Dr Neves' departure was a shame. I'm not sure if the Vice President post has been filled yet. The new VP will probably change up the collection plan.

While imports and acquisitions of new birds has slowed considerably, this is probably the "normal" steady state going forward. The pace of imports post opening was not sustainable.

i don't think its accurate to say that there have been more deaths and less hatchings. The avian collection numbers have not fluctuated much. But the rodent infestation has indeed gotten worse.

Speaking to some of the team members there, seems like Mandai has decided not to bring in a new VP, and hired a DVP for the show department instead. Given how bad the shows in Mandai are, maybe they're trying to spruce them up?
Probably a hot topic and the genera context of where Mandai is located (here in Asia) probably puts some entertainment pressure, but sad to see them not align with the general trend of zoos deleting shows.

The bird numbers have gone down, with several specie lost - pileated parrot, Grey-headed swamphen, etc. - as well as drastic reductions due to losses in others (e.g. Waldrapp, Bea-eaters reduced to just 3-4, white wing wood ducks reduced to just 1 and most of the 100+ black-faced Agapornis also gone; apparently many ducks at Crimson Aviary were killed by macaws because the curator instructed the duck nests to be removed and didn't count on them using the macaw nests, which led to fights and losses).
Seems a nasty trend has been started by some of the current bird managers blaming the previous higher management of bringing / mixing species that were not compatible but it worked out fine for more than 1 year with many breeding successes before the lost their director to Seattle.
I've also heard rumours that the new Philippine Eagle may not arrive as Mandai is not sure if they can care for it. And finally rats everywhere, worse than Jurong in its day.
Bird Paradise is my favourite park still, but I fear for its future. let's hope the year of the snake brings it better management. Everytime I talk to the keepers there you can feel their passion and how much they are committed, but seems there is now a void in management of the park :(.
 
Speaking to some of the team members there, seems like Mandai has decided not to bring in a new VP, and hired a DVP for the show department instead. Given how bad the shows in Mandai are, maybe they're trying to spruce them up?
Probably a hot topic and the genera context of where Mandai is located (here in Asia) probably puts some entertainment pressure, but sad to see them not align with the general trend of zoos deleting shows.

The bird numbers have gone down, with several specie lost - pileated parrot, Grey-headed swamphen, etc. - as well as drastic reductions due to losses in others (e.g. Waldrapp, Bea-eaters reduced to just 3-4, white wing wood ducks reduced to just 1 and most of the 100+ black-faced Agapornis also gone; apparently many ducks at Crimson Aviary were killed by macaws because the curator instructed the duck nests to be removed and didn't count on them using the macaw nests, which led to fights and losses).
Seems a nasty trend has been started by some of the current bird managers blaming the previous higher management of bringing / mixing species that were not compatible but it worked out fine for more than 1 year with many breeding successes before the lost their director to Seattle.
I've also heard rumours that the new Philippine Eagle may not arrive as Mandai is not sure if they can care for it. And finally rats everywhere, worse than Jurong in its day.
Bird Paradise is my favourite park still, but I fear for its future. let's hope the year of the snake brings it better management. Everytime I talk to the keepers there you can feel their passion and how much they are committed, but seems there is now a void in management of the park :(.

I'm not sure where you got the numbers of birds from, but there was certainly never 100+ Lovebirds in Bird Paradise's collection. In fact the Black-cheeked Lovebirds have started breeding recently. There are 2.1 White-winged Ducks in the collection after the old female from Jurong died. The European Bee-eaters fared poorly but there are still 18 Carmine Bee-eaters remaining from the flock of 20 imported. The ducks at Crimson Wetlands have been breeding spectacularly well with over 100 chicks produced so far, so the park isn't intervening in any 'natural' attrition of ducklings.

The Philippine Eagle acquisition is a complex issue with many layers of consideration that only Mandai's senior management would be privy to.

Dr Luis' departure was also a complicated issue, iykyk. He actually joined SEA Aquarium for a short while before taking on the role in Seattle. The hiring of the new DVP for the Animal Behaviours department should not be related to the vacancy in the Animal Care VP position.

There is one thing you got right, which is the rodent problem. It is getting pretty bad (but no worse than Jurong's) and the park's management is well aware of it. Unfortunately it will not be quick or easy to resolve this issue.
 
I'm not sure where you got the numbers of birds from, but there was certainly never 100+ Lovebirds in Bird Paradise's collection. In fact the Black-cheeked Lovebirds have started breeding recently. There are 2.1 White-winged Ducks in the collection after the old female from Jurong died. The European Bee-eaters fared poorly but there are still 18 Carmine Bee-eaters remaining from the flock of 20 imported. The ducks at Crimson Wetlands have been breeding spectacularly well with over 100 chicks produced so far, so the park isn't intervening in any 'natural' attrition of ducklings.

The Philippine Eagle acquisition is a complex issue with many layers of consideration that only Mandai's senior management would be privy to.

Dr Luis' departure was also a complicated issue, iykyk. He actually joined SEA Aquarium for a short while before taking on the role in Seattle. The hiring of the new DVP for the Animal Behaviours department should not be related to the vacancy in the Animal Care VP position.

There is one thing you got right, which is the rodent problem. It is getting pretty bad (but no worse than Jurong's) and the park's management is well aware of it. Unfortunately it will not be quick or easy to resolve this issue.

I will have to assume you are better informed than me, Zooish :), but I did not see 18 bee-eaters this last weekend when I visited. I am also aware that there are always different sides to any story and I may have heard only the keeper's side.
Most importantly, I sincerely hope they can address whatever issues there might be ongoing.
 
I've had a quick look through the thread, but was interested to know if all birds are in the free-flying aviaries or if there are still smaller aviaries situated throughout the grounds
 
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