River Wonders River Safari details revealed

sooty managbey said:
When a well-travelled zoo nerd can say something like that, it really does remind non-Australasians how lucky they are to have the diversity of species that they do have.
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yes indeed. I think the only beavers over this side of the world are at Adelaide but I haven't been there yet. Mammals and birds that will be new for me (from Zooish's list):

American beaver
giant panda
giant anteater
tamandua
giant otter
ocelot [I think I probably have seen ocelot before at Singapore Zoo but I don't remember; in fact I'm positive I must have]
jaguarundi [again, I may have seen these at Melbourne a long time ago]
several of the primates

cock-of-the-rock

and also wolverine and raccoon dog, which are now no longer going to be in the River Safari but rather in the Zoo
 
Pandas' arrival delayed again, as "modifications" have been recommended by the China experts who visited the yet-to-be-completed panda enclosure last month. The fact that only the dens are ready for occupancy while work is still being done on the main exhibit may not have gone down well with the experts either. Expected arrival by June.

Pandas' arrival from China may be delayed by 2 months
 
A small photo showing workers doing landscaping works in the panda habitat in the link below. It shows about a quarter of the total indoor enclosure space.

http://travel.zaobao.com.sg/ssi/images8/travelnews120314.jpg

The photo is from a Chinese newspaper article updating the panda's arrival. The River Safari's spokesperson did not give an arrival date but pretty much confirmed that the pandas will not arrive anytime soon (the arrival had been earlier planned in March), and will only go on display when the entire River Safari opens in October.

Another recent newspaper article also revealed that the Amazon River Quest boat ride will be about 480 meters long, and will last 15 minutes. That's all you'll get to look at some 30 species of animals...
 
Zooish said:
Another recent newspaper article also revealed that the Amazon River Quest boat ride will be about 480 meters long, and will last 15 minutes. That's all you'll get to look at some 30 species of animals...
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I don't like the sound of that at all!! :(

I'm hoping there will be other viewing opportunities as well, i.e. land-based viewing areas for at least most of those 30 species.
 
Chlidonias said:
I don't like the sound of that at all!! :(

I'm hoping there will be other viewing opportunities as well, i.e. land-based viewing areas for at least most of those 30 species.
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The initial plans didn't include land-based viewing areas along the boat ride. Not sure if they've made changes to allow for that.

More updates in the press today, the pandas will arrive sometime before September. The park opening has been delayed AGAIN to November 2012, blamed on slow construction progress as a result of continuous bad weather.

Link to bigger photo of the panda enclosure:
http://www.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/image/20120315/ST_IMAGES_VPANDAe.jpg
 
which species are to be displayed along the boat ride? I'm not going to be impressed if the giant otters can only be seen from the boat and there's only a couple of minutes possible viewing time!!!
 
Chlidonias said:
which species are to be displayed along the boat ride? I'm not going to be impressed if the giant otters can only be seen from the boat and there's only a couple of minutes possible viewing time!!!
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AFAIK, boat ride species:
Brazilian Tapir
Guanaco
Collared Peccary
Giant Anteater
Tamandua
2-toed Sloth
Capybara
Jaguar
Maned Wolf
Coatimundi
Black Bearded Saki
Red Howler
Tamarin / Marmoset species
Macaws
Water birds (flamingos, ibis)

Giant otters are part of the Flooded Forest gallery, viewed on foot :)
 
well that's good news on the giant otter front! However tamandua doesn't seem a good choice for a species to only view from a boat ride (and I'm not just saying that because I haven't seen one before!), as neither does sloth or giant anteater. The others are acceptable I guess, although guanaco is a bit of an odd inclusion amongst them!

Do you know if the sloth is the one from the Fragile Forest, or new imports?
 
@Chlidonias: Tamandua and sloth are hearsay, can't verify yet if they're confirmed for the boat ride. WRS has 2 tamanduas (off-exhibit) and 4 sloths, so a couple of sloths will likely stay in Fragile Forest with the other 1 or 2 going on display at River Safari.

The guanacos were being phased out from the Zoo, but I guess a decision was made to keep a small group for display along the boat ride. Being large and easy to contain with simple barriers, the guanacos make for good viewing from the boat even though they're not exactly Amazonian.
 
Will River Safari be the first zoo to display the giant freshwater fishes of Southeast Asia? I know that Disney Animal Kingdom has Paroon shark catfish, but I've not heard of other places keeping any of these species. Apologies if this has been answered previously.
 
they are common in zoos throughout southeast Asia. I haven't seen the giant stingray before, but giant catfish of various species are all over the place.
 
Specifically, the Mekong giant catfish and giant stingray are extremely uncommon outside of Thailand aquariums. Other large Pangasius catfish are, as Chlidonias pointed out, relatively common in zoos and aquariums in Asia. I believe the Paroon and Iridescent shark catfish are the most represented large Asian fish in zoos and aquariums around the world!

River Safari will probably be the first in the world to display large Southeast Asian freshwater fish on a grand scale. The Mekong tank will be about 15 meters x 10 meters x 3 meters deep.
 
DavidBrown said:
Will River Safari be the first zoo to display the giant freshwater fishes of Southeast Asia?
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Outside Southeast Asia, Dubai's Underwater Zoo had labels for both the giant freshwater stingray and Mekong giant catfish, but none were visible when I visited in December. A member of staff told me the catfish were definitely in their tank, just not clearly visible at the time. Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to check back later.
 
Zooish said:
River Safari will probably be the first in the world to display large Southeast Asian freshwater fish on a grand scale.
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I think a number of Thai aquaria have quite large tanks; I know the aquarium in Nakhon Sawan had an underwater tunnel through their giant freshwater stingray tank. The tank held several large catfish and stingrays, including the world's largest captive specimen. However, having not seen any of those aquaria yet, I don't know how they compare to River Safari's plans.
 
devilfish said:
I think a number of Thai aquaria have quite large tanks; I know the aquarium in Nakhon Sawan had an underwater tunnel through their giant freshwater stingray tank. The tank held several large catfish and stingrays, including the world's largest captive specimen. However, having not seen any of those aquaria yet, I don't know how they compare to River Safari's plans.
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I should have said outside of Thailand! You're right though, several Thai aquariums have impressive displays for giant stingrays and catfish. I stand corrected :)

I think this clip shows the one in Nakhon:
Video -- Swimming with Stingrays -- National Geographic

Chiangmai Aquarium also has an underwater tunnel-type aquarium, although it mixes all its freshwater species together (arapaima, giant stingray, pig-nosed turtles all in the same large tank).

Siam Oceanworld in Bangkok has giant stingrays and catfish, but smallish specimens in regular-sized tanks.
 
Opened on: Year 2012

Land area: 12 hectares

Total Volume of Water: 34,000m3

Highlights:
Yangtze River featuring Giant Panda

Rivers of the World - Mississippi, Congo, Nile, Ganges, Murray and Mekong

Amazon Flooded Forest

Amazon River Quest

Number of plant species: 150
Number of animal species: 300
Number of animal specimens: 5,000

Opening hours: 10.00am - 8.00pm daily

I get this information from the following link.
Wildlife Reserves Singapore

It is actually official from the WRS. I just want to know is that the actual figure or estimation only???
 
@ Kathir: Probably an estimation for the total specimens count. i don't think the River Safari folk will diligently account for thousands of tiny fish.

300 species is possibly accurate. Its a big downward revision from the overly ambitious 500 species quoted when the River Safari was first announced.
 
Exactly correct. They got mention that River safari will be open from 10.00am until 8.00pm. So they going to give the visitors night time experience is it? Do you have any idea on that?
 
Kathir said:
Exactly correct. They got mention that River safari will be open from 10.00am until 8.00pm. So they going to give the visitors night time experience is it? Do you have any idea on that?
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From what I've heard, only the aquarium exhibits will be open till 8pm (ie. the Amazon Flooded Forest gallery and Rivers of the World). The panda habitat and Amazon River Quest boat ride will close probably around 7pm before it gets dark.
 
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