River Wonders River Safari details revealed

This place sounds fantastic and I would love to visit sometime. But I will certainly check the weather conditions before attempting to go as when I was at Singapore zoo in late October the humidity was absolutely unbearable and it was hard to concentrate and enjoy a great zoo. I normally love the heat but at only about 33c it was like walking around with your head in an oven and my feet got shockingly blistered.
that's what the weather is like all year in Singapore!!
 
WRS staff had a preview of the park over the weekend (and posted photos on social media), which means public opening will be happening real soon. Several exhibits including the problematic boat ride were still not ready though.

is it known what the boat ride will be like? Is it a Disneyland Jungle Cruise type tour through a simulated jungle, only with real animals instead of animatronics? What species will the boat tour past?
 
is it known what the boat ride will be like? Is it a Disneyland Jungle Cruise type tour through a simulated jungle, only with real animals instead of animatronics? What species will the boat tour past?

Hi David, it will be similar to the Jungle Cruise ride, being a simulated river. The boats are not mechanical though and operate solely on gravity and water flow. Animal exhibits will be on both sides of the channel and there will be a "cruise-through" aviary as well. You can check out the species from the park map (pdf): http://www.riversafari.com.sg/assets/pdf/parkmap.pdf
 
Hi David, it will be similar to the Jungle Cruise ride, being a simulated river. The boats are not mechanical though and operate solely on gravity and water flow. Animal exhibits will be on both sides of the channel and there will be a "cruise-through" aviary as well. You can check out the species from the park map (pdf): http://www.riversafari.com.sg/assets/pdf/parkmap.pdf

Thanks Zooish. That link isn't working for some reason. It looks like that part of the website has gone missing.

I look forward to your review and pictures of River Safari when it opens. The manatee tank looks really nice.

Update: just tried the link again and it IS working now. Thanks for the link.
 
River Safari opens 3 April, without the boat ride which will be ready only later this year. Admission during this period is $25 for adults and $16 for children (in Singapore dollars);this is discounted from the actual $35 / $23 admission in view of the boat ride not being ready.

Full site is up:
River Safari Singapore | Asia's First and Only River-Themed Wildlife Park - Riversafari.com.sg

Yay! There's a map!!! I'm glad that at least some of the species seen on the boat ride can also be seen from the boardwalk - especially the Jaguarundi which would presumably be extremely difficult to spot from the boat.

Is it likely that you can go either direction around the park, or will it be a one-way loop starting at the Mississippi River and ending at Amazon?
 
Yay! There's a map!!! I'm glad that at least some of the species seen on the boat ride can also be seen from the boardwalk - especially the Jaguarundi which would presumably be extremely difficult to spot from the boat.

Is it likely that you can go either direction around the park, or will it be a one-way loop starting at the Mississippi River and ending at Amazon?

Actually the jaguarundi exhibit is not part of the boat ride and is seen entirely from the boardwalk (the map's a little misleading). To my understanding no part of the boat ride can be seen from the walkway.

It will likely be one-way - starting from Mississippi (based on the staff preview and how the people on the map are walking in one direction!). Although you could probably go reverse loop once inside the park.
 
Giant Panda, Chinese Giant Salamander, Red Howler Monkey, Elephant Trunk Snake, Crab-Eating Macaque, Indian Gharial, Jaguarundi, Giant River Otter, Manatee, Cock-of-the-Rock, Tigerfish, Mekong Giant Catfish and Red-Backed Bearded Saki Monkey are all extreme rarities and must-see animals for any zoo enthusiast. I wish that I was rich enough to book a ticket today, and the only downside is that some of the species will only be able to be seen via the boat ride.
 
Giant Panda, Chinese Giant Salamander, Red Howler Monkey, Elephant Trunk Snake, Crab-Eating Macaque, Indian Gharial, Jaguarundi, Giant River Otter, Manatee, Cock-of-the-Rock, Tigerfish, Mekong Giant Catfish and Red-Backed Bearded Saki Monkey are all extreme rarities and must-see animals for any zoo enthusiast. I wish that I was rich enough to book a ticket today, and the only downside is that some of the species will only be able to be seen via the boat ride.
crab-eating macaques are like pigeons in southeast Asia and can be seen easily in the wild in Singapore itself -- but for the others I totally agree!

It is a definite minus however that some species can only be seen from the boat ride (especially as that part of the park is now delayed). The map won't load for me at all, so which species are seen from the boat? I gather tapir, jaguar and giant anteater (:mad:)...is the aviary with the cocks-of-the-rocks only able to be seen from the boat too?
 
Here are the species shown for the boat ride.

Scarlet Macaw
Collared Peccary
Brown Tufted Capuchin
Red Howler Monkey
Brown-headed Spider Monkey
Emperor Tamarin
Maned Wolf
Brown-nosed Coati
Guanaco
Giant Anteater
Brazilian Tapir
White-faced Saki
Mara
Red-backed Bearded Saki
Jaguar
Black Howler Monkey
Caribbean Flamingo
Capybara
Agouti
Linne's Two-toed Sloth
Green Iguana
Scarlet Ibis
Cock-of-the-Rock
 
thanks Ituri. Not so bad for me because I can easily visit after the boat ride is operational, but for some people ("people" means "Zoochatters" :D) they might not be lucky enough and thus will miss out on some very nice species.
 
thanks Ituri. Not so bad for me because I can easily visit after the boat ride is operational, but for some people ("people" means "Zoochatters" :D) they might not be lucky enough and thus will miss out on some very nice species.

:(

I'm philosophical about it - I sort of gave up on the River Safari being open at all a month or so ago, so if the fish tanks and so on are open that's a bonus. In fact, it's a lot of the giant freshwater fish that I (though not my partner, it must be said!) am most keen on. Going through that list the only species that I haven't seen (or at least seen a closely related species) are the howlers, sakis, anteater and cock of the rock. Of that group the giant anteater is the big one for me. Hopefully the Singapore Zoo will also have them?
 
Finally! Thanks for the links Zooish!

Great news. My next ambitious wish is that the boat ride is completed before May. :rolleyes:
 
@CGSwans: The otters will be on display, not to worry. No giant anteaters at the Zoo though, but would you settle for a tamandua? :)

@devilfish: You'd be extremely lucky if the boat ride opens in May!

Lots of photos on this news site, practically all the major exhibits are shown:
Relax - Sneak peek of the River Safari
 
crab-eating macaques are like pigeons in southeast Asia and can be seen easily in the wild in Singapore itself -- but for the others I totally agree!

Crab eating macaques don't seem to excite you, how about crab eating raccoon? :D

The lone raccoon that was previously off-show at Night Safari has been brought over to River Safari and will feature during animal presentations.
 
Crab eating macaques don't seem to excite you, how about crab eating raccoon? :D

The lone raccoon that was previously off-show at Night Safari has been brought over to River Safari and will feature during animal presentations.
Some people had the opurtunity to see crab-eating racoon (kept in 3 european zoos), but i believe only a hand-full of journalists had the chance to see a perfroming one!

topImage.jpg


I´m very excited about this park, specially the rairities! :P
Zooish, do you think there will be new additions to the park in the future? Like the Malayan Tigers?
 
that's what the weather is like all year in Singapore!!

Oh no, surely not. I found 40 plus in Sydney a doddle compared to the unrelenting 24 hour humidity of Singapore. After my zoo trip I spent most of my time there in the swimming pool or bar.
Although on reflection with the lousy Irish weather (2 degrees today) Singapore and the lovely hotel swimming pool as well as the great zoos is seeming an ever more attractive proposition lol.
 
Crab eating macaques don't seem to excite you, how about crab eating raccoon? :D

The lone raccoon that was previously off-show at Night Safari has been brought over to River Safari and will feature during animal presentations.
absolutely!! I had no idea there was a crab-eating raccoon there! I shall have to make sure I try and see it.
 
another boat-ride-related question: are all the cocks-of-the-rock going to be in the River Safari, or will some stay at Jurong do you think? (Or conversely, maybe they will stay on-show at Jurong until the boat ride is opeational?)
 
Back
Top