Waterfall Aviary theming works

Theming works ongoing at the disused monorail platform within the aviary. Not sure what\'s with all the fake trees.

As mentioned by other zoochatters, the African theme of the aviary has been dropped. It is now a puzzling mix of species from all over the world - most of the African residents still remain (turacos, rollers, starlings, lovebirds, African/timneh greys, guinea fowl, Von der Decken hornbills), and are joined by Asian parakeets, sun conures, crowned pigeons, wood ducks and lots of white-vented mynahs. The mynahs are wild birds that made their way INTO the aviary and have firmly established their population.

I must say initially I had mixed feelings about this generalistic theming of the aviary, but the truth is for the average (non-bird geek ) visitor it works quite well and with the heavy pruning and added species you get a better feeling of being surrounded by birds; the "old" african aviary was looking quite empty and too densely planted. Maybe the park will develop a more specific african area somewhere else in the future, to please the purists (like me).

I prefer the geographic theming, but the regular visitor wouldn't be bothered of course. I understand the park won't have major new developments anytime soon as there is some uncertainty over the park's future.

Zooish said:

I prefer the geographic theming, but the regular visitor wouldn't be bothered of course. I understand the park won't have major new developments anytime soon as there is some uncertainty over the park's future.

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Uncertainty??? Should there be any general panic?

Would they move the Bird Park to the spare land by the Zoo, or close/merge the collection completely?

zooboy28 said:

Uncertainty??? Should there be any general panic?

Would they move the Bird Park to the spare land by the Zoo, or close/merge the collection completely?

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No need for panic... yet.

First uncertainty relates to the land which Jurong sits on - the long term land use plan has not been decided by the authorities. It may stay as recreational space and the bird park continues to operate there; or it may be ceded to industry and the park will be forced to vacate. As you pointed out, 2 options are likely, either to move the park to the spare land next to the Zoo/Night Safari/River Safari cluster, or disperse the avian collection to the other 3 parks.

Second uncertainty relates to how viable an avian-only wildlife park will be in the future. As it is, Jurong's attendance is lower than the Zoo and Night Safari's, and WRS is not sure if a bird-only park can continue to attract sufficient visitors down the road. Jurong may evolve to include other classes of animals in its displays.