Devilfish's Asian Adventure

Sounds like you have had a busy start to the Singapore leg of your trip. I take it you saw SEA, Underwater Worls & Night Safari on the same day?

The otters must be new at Underwater World, there were none there Nov 2011 when I visited. Good new attraction for them to have. Where were they housed? Presumably Asian short-clawed? Dugong wasn't on show then either.
 
zooboy28 said:
Sounds like you have had a busy start to the Singapore leg of your trip. I take it you saw SEA, Underwater Worls & Night Safari on the same day?
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The otters must be new at Underwater World, there were none there Nov 2011 when I visited. Good new attraction for them to have. Where were they housed? Presumably Asian short-clawed? Dugong wasn't on show then either.
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Yeah, I'm still travelling alone at the moment so trying to take advantage of the freedom. I've had a few busy days but might extend my stay in Singapore a bit. Two pairs of short-clawed otters were housed in small adjoining enclosures (looked temporary/ quarantine-like). Located on the way to the dolphin lagoon.
 
zooboy28 said:
The otters must be new at Underwater World, there were none there Nov 2011 when I visited. Good new attraction for them to have. Where were they housed? Presumably Asian short-clawed? Dugong wasn't on show then either.
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in 2004 they had small-clawed otters in a small inside enclosure (tank) with sea turtles.
 
zooboy28 said:
Do we want to know what sort of exotic meats?

I have to say I'm intrigued by "the prolific use of garlic in theming", and looking forward to those photos.
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Sorry, had missed this. Exotic meats advertised include ostrich and gazelle (and goat and lamb) but this varies depending on availability. They boast of that part of the business as a slaughterhouse for fresh meat.

I visited with my grandma, who suggested that the garlic perhaps helped cover up the smell of the animals. I can't really think of another reason.
 
River Safari

Yesterday I visited River Safari. A great park, just a shame that they manage to make visitors feel that it shouldn't really be open yet. No single zone is complete, with empty enclosures and missing fish in many.
If the main excuse for the delay was the boat ride, then the rest of the park should at least appear ready.

Otherwise it seems like it's going to be a great park once ready, and it has a number of amazing creatures and exhibits which deserve very high praise. I also don't appreciate the high entry cost for an experience where so much isn't on display, but hopefully it'll be merited soon.
 
Singapore Zoo, Night Safari 2 and Zoochat meetup

This morning I had the great pleasure of meeting zoochatters Zooish, Johan, and zoomaniac and his family. I had a brilliant day touring the zoo and night safari with Zooish as our expert guide. It was a great privilege to be able to ask any question and have it answered on the spot. I'm still smiling from the rarities we managed to see, and the fun day we had.

The zoo itself was brilliant, very nice enclosures, a pleasant atmosphere and some amazing creatures.
 
filipinos said:
How would you rate the Singapore zoos/aquariums to their European counterparts? Generaly Better?
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It's a difficult question to give a generalised answer to. I'm obviously not best placed to give a more definitive answer, but here's my opinion based on 5 days of zoo visits. The standard of Singaporean zoos is generally very high. Each of the 5 major collections (4 WRS parks and SEA aquarium) is of outstanding quality, and of a standard I would expect of the best zoos in Europe. Obviously when you look more closely at each collection you can find plenty of room for improvement, but they are constantly improving, and I feel the impression they make on visitors is hard to beat. Every tourist I spoke to who had visited said the zoo was among the best (if not the best) they'd visited. Night Safari and River Safari can't really be compared with anything yet, although I'll try to visit other Asian night safaris and I believe that River Safari will be an amazing park. Obviously Jurong bird park is among the world's best. I don't think I can compare it with anything I've seen before, but it's a brilliant place. I also really enjoyed the aquarium, which is certainly at least on the same level as Lisbon. If I had my own zoo and it was of WRS quality then I've be very happy. I haven't visited Sentosa's butterfly and insect kingdom, but it doesn't seem to be anything special. Underwater world may have been great years ago, but now only its unusual collection and size differentiate it from European counterparts.

So I guess it depends what you look at. The best of Singapore may be at least as good as some of the best of Europe, but there are still a few shortcomings.
 
Singapore Zoo 2

Yesterday I visited the zoo again. Unfortunately torrential thunderstorms meant I had to take cover for some time, and my camera got wet and malfunctioned. By the time it was usable again, there was little more than an hour left until closing time. I stayed for a while after the zoo closed and was surprised at how early most of the animals were locked in for the night.
 
Coral Wonderland

Today I had thought about visiting Johor Bahru, but due to crowds following yesterday's election, and impracticalities of taking a suitcase, I decided to head straight for Melaka.

I then visited Coral Wonderland, or Underwater World. I wasn't planning on writing full reviews on this thread but this place might need one after I revisit it. To say it's one of the more unpleasant aquariums I've ever visited is very kind. I cannot imagine a more stressful environment for fish. I had only planned a brief visit, but found there was so much there that I stayed later in an attempt to fully document what was going on. Staff were very good and left some lights on for even an hour after closing, which was decent of them - but I still didn't complete my visit, so I'll return soon.

There is so little information available about this mall aquarium available that I was surprised to have not heard more about it before, and I now feel a bit responsible to publicise some of the trouble. My issues with the place boil down to mostly two things:
1. Overcrowded/small tanks.
2. The animals in the touch pools.

Billed as 'Malaysia's most touchable aquarium', the partitioned touch pool contains many animals, including bamboosharks, a ray, huge pufferfish, nautilus, a remora, jellyfish and a seahorse.

Having said this, the aquarium is an absolute dream for heartless aquarium fish enthusiasts - very clean glass makes photography easy, and hundreds of different taxa are on display, including rarities like Aba (!!!!), coconut octopus and series of unusual frogfish and eels.
 
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devilfish said:
It's a difficult question to give a generalised answer to. I'm obviously not best placed to give a more definitive answer, but here's my opinion based on 5 days of zoo visits. The standard of Singaporean zoos is generally very high. Each of the 5 major collections (4 WRS parks and SEA aquarium) is of outstanding quality, and of a standard I would expect of the best zoos in Europe. Obviously when you look more closely at each collection you can find plenty of room for improvement, but they are constantly improving, and I feel the impression they make on visitors is hard to beat. Every tourist I spoke to who had visited said the zoo was among the best (if not the best) they'd visited. Night Safari and River Safari can't really be compared with anything yet, although I'll try to visit other Asian night safaris and I believe that River Safari will be an amazing park. Obviously Jurong bird park is among the world's best. I don't think I can compare it with anything I've seen before, but it's a brilliant place. I also really enjoyed the aquarium, which is certainly at least on the same level as Lisbon. If I had my own zoo and it was of WRS quality then I've be very happy. I haven't visited Sentosa's butterfly and insect kingdom, but it doesn't seem to be anything special. Underwater world may have been great years ago, but now only its unusual collection and size differentiate it from European counterparts.

So I guess it depends what you look at. The best of Singapore may be at least as good as some of the best of Europe, but there are still a few shortcomings.
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Thanks for this very nice "review". Kinda off what i expected. Have you ever visited Walsrode?
 
Today a trip to a local island was cancelled quite late, so I went to Melaka crocodile park and then to Melaka Zoo. Like Chlidonias before me, I had too much trouble getting to the butterfly park, but hopefully I'll see that tomorrow. Also on tomorrow's schedule are a visit to the new bird park, and 2nd visits to the zoo and aquarium if there is time.
 
devilfish said:
Today a trip to a local island was cancelled quite late, so I went to Melaka crocodile park and then to Melaka Zoo.
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Looking forward to hearing about Melaka zoo, I've seen photo's and read a few reviews (possibly including Chlidonias :confused:) and it appears to be up there with the rest of SE Asia's big guns! :D
 
So today I started off with a visit to the butterfly park, then the bee museum next door, the bird park, a small aquarium I discovered, the zoo, and finally coral wonderworld. With the exception of coral wonderworld, Melaka's major zoological attractions are located near Ayer Keroh, a town 12km from the city centre.
 
Taman Buaya

Taman buaya, or crocodile park, is located across the highway from the zoo. I visited yesterday. An odd place. If it were up to me I'd rename it 'Living museum of crocodile pathology' (you can see why I don't work in marketing :rolleyes:). Most of the crocodiles on show are injured, and a few are separated and labelled as tailless or humpback crocodile. The collection is mostly of saltwater crocodiles, with a few other species (single Siamese, lone Mugger, pair of Tomistoma) on display in the centre of the park. A small bird collection and a large aviary is also on site as well as reptile enclosures and enclosures for coati and raccoon.

The place holds 130 adult crocs, largest is 17ft. Some of the crocodiles are missing limbs, others have deformities and open wounds. When I asked suggested antiseptic (and more) on a large crocodiles jaw for a dirty open wound which was attracting flies, I was told not to worry, traditional medicine is administered.

The saltwater crocodile pools are actually quite big, but busy - hence the injuries.

A large stadium is used only on weekends and public holidays for a feeding show.

Plenty of wildlife on site.
 
Zoo Melaka

A bit of a disappointment, but still a great zoo. The zoo's management changed at the start of the year, and with the messy change came a great loss of animals. Some died, some were transfered and some disappeared. As a result there are no longer flat-headed cats (there were formerly 6), birds of paradise, giant squirrels, Styan's red panda, [sadly the list continues,] in the collection, and many groups of animals are now left with only one or two survivors. Fortunately hoofstock seem to be doing ok, as are the primates on the islands. There have also been a number of recent births and many suspected pregnancies. Apart from the disappointing collection, I was pleased with the zoo. Some of the enclosures for hoofstock are enormous and brilliant. As others have observed, the gibbon islands are fantastic, and there are a number of great enclosures.

Once I found a number of empty enclosures, I asked to speak to someone from the zoo who spoke English. I was kindly met by the vet, who was very nice and explained the situation and their recovery plans. It turns out most of the staff left too, and the zoo is now left with new keepers with only weeks' worth of experience.

This zoo doesn't seem to need a great deal (on paper) to put it back on track, though logistically and financially it's a lot more difficult. I believe (and hope) that I just caught it at its worst time, and that it will improve quickly.
 
Taman Rama-rama

Taman rama-rama, or butterfly park, is located 2.5 kilometres down the road from the zoo. I was impressed with the collection. I've still not seen Trogonoptera butterflies but rarities on display include smooth-fronted caiman, horned lizards, Sulawesi forest turtle and golden reticulated python. Exhibitry is also inventive, with the notorious catsnake walk-through, open-fronted scorpion enclosure, and development of a series of snake enclosures aimed at children - focussing on folklore or popular culture. There are not really any enclosures which are anything less than acceptable, and I think had the butterfly park's flat-headed cats stayed here, they'd probably have had a better outcome in the long run.
 
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