the first one died after a few days, so it could be the first succesfull captive bred pangolin birth ever in a zoo, if this little one survives
Singapore Night Safari Singapore Night Safari News
- Thread starter Ituri
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the first one died after a few days, so it could be the first succesfull captive bred pangolin birth ever in a zoo, if this little one survives
After many years of trying, Night Safari has finally managed to breed the Clouded Leopard.
NIGHT SAFARI CELEBRATES A RARE FIRST WITH THE BIRTH OF TWO CLOUDED LEOPARDS Wildlife Press
NIGHT SAFARI CELEBRATES A RARE FIRST WITH THE BIRTH OF TWO CLOUDED LEOPARDS Wildlife Press
That is some cool news.
Where did the parents originate?
Where did the parents originate?
both the clouded leopard parents came from Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand
I can finally also see some windows of opportunity between Singapore and Europe concerning this species and e.g. Asiatic lions. 
The newly-appointed CEO of Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS, parent company of the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari and River Safari) Ms Isabella Loh has been berated online for her last-minute cancellation of the Night Safari's immensely popular "Halloween Horrors" event that was due to start on 30th September and run for a month. The event was created by the former CEO, who left in July this year. The event even won a local tourism award last year. The event has consistently drawn the highest visitor attendance for the Night Safari in its last 5 runs.
The new CEO cited that the annual Halloween event, which transforms the entire park into a huge "haunted house" with scare actors and props, is not in line with the family-friendly and conservation focus of the park. It is a valid reason, but the event could always be discontinued from next year onwards. The sudden cancellation was appalling for the following reasons:
1. The event was conceptualized by a group of local Events Management students as part of their graduation project. They have been working on it for 7 months and were down to final rehearsals when the event was called off. While their grades will not be affected, their hard work has gone down the drain. Their disappointment is evident and many other empathetic youths have attacked the WRS Facebook wall with a barrage of negative and nasty comments. Wildlife Reserves Singapore | Facebook
2. Over US$700,000 has already been spent on the event. The cancellation means this amount will be wasted and cannot be recovered. It is disgusting for an organisation which seeks public donations to be so callous about this huge sum of money.
3. Insider sources revealed that the new CEO, who is a staunch Christian, objected to the event because she likened Halloween to "devil worship". The last thing a zoo needs is a religious nut for a boss. As debated on Zoochat before, my view is that zoos should remain secular organisations free of religious influences.
This issue has been trending on Yahoo and Google searches in Singapore for the past couple of days. Related news links:
"Halloween Horrors" at Night Safari cancelled - Channel NewsAsia
Halloween shocker | The New Paper
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/furor-over-halloween-horrors’-sudden-cancellation.html
Personally, I'm always worried when management changes as it is disruptive. I'm not getting good vibes about the new CEO. I hope she doesn't mess up River Safari which is due to launch next October.
The new CEO cited that the annual Halloween event, which transforms the entire park into a huge "haunted house" with scare actors and props, is not in line with the family-friendly and conservation focus of the park. It is a valid reason, but the event could always be discontinued from next year onwards. The sudden cancellation was appalling for the following reasons:
1. The event was conceptualized by a group of local Events Management students as part of their graduation project. They have been working on it for 7 months and were down to final rehearsals when the event was called off. While their grades will not be affected, their hard work has gone down the drain. Their disappointment is evident and many other empathetic youths have attacked the WRS Facebook wall with a barrage of negative and nasty comments. Wildlife Reserves Singapore | Facebook
2. Over US$700,000 has already been spent on the event. The cancellation means this amount will be wasted and cannot be recovered. It is disgusting for an organisation which seeks public donations to be so callous about this huge sum of money.
3. Insider sources revealed that the new CEO, who is a staunch Christian, objected to the event because she likened Halloween to "devil worship". The last thing a zoo needs is a religious nut for a boss. As debated on Zoochat before, my view is that zoos should remain secular organisations free of religious influences.
This issue has been trending on Yahoo and Google searches in Singapore for the past couple of days. Related news links:
"Halloween Horrors" at Night Safari cancelled - Channel NewsAsia
Halloween shocker | The New Paper
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/furor-over-halloween-horrors’-sudden-cancellation.html
Personally, I'm always worried when management changes as it is disruptive. I'm not getting good vibes about the new CEO. I hope she doesn't mess up River Safari which is due to launch next October.
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this is all pretty bad publicity for the zoo, and even if she has religious objections to the event to pull the plug on it after so much money and effort has gone into it is just appalling. Any further news on it Zooish?
@Chlidonias: The CEO has clarified she's a Buddhist and the decision was not religiously-motivated, BUT admitted that she referred to the Halloween set-up at the park as "infrastructure for devil worship" when communicating to her staff... I must add that Singapore adopted the modern American form of Halloween (dressing up, trick-or-treating and silly scares); not many people here are concerned by Halloween's Pagan roots.
The CEO had been giving disparate and unconvincing reasons for the cancellation over the last week, each of which has been picked apart by the public. She first claimed the event was not in line with the park's "wholesome" and "family-oriented" image. The next day she claimed the cancellation was due to negative feedback from members and sponsors about the relevance of Halloween to conservation. Then she claimed the event was too scary after previewing the haunted house. Finally she claimed that the Halloween event was not popular (when the WRS Annual Report proudly proclaimed record attendance for the previous Halloween event).
When she finally ran out of excuses, she ordered a media blackout. WRS has refused to answer press queries, rejected tv interviews and has all but abandoned their Facebook page (which now has endless pages of nasty remarks). This week WRS wasted more money by appointing a well-known "Public Relations Crisis Management" company (Burson-Marsteller) to sort out this mess.
The CEO has also been accused of ordering the release of fireflies at a night-time event at the Zoo, despite having been told by her staff that the Zoo was not the right habitat for the particular firefly species (which thrive in mangroves). She apparently wanted it done for "visual significance", to fool the public that the event had a conservation purpose. For that same event, she also insisted on the release of floating lanterns filled with wax into the reservoir bordering the Zoo, despite her staff advising against it out of concern that the aquatic wildlife may ingest the wax.
She apparently has also ordered significant budget cuts to the River Safari, particularly for the theming and landscaping works. I've already lowered my expectations for the project...
Someone was irked enough to set up this site with links to commentaries and news articles on the debacle: ISABELLA LOH
The CEO had been giving disparate and unconvincing reasons for the cancellation over the last week, each of which has been picked apart by the public. She first claimed the event was not in line with the park's "wholesome" and "family-oriented" image. The next day she claimed the cancellation was due to negative feedback from members and sponsors about the relevance of Halloween to conservation. Then she claimed the event was too scary after previewing the haunted house. Finally she claimed that the Halloween event was not popular (when the WRS Annual Report proudly proclaimed record attendance for the previous Halloween event).
When she finally ran out of excuses, she ordered a media blackout. WRS has refused to answer press queries, rejected tv interviews and has all but abandoned their Facebook page (which now has endless pages of nasty remarks). This week WRS wasted more money by appointing a well-known "Public Relations Crisis Management" company (Burson-Marsteller) to sort out this mess.
The CEO has also been accused of ordering the release of fireflies at a night-time event at the Zoo, despite having been told by her staff that the Zoo was not the right habitat for the particular firefly species (which thrive in mangroves). She apparently wanted it done for "visual significance", to fool the public that the event had a conservation purpose. For that same event, she also insisted on the release of floating lanterns filled with wax into the reservoir bordering the Zoo, despite her staff advising against it out of concern that the aquatic wildlife may ingest the wax.
She apparently has also ordered significant budget cuts to the River Safari, particularly for the theming and landscaping works. I've already lowered my expectations for the project...
Someone was irked enough to set up this site with links to commentaries and news articles on the debacle: ISABELLA LOH
What a mess! Perhaps she may not be around too long.....
Agreed, I do think she has been a bad choice. I will be surprised to see her replaced soon though???
I would rather have someone from within the ranks take over!!!
Night Safari is currently building a $2.5-million Australasian Trail, set to open in June 2012. No details have been revealed yet. An existing Babirusa exhibit is located at the end of the proposed trail, and the recently-opened Naracoorte Cave (a misnomer really as it houses Asian cave animals) is also located along the way. A group of Brushtail Possums were acquired a while back and have been off display, they most likely will be part of the new trail.
Have any of the Aussie / NZ zoochatters heard of possible animal swaps with Singapore? I know Singapore wanted Tasmanian Devils some years back. Wallabies were also proposed to be part of the trail.
Have any of the Aussie / NZ zoochatters heard of possible animal swaps with Singapore? I know Singapore wanted Tasmanian Devils some years back. Wallabies were also proposed to be part of the trail.
zooboy28
Well-Known Member
Wellington Zoo (NZ) acquired a male Nyala from Singapore earlier this year. Wellington Zoo has a large groiup of Brushtail Possums (80+). I believe that because Brushtail Possums are protected in Australia they cannot be exported, but they are most certainly not protected in NZ, and probably can be. So, my thinking is that maybe the Possums were swapped for a Nyala?
I know of no other swaps, and even any potential swaps from NZ seem extremely unlikely, having said that kiwi have been sent to the US and Europe in the last couple of years, so maybe they are not totally out of the question. All other NZ species would be basically impossible. For Australian animals it would make more sense (easier, less travel distance, animals already used to hot climate, etc) to get some wallabies (although Singapore Zoo already has these) from Australia, although obtaining Tassie Devils would be next to impossible. They could probably get some Dingos, which could make for a more balanced (predator/prey) trail, pretty easily too.
Thanks for the info zooboy82. Its definitely a possibility on the brush-tailed possums being from Wellington. They've started breeding off-exhibit.
I'd love to see kiwi in Singapore again. Jurong kept a pair in the 80s. They might get a new species of wallaby (agile wallabies are kept at the zoo) and possibly wombat. Tassie devils are a very long shot indeed. Dingos are unlikely given the available space at the site of the new trail, which is more suited to small animal exhibits.
hmmm.... 2.5 million dollars for that line-up. Not exactly heart-stopping is it? Perhaps they are hoping to get some more unusual species in the future?
Had a peek at the construction site, the cost includes replacing of an existing suspension bridge, which probably jacked up the budget.
I've taken a new set of Night Safari photos, taking advantage of the slightly later sunset this time of year and armed with a new DSLR camera (that takes much better low-light photos than a compact camera). Its still quite impossible to get any shots of the exhibits along the tram ride though, save for a couple when the tram actually stops for a few seconds. I'll be posting the photos in batches in the Night Safari gallery.
