River Wonders Singapore River Safari

What is your impression of the boat ride, Zooish? From the video it looks like it will be luck-of-the-draw if one sees many of the species like the monkeys, maned wolves, and jaguars.

It looks like a pleasant ride, but if people really want to see jaguars catching a fleeting glimpse of one for two seconds may not be very satisfying.
 
DavidBrown said:
What is your impression of the boat ride, Zooish? From the video it looks like it will be luck-of-the-draw if one sees many of the species like the monkeys, maned wolves, and jaguars.

It looks like a pleasant ride, but if people really want to see jaguars catching a fleeting glimpse of one for two seconds may not be very satisfying.
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I think you summed it up there David - it is an entertaining ride for the majority of zoo visitors with 5-second attention spans, but unsatisfying for real enthusiasts who want to spend time observing each species.
 
I'm curious as to why the flamingos have a netting over their enclosure which is very unsightly, is that temporary or permanent?

As always the primate enclosures are lushly planted, Singapore Zoo excels at creating very naturalistic enclosures for their primate species.
 
aw101 said:
I'm curious as to why the flamingos have a netting over their enclosure which is very unsightly, is that temporary or permanent?

As always the primate enclosures are lushly planted, Singapore Zoo excels at creating very naturalistic enclosures for their primate species.
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I believe the netting is temporary until the flamingos get used to the crowds.
 
Thanks for the Video, but the ride Looks not very exciting to me....I'm surprsised to see they didn't have hidden all the artificila elements, even the moats are full visable.And this terrible red coloured edges of the boats lane...The Music is phantastic-is a Soundtrack Cd available ? I'm not a Fan of Boat Rides in Zoos anyway, but I have to say, Hannovers one is much better made.
 
@Bib Fortuna: Agreed, the moat edge is unsightly. Hannover's is very well-themed and uses a different ride mechanism - an underwater cable pulls the boats along; whereas River Safari uses purely water current to move the boats, so the boat channel has to be separate from the exhibit moats. The wider moat edges at River Safari's boat ride also serve as escape routes during emergencies.

@zankara: It should be unlimited rides, subject to the weather and capacity (the park may impose limits on busy days).
 
The park had a soft (unpublicized) launch of the new River Safari Cruise this week. It is a 15-minute ferry ride in the reservoir bordering the park, as opposed to the Amazon River Quest which is runs along an artificial channel. There is a captain and a guide on board each ferry, along with recorded commentary.

Leaving the dock, the ferry turns towards the Singapore Zoo. The first exhibit visible is the White Rhino, but you can only see a small part of the enclosure. Moving along the Giraffe exhibit is seen. Most of the enclosure is visible so seeing the giraffes should be guaranteed.

Passing the giraffes, the ferry heads into 'open' waters. The guide will bring out specimens - ostrich egg shell, giraffe hair and dried poop, cotton from a huge Kapok (Ceiba petandra) tree which is pointed out during the ride - for passengers to have a feel.

The ferry then makes a loop back towards the dock. On the way back, the ferry passes the Asian Elephant exhibit that was specially created for the cruise. It is a simple enclosure, basically a clearing fenced off by hot-wire. There are several views into the enclosure. During my ride 1 of the 3 elephants was in a far corner of the enclosure largely out of sight.

After the elephants the ferry returns to the dock and the cruise ends. It is a lot more natural than the Amazon River Quest, but it still doesn't give you more than a few seconds of seeing the animals. I hear there are plans to add more exhibits along the way but for now it's just the 3 species (and perhaps the free-ranging storks or occasional wild bird - there was a lovely purple heron perched beside the rhino exhibit during my cruise).

The cruise is an additional charge on top of the park admission. Tip for passengers - sit on the left for good views of the animals. Photos pf the cruise are in the River Safari gallery.
 
It sounds very interesting Zooish. I went to a talk at a conference earlier this month, and one of the speakers was working on water quality in Singapore's reservoirs, it was interesting and made me want to get back there. I had no idea Singapore imported most of its water from Malaysia. This looks like a good way to see one of the reservoirs.

Where is the dock? Off the Amazon square?

Is there much chance of spotting native species from the boat? Do they mention them at all in the commentary? Could they attract them through plantings or feedings? Any idea what the future exhibits might be? Presumably fairly large species. A macaque exhibit or a way to attract a local troop to the shore would be cool.
 
Singapore used to import most of our water from Malaysia. But in recent years we've increased our own water supply through desalination, recycling used water and creating more reservoirs. The goal is to stop importing water and be fully self-sufficient by 2061.

Yes the dock is off Amazon Square (now renamed as Boat Plaza). Waiting for the new park map to see how they will illustrate the cruise :)

Birds like herons, sea eagles, kingfishers should not be difficult to spot. Might see the occasional water monitor as well. The macaques seem to avoid the shoreline though. In general WRS doesn't practice feeding the native wildlife as this might breed dependency on humans. The commentary does include native wildlife and there are pictures of them in the ferry.

I believe WRS is looking to add some primate exhibits along the cruise route.
 
Chlidonias said:
I split it from when the River Safari opened to the public, and that became this current thread. I can change the title to whatever Zooish would like it to be.
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"The River Safari of Unfulfilled Potential" would be apt, but "Singapore River Safari" is fine ;)
 
Zooish said:
"The River Safari of Unfulfilled Potential" would be apt, but "Singapore River Safari" is fine ;)
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Given the gnashing of teeth from all of us who have ridden the Amazon boat debacle, how about "Cry me a River Safari"? ;)
 
Hihai said:
Is it just me or is there less and less species in the Amazon river quest??
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If you are referring to the park map, yes they've removed many of species from it. But the animals are still physically present along the boat ride. Only the macaws have been taken off exhibit in line with a new WRS policy to do away with wing-clipped parrot exhibits.
 
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