Singapore Zoo Singapore Zoo News 2016

Zooish said:
Or rather, the new curator was hired because WRS had planned to improve its reptile collection. ;)

But he is doing a good job nonetheless.
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I think its a mix of both. Also, the new director of animal collections is the former curator of birds of Jurong, so it may be that we can expect new ideas for the other parks soon. He did a good job in Jurong I think.
 
Calyptorhynchus said:
I think its a mix of both. Also, the new director of animal collections is the former curator of birds of Jurong, so it may be that we can expect new ideas for the other parks soon. He did a good job in Jurong I think.
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Indeed, Dr Luis has done a good job revitalizing the Bird Park's collection. He's also a reptile expert as well, which could be why the Herpetology department is in the limelight now.
 
Calyptorhynchus said:
Was told that the zoo will be remodelling the snake house later in the year. Also, the Fragile Forest will have some upgrading works done. No details yet, so not sure if there will be new species in or just general touch ups.
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Based on what I've been told, there will be repair and landscaping works done to fragile forest.

The discovery centre will now have on display invertebrates like the Dragon Headed Katydid and Dead Leaf Mantis as well as the amphibians already present at the entrance area. A new discovery outpost area is supposed to provide an interactive corner for guests to interact with the keepers and insects.

The aviary is also supposed to see the addition of some bird species, including the peacock pheasant and toucan(no species specified)
 
Fragile Forest has reopened after a modest refresh that involved re-landscaping of the biodome and changing out a few of the displays at the indoor discovery centre.

New species added to the biodome (in addition to existing species) are white-faced saki, Prevost's squirrel, variable squirrel, tree shrew (either common or Northern), great argus and Malayan peacock pheasant. Butterflies have been removed and placed in a glass enclosure between the double doors (where the squirrels were formerly housed).

The former frog room now only houses Southeast Asian frogs/toads and invertebrates. Species on display are four-lined tree frog, common greenback, Malayan horned frog, giant river toad, jungle nymph, dragon-headed katydid, atlas beetle, water scorpion and pond skater.

The other invertebrate room has been made more aesthetic, with a backdrop of 22 planted but unsigned tarantula terrariums (all confiscated illegal pets). Signed terrariums house: ornate horned frog, Asian forest scorpion, Mexican red-knee tarantula, giant milipede, Madagascan hissing cockroach, Grey's twig, dead leaf mantis and tree nymph butterfly pupae and caterpillars.

The mangrove tank has been retained and houses hermit crab, giant mudskipper, banded archerfish, halfbeak and mangrove cardinalfish.

Photos will be posted in the gallery.
 
Zooish, perhaps you can muster some more info on the tree kangaroo house and the old breeding pair. I heard they bred a joey already and sent it on breeding loan to Yokohama Zoorasia in May this year? Any info which 2 individuals the original pair may be (the newer ones are male Makaia ex Adelaide and female Nupela ex Sydney).
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Zooish, perhaps you can muster some more info on the tree kangaroo house and the old breeding pair. I heard they bred a joey already and sent it on breeding loan to Yokohama Zoorasia in May this year? Any info which 2 individuals the original pair may be (the newer ones are male Makaia ex Adelaide and female Nupela ex Sydney).
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The joey was sent to Yokohama in May last year. I only know the pair are named Ziggy and Blue, if that is useful.
 
Having the squirrels and treeshrews in Fragile Forest is interesting, although I imagine they will be difficult to spot in that space (especially the latter).

The butterflies must have an especially small area now, and not a walkthrough I presume? Would think a butterfly walkthrough would be the sort of exhibit Singapore Zoo would be very keen on.
 
zooboy28 said:
Having the squirrels and treeshrews in Fragile Forest is interesting, although I imagine they will be difficult to spot in that space (especially the latter).

The butterflies must have an especially small area now, and not a walkthrough I presume? Would think a butterfly walkthrough would be the sort of exhibit Singapore Zoo would be very keen on.
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The Prevost's squirrels are quite showy and hard to miss; there's only one variable squirrel (a white phase male) and one tree shrew in there, so they're a bit harder to spot.

Nope, the butterfly enclosure is not a walk through now.

In other news, the Zoo is setting up a temporary animatronic dinosaur display that will run from December till at least March 2017. Heliconia Valley will house most of the 20 dinosaurs (not all to scale), with the rest scattered in other locations.
 
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@Zooish: Do you know why they removed the butterflies from the Walk-thru part of Fragile Forest (I can imagine why, but like to be sure)?
Also: It would be great if you could tell us the scientific names of the new amphibias, fishes and invertebrates at FF, if possible.
Thank you in advance and all the best from wet and cold Switzerland. Enjoy your temperatures!
 
zoomaniac said:
@Zooish: Do you know why they removed the butterflies from the Walk-thru part of Fragile Forest (I can imagine why, but like to be sure)?
Also: It would be great if you could tell us the scientific names of the new amphibias, fishes and invertebrates at FF, if possible.
Thank you in advance and all the best from wet and cold Switzerland. Enjoy your temperatures!
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Hi zoomaniac, it's been wet and cold (by Singapore standards!) here as well :)

I was told the butterflies were removed from the Biodome because they couldn't breed enough to fill such a large space. And they don't import any butterflies from commercial breeders. So they decided to display the butterflies in a small enclosure to make them more visible.

The list of amphibians, fish and invertebrates currently displayed at FF:

Ornate Horned Frog - Ceratophrys ornata
Malayan Horned Frog - Megophrys nasuta
Common Greenback - Hylarana erythraea
Four-lined Tree Frog - Polypedates leucomystax
River Toad - Phrynoidis aspera

Giant Mudskipper - Periophthalmodon schlosseri
Banded Archerfish - Toxotes jaculatrix
Stripe-nosed Halfbeak - Zenarchopterus buffonis
Orbiculate Cardinalfish - Sphaeramia orbicularis (incorrectly labelled as Apogon hyalosoma)
Ocellate River Stingray - Potamotrygon motoro

Hermit Crab - Coenobitidae sp.
Mexican Red-knee Tarantula - Brachypelma smithi
Asian Forest Scorpion - Heterometrus longimanus
Giant Millipede - Thyropygus pachyurus
Madagascar Hissing Cockroach - Gromphadorhina portentosa
Atlas Beetle - Chalcosoma atlas
Dragon-headed Katydid - Eumegalodon sp.
Dead Leaf Mantis - Deroplatys desiccata
Jungle Nymph - Heteropteryx dilatata
Gray's Twig - Ctenomorphodes chronus
Pond Skater - Gerridae sp.
Water Scorpion - Laccotrephes sp.

Great Eggfly - Hypolimnas bolina
Autumn Leaf - Doleschallia bisaltide
Cruiser - Vidula dejone
Common Sailor - Neptis hylas
Orange Emigrant - Catopsilia scylla
Clipper - Parthenos sylvia
Archduke - Lexias pardalis
Striped Blue Crow - Euploea mulciber
Leopard Lacewing - Cethosia cyane
Malay Lacewing - Cethosia hypsea
Lime Butterfly - Papilio demoleus
Great Mormon - Papilio memnon
Common Mormon - Papilio polytes
Common Rose - Pachliopta aristolochiae
Plain Tiger - Danaus chrysippus
Blue Grassy Tiger - Ideopsis vulgaris
Tree Nymph - Idea leuconoe clara
 
Hi Zooish

Thank you so much for your reply (and your work). Great job. I knew I could count on you!
 
Kifaru Bwana said:
Zooish, perhaps you can muster some more info on the tree kangaroo house and the old breeding pair. I heard they bred a joey already and sent it on breeding loan to Yokohama Zoorasia in May this year? Any info which 2 individuals the original pair may be (the newer ones are male Makaia ex Adelaide and female Nupela ex Sydney).
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The female of the older pair was from Melbourne. Don't know about the male, yet.
 
The Zoo's polar bear turns 26 years old on Boxing Day. He's been suffering from arthritis amongst other age-related ailments. The Zoo staff are expecting about one more good year for him before his health deteriorates to the point where euthanasia has to be considered. The Zoo has pledged not to acquire more polar bears in the foreseeable future.

Singapore Zoo's Inuka turns 26
 
If Inuka did die and was not replaced, what would go into his exhibit? Given its a relatively new, and presumably expensive, enclosure, I imagine they'd want to retain it. Could sea-lions be housed there? Or penguins?
 
zooboy28 said:
If Inuka did die and was not replaced, what would go into his exhibit? Given its a relatively new, and presumably expensive, enclosure, I imagine they'd want to retain it. Could sea-lions be housed there? Or penguins?
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There had been discussions to remodel the enclosure for a temperate bear species.
 
kiang said:
I'd give the wolverines and raccoon dogs a decent home first, before bringing in any more bears.
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If by decent you mean getting them outdoor enclosures, then I don't think that will be happening anytime soon. They may be naturally phased out in due course though.
 
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