Singapore Zoo

A Wild Experience in a Wild Tropical Rainforest

A journey into the rainforest Singapore Zoo is like taking a walk in the wild jungle of Burma, the great rift valley of Ethiopia, the Australian outback and the arctic regions all at the same time.

As a matter of fact, I am not the sort of person who would like visiting zoos, reason being that the animals are usually all caged up or confined. Typically, you could only watch them from a distance and in my opinion; you are better off watching them over discovery channel. But this is not so at the Singapore Zoo.

What really impresses me about Singapore Zoo is not about the variety of animals but rather, the “free and open” concept of the rainforest or you may call it the jungle experience. How many zoos in the world allow animals to roam freely in the open natural habitats?

Whoever designed the Singapore Zoo, a great deal of thought must have gone into making it a safe place for human traffic and a haven for the animals. If you are game enough, you could even touch some of the animals. I touched the Kangaroos and Emus.

An Exotic Breakfast with Orangutans

I started my day at the Singapore Zoo with the Jungle Breakfast together with Ian and Whelan. This wildlife programme which is unique to Singapore Zoo allows diners to get up close and personal with its friendly residents, the orangutans while you dine.

Now, please don’t be mistaken, Ian and Whelan are not orangutans, they are my human friends. To my surprise, a friendly elephant even came by to greet us while we were having our exotic jungle breakfast. This is definitely one of the highlights that that you should not miss if you want to have an unprecedented experience with the zoo! It will cost you about S$16 per adult for the Jungle Breakfast.

The zoo spreads across 28 hectares of land and it is a small haven to more than 3 hundreds species of animals. It houses a huge reservoir that provides water for the wild roaming animals throughout the forest. It is also home to many of the rare endangered species such as the Malayan tiger, the golden lion tamarins, the bawean hog deer, the white rhino and cheetah, just to name a few.

You could walk or you could sit back and relax

There are various modes of tour available within the premises where you could either take a ride on trams, elephants, horse carriages or by walking. I would recommend starting the tour with a regular tram ride where you will get an excellent overview of the entire Singapore Zoo, followed by a walking tour along the trails spread over the dense forest to appreciate the zoo.

Shelters are placed around the zoo just in case the weather changes. Some of these shelters are called “jungle station” where the tram drops you and you can explore on foot for a while, or take a drink or bite before it picks you up again for the second half. There are lots of food stops, toilets and drinks machines that are within easy access in the zoo to keep you re-energize and re-hydrate.

We started the tour with a guided tram ride ($5 for the tram ride). Each time the tram turned a corner, we learned something more about the different animals from the audio narration. We were always surprised by what might be lying by the road.

When we were done with the tram, we decided to take it slow and casual. We roamed about the zoo on foot along the trails to see the animals, their feeding times and some really entertaining animals’ shows. If you plan to walk the trails, don’t forget to bring some water and snacks along, but remember, do not feed the animals.

Amazing entertainments await you

To keep the tourists entertained, the Singapore Zoo offers various animal shows and some of the must see are the Splash Safari show, Animal Friends show as well as the Elephants at Work and at Play show. Every show ended with a common message, encouraging visitors that they have an important part to play in wildlife conservation. I found this to be an effective way of spreading the message across to the audiences, especially the young generation.

We found the “Elephant at Work and Play” particularly entertaining and educational. The show exhibited how the elephants work in the Asian Logging camps but with a twist that showcase the more loveable and playful side of the animals.

Besides putting on performances, you can also go on a wild ride on an elephant or have your picture taken with the animals. I was amazed to learn that the zoo is home to so many different species of elephants from Sri Lanka, Thailand, India and Cambodia.

Walk Through Exhibits – Impressive!

Some of my favorite exhibits were those walk through exhibits like the Fragile Forest. It was here that I learned some ecological lessons about the delicate inter-relationship between animals, plants and human beings in rainforests. Some of the creatures you can expect are creepy crawlies such as caterpillars, butterflies, spiders, scorpions, horseshoe crabs and many more. It can be pretty hair raising if you are not use to seeing them. The sight of them sent shivers down and up my spine.

While walking these walk through exhibits, you will be amazed that some of the animals like ring tailed Lemur, mouse deer, iguana and monitor lizard are sharing the same foot path as you.

“Mind your footsteps; I don’t want to be liable for any animal injury here.” I kept telling Whelan. This is how close you can get to these animals.

Interestingly, we spotted some little red flying fox bats hanging upside down on a tree, while walking an elevated trail. They were literally inches away from us where we could easily observe the fur and textile of the skin. Ian was thrilled to be able to take pictures of such rare subject in close range with his newly acquired Nikon Digital SLR. These animals didn’t seem to mind at all.

The Treetops Trail is another similar walk though type where you actually take an elevated wooden trail above the ground for a great bird eye views of the tropical rainforest scene. If you are sharp enough, there are many animals around for you to spot. We spotted some mouse deer and some False Gharials (crocodile specie) while looking down and a Sumatran Siamang (ape specie) high above the tree top while looking up.

Arctic in the Tropic

One breath taking experience was to be able to catch a glimpse of the Polar Bears being thousands of miles away from the arctic. I could watch the magnificent bears taking a swim in the deep underwater tank. Their way of saying hello was to swim up to you so close where you could admire their majestic glory. You see, what is so incredible is that the Singapore Zoo is the first in the world to breed a polar bear in the tropics. They are so successful in creating a natural arctic habitat for these Polar Bears.

A journey into the Singapore Mandai Zoo has been a superb and enlightening experience for me. It is also a great place for kids as it allows them to touch and feed different animals.

Am I impressed with the Mandai Zoo of Singapore? It is a definite ‘No doubt about it!’ I would say it is one of the best zoos in Asia if not the world and also the best landscaped.

The best time to visit the Singapore Zoo is during the weekdays and non-holiday periods as these are the times when the zoo is less crowded, making it much easier to view the animals. The Zoo is so vast that anyone could easily spend a full day there. You should start in the morning and try to finish by 5.30pm; most of the exhibits will be empty without a trace of the animals by then. Where have the animals gone? Don’t ask me.

If you plan to continue the animal tour, the Night Safari (Night Zoo) is just right next door.

How to get there

Take the MRT to Choa Chu Kang Station (NS4), then board SMRT Bus 927 which takes you all the way to the zoo. Or take the MRT up north to Ang Mo Kio to transfer to bus 138 which will also take you directly to the Singapore Zoo. If you don’t feel like going through the hazard of train and bus ride, the easiest option is taxi.