Each time a friend would drop by Singapore and ask where they can go, I would always answer, why don’t you try the Singapore Zoo? Huh? Why the zoo? I feel that the Singapore Zoo is one of the best zoos I’ve ever been to. There is large variety of animals that can be viewed in, what is almost, their natural habitat. It does seem that the animals are really well taken cared of.
The zoo is just a bus ride away from the Ang Mo Ko MRT station. Making it quite convenient to get to. There is a day zoo and a night zoo, which is called the “Night Safari”. I’ll talk about the day zoo for now.
For a small country, Singapore has a large piece of land allocated for the zoo. It was built beside the Mandai Lake which is also a reservoir. It is divided into “regions” like Wild Africa, Reptile Garden, Primate Kingdom and Treetops Walk.
In Wild Africa there are large animals that can be found in the savannas of Africa. Animals from rhinos, giraffes to big cats like the lion and cheetahs. All of these animals were allocated a huge amount of space to suit their habits. However, care has also been given such that lions do not accidentally escape their enclosures and feast on the visitors. The lion is particularly impressive especially when it roars.
Singapore is a tropical country, so it is hot and humid. Good thing the park authorities set up air-conditioned stations to give the visitors some time to relax and cool down. After Wild Africa, is the Reptile Garden, as the name suggests it houses reptiles from fierce crocodiles, tortoises and even the Komodo dragon. They are probably not as lovable as the big cats of Africa but they are every bit as fascinating. Watch out for the regular feeding time for the crocodiles!
One of the more popular animals on display at the zoo is the huge polar bear. She has her own pool to share with her child. At regular times, there will also be feeding time for the polar bear for the visitors to see. It is just amazing to see how huge the polar bear really is. After all, it is the world’s largest carnivore. Cute and cuddly it may be, but you really need to be careful around it as it can knock a full-grown man down very easily. Coca cola anyone?
On display at the Primate Kingdom are all sorts of monkeys. Chimpanzees, gibbons and small monkeys all vie for your attention with their incessant howling. Sometimes if you look at the chimps long enough, you can start to see how human they can be. The gibbons are the acrobats of the monkey kingdom, they can easily swing from tree to tree with their long arms and, yes, they are also very noisy.
There is also a big elephant enclosure where one can hop on the elephants for a ride (for a fee of course). I didn’t think there was anything special with the elephant display as they were just walking around. They also perform tricks if that is your thing.
The white tiger is probably the most fascinating display. Most of the time the huge cats can be seen roaming around and looking at the visitors. They are truly magnificent animals. It is horrifying to know that their bones are actually prized for their supposed aphrodisiac qualities. Little wonder that they are now endangered animals.
Probably the biggest and most populated enclosure in the zoo is the one for the Hamadryas baboons. There is a huge colony of baboons in this location with the baboons occupying every nook and cranny of the enclosure. There is still room for them to move around. It is very amusing to watch them go about their lives and you can see how they interact with each other, much like how humans interact with other humans. Caring for their young, fighting with each others, grooming each other, and of course, sex, lots of it.
There were also a lot of other less charismatic animals like the pygmy hippo, tapir, and wolves. Each one is fascinating and impressive in their own right. Some of the animals are sometimes put in the same enclosure with the knowledge that one won’t be consumed by the other, of course.
The Singapore Zoo is a truly fascinating place. I go there whenever a vistor drops by and it never ceases to a amaze me. It is good that we have places like this to be able to appreciate our fellow inhabitants of Planet Earth, since humans are slowly (sometimes quickly) destroying their natural habitat. There may come a time when the only place that we can see animals are in zoos. Will it be too far fetched to consider that we may someday use cloning to create more of these magnificent animals since there are no longer enough of them around?
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