River Safari

The River Safari is a river-themed zoo and aquarium located in Singapore. It is built over 12 hectares (30 acres) and nestled between its two counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari, Singapore.[2] It is the first of its kind in Asia and features freshwater exhibits and a river boat ride as its main highlights. The safari was built at a cost of S$160m, with an expected visitor rate of 820,000 people yearly.[5]

This article is about the zoo and aquarium in Singapore. For the type of travel, see river cruise.

River Safari
Entrance of the River Safari
Date opened29 November 2012 (2012-11-29)
(Giant Panda Forest)
3 April 2013 (2013-04-03) (Soft opening)
28 February 2014 (2014-02-28) (Official opening)
LocationMandai, Singapore
80 Mandai Lake Road, Singapore 729826
Land area12 ha (30 acres)[1]
No. of animals5000[2][3]
No. of species300[3]
Annual visitors966,890 (FY 2019/20)[4]
Websiteriversafari.com.sg

The Giant Panda Forest was opened to the public on 29 November 2012,[6] with a soft opening on 3 April 2013, attracting close to 1,500 visitors.[7] This attraction is the fourth zoo in Singapore, along with the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, and Night Safari, all of which are managed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The park was officially opened on 28 February 2014, and it was announced that more than 1.1 million have visited the River Safari since its soft opening in April 2013.[8]

Construction
Giant panda Kai Kai, one of the main attractions at the River Safari
Chinese alligator on exhibition

Conceptualization of such as River Safari began in early 2007, and its construction was officially announced to the public on 11 February 2009 with an estimated completion date of late 2011.[9] The project began with an estimated budget of S$140 million as well as an annual visitor rate of 750,000,[9] however since the original announcement in 2009 the budget has since increased by S$20 million in 2010, due to rising construction costs, to S$160 million and the annual visitor rate has also increased to 820,000.[10]

The park is built within the current 89-hectare (220-acre) compound already shared by the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari[9] and occupies 12 hectares (30 acres), making it the smallest of the three parks.[5]

Animals

The park has over 14 zones that showcase different animals that are native to rivers around the world.

River Gems

Mississippi River

Congo River

Lake Tanganyika

River Nile

Ganges River

Mary River

Mekong River

Yangtze River

Giant Panda Forest

Amazon River Quest

Wild Amazonia

Squirrel Monkey Forest

Amazon Flooded Forest

Attractions

The park boasts a tropical rainforest setting[10] along with as river theme with various animal attractions, theme park rides and other major exhibits.

Giant pandas

One of the main attractions is a pair of male and female giant pandas – Kai Kai (凯凯) and Jia Jia (嘉嘉)[11] – which are housed in a specially constructed climate-controlled enclosure which change throughout the four seasons emulating their original environment.[12] The zoo grows its own 8,000-square-metre (86,000 sq ft) plantation of special bamboo specially for the feeding of the giant pandas. These pandas are a sign of the twentieth anniversary of friendly Sino-Singapore relations. The park also received a conservation donation from CapitaLand.[13] The names of the two pandas were selected from entries of a public naming competition organised in 2010.[14] The pandas, which arrived in September 2012, are on a ten-year loan from China.[15]

Theme park rides

The park features a boat ride called the Amazon River Quest. It features over 30 wildlife species from the Amazon River, such as Brazilian tapirs, capybaras, guanacos, brown-headed spider monkeys, brown capuchins, black howler monkeys, red howler monkeys, collared peccaries, jaguars, maned wolves, giant anteaters, two-toed sloths, Caribbean flamingos, common rheas, scarlet ibis, and green iguanas.[16] It was opened to visitors on 7 December 2013.[17]

A 15-minute Reservoir Cruise on the Upper Seletar Reservoir, will travel along the outskirts of Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari compound, which border on the reservoir, giving visitors a chance to spot animals including giraffes and Asian elephants. Tickets are priced at S$5 for adults and S$3 for children aged three to 12, on top of River Safari admission. Each cruise can take up to 40 passengers and runs at 15-minute intervals from 10.30am to 6.00pm daily. The boats are wheelchair-friendly. The ride opened on 1 August 2014.[18]

Transportation

Public transportation

River Safari is not served directly by any MRT line with the nearest station being the upcoming Springleaf MRT station.

There are three bus services operated by SBS Transit and SMRT Buses which calls at the bus stop near to the Zoo.[19]

ServiceDestinationNotes
SBS Transit Services
138Ang Mo Kio Bus Interchange
SMRT Buses Services
926Woodlands Temporary Bus InterchangeSuspended till further notice
927Choa Chu Kang Bus Interchange

Bus

A shuttle service, known as the Mandai Khatib Shuttle, plies daily between Khatib MRT station and the Zoo. A one-way trip cost $1 for everyone above the age of three.[20] A separate service, known as the Mandai Express, operates on weekends and holidays to and from three locations in Bedok, Sengkang, and Tampines. A one-way trip cost between $1 and $3 for everyone above the age of three.[21]

See also

References
  1. "WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE BUILDS RIVER SAFARI" (PDF) (Press release). Wildlife Reserves Singapore. 11 February 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 May 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  2. "Park Experience". Wildlife Reserves Singapore. Retrieved 28 November 2013.
  3. Wildlife Reserves Singapore Club (20 March 2013). "About River Safari" (PDF). Wildlife Reserves Singapore Club. Retrieved 27 November 2013.
  4. "WRS Yearbook 2018/2019" (PDF). Wildlife Reserves Singapore.
  5. Grace Chua (21 May 2010). "Pandas, polars at new Safari". The Straits Times. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  6. "Kai Kai and Jia Jia to make public debut on Nov 29". The Straits Times. 29 October 2012. Archived from the original on 29 October 2012. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  7. "River Safari opens to public during soft launch". Channel NewsAsia. 3 April 2013. Archived from the original on 5 April 2013.
  8. "More than 1.1 million visited River Safari since opening last April". Channel NewsAsia. 28 February 2014.
  9. Grace Chua (11 February 2009). "River Safari in 2011". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2010. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  10. Mustafa Shafawi, Hetty Musfira (21 May 2010). "Attractions of Asia's first river-themed park River Safari unveiled". Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  11. Relax – S'pore's giant pandas named Kai Kai and Jia Jia
  12. Wildlife Reserves Singapore Staff. "River Safari – Official Page". Wildlife Reserves Singapore. Archived from the original on 10 September 2010. Retrieved 8 October 2010.
  13. "WILDLIFE RESERVES SINGAPORE TO RECEIVE TWO GIANT PANDAS FROM CHINA" (PDF) (Press release). Wildlife Reserves Singapore. 11 November 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
  14. Channel NewsAsia
  15. Channel NewsAsia
  16. "Amazon River Quest". Wildlife Reserves Singapore Group. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
  17. "River Safari launches boat ride, marking completion of wildlife park". Channel NewsAsia. 7 December 2013. Archived from the original on 10 December 2013.
  18. "Launching This Friday: New River Safari Cruise". Channel NewsAsia. 30 July 2014. Archived from the original on 2 August 2014.
  19. "Getting here". www.wrs.com.sg.
  20. Chew, Hui Min (9 March 2017). "New daily express bus from Khatib to Mandai wildlife parks". The Straits Times. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  21. "Mandai Express". form.jotform.com.
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