Singapore Zoo to mark 50th anniversary with new behind-the-scenes insects tour, ZOObilee trail
A guest during a preview of the upcoming invertebrates tour and an inflatable art playground installed as part of Singapore Zoo's 50th anniversary on Jun 21, 2023. (Photos: CNA/Gaya Chandramohan, Mandai Wildlife Group)
SINGAPORE: As part of its 50th anniversary, Singapore Zoo will be launching a behind-the-scenes tour to allow visitors to learn about the roles of insects in the ecosystem.
The new tour, which will be held at the Fragile Forest exhibit, will be launched on Aug 6, with ticket sales starting from Jul 6. The tickets are priced at S$118.40 for weekdays and S$148 for weekends and public holidays.
As part of the Golden ZOObilee, there will be a trail featuring 2D sculptures and interactive stations about the zoo's star animals, including Ah Meng the Sumatran Orangutan. The trail ends with a 21m-long inflatable art playground.
GETTING OVER FEAR OF INSECTS WITH NEW TOUR
The Incredible Invertebrates tour will include hands-on activities such as identifying butterfly eggs and releasing newly-unfurled beauties into the Butterfly Aviary, Mandai Wildlife Group said in a media release.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday (Jun 21), Delvinder Kaur, assistant curator at Mandai Wildlife Group who developed the tour with her team, said they wanted to bring the insects up close to guests to help them understand and get over the fear of such invertebrates.
“A lot of people are scared of insects; things that fly, things that are big. (You will be scared of) something you are just not familiar with. There are a lot of these invertebrates in our natural landscape and only when we learn to appreciate them then we don't mind them being around,” she added.
She said the tour is a “perfect science lesson” for children, adding that the process of developing the tour, which took almost a year, was to show guests the experience the staff have with the insects.
Other activities that will be held in celebration of Singapore Zoo’s golden jubilee include a zoo adventure tour.
Guests can go on a private buggy tour to explore highlights of the zoo’s history, animal interaction and feeding sessions. Tickets are available for the tour which will run from Jun 27 to Aug 27.
The Mandai Wildlife Run will also return on Sep 23 and 24 after a three-year hiatus.
The event, which started in 2009 in memory of Ah Meng, allows participants to run in Singapore Zoo, River Wonders and Night Safari. Registration for the run starts on Jun 27.
50-YEAR HISTORY
The late Dr Ong Swee Law, then chairman of Singapore’s Public Utilities Board, conceived the idea of a zoo in the catchment forests around Upper Seletar Reservoir.
The Singapore Zoological Gardens, which was later renamed as Singapore Zoo, opened on Jun 27, 1973. Occupying about 28ha of land, the zoo featured 272 animals across 72 species.
Today, Singapore Zoo has more than 4,200 animals from over 300 species, of which 34 per cent are threatened.
At a community event at the zoo on Wednesday, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, deputy chairman of Mandai Park Holdings, said that these animals are “at risk of extinction”, adding that the environment is being degraded and intervention of human beings in ways less than acceptable, like poaching of wildlife.
During the event, Mike Barclay, Group CEO of Mandai Wildlife Group, said: “Over the past fifty years, the Singapore Zoo has remained relevant and world-renowned because of our staff, our volunteers and our sponsors, who are all committed to caring for animals and educating visitors on how people and wildlife can thrive together.”
Answering media queries on how Singapore Zoo has kept itself relevant for 50 years, Mr Barclay said it is important to link into the zoological community.
“We are in the Southeast Asian Zoo Association, but we're also in the Australian Zoo Association and the European, and we're members of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. And we do that partly to pick up best practices and to exchange ideas with other zoological parks, and through that you're always learning. You're never thinking … we’re at this level, we can't get better.
“I think you need to always be wanting to do better, and hopefully that serves you well,” said Mr Barclay.
He added that Singapore Zoo wants to engage more people in the future and have a bigger impact on the conservation space.
