A Historical Review of Singapore Zoo Quiz

Answer: Botanic Gardens

In 1875, the zoo was housed within the grounds of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, but closed in 1905 due to shortage of land and funds. Although the Botanic Gardens were established in 1859, it was Stamford Raffles, in 1822, who proposed Government Hill (now Fort Canning Park) as the perfect location for a botanical garden.

The Singapore Zoo is now sited in the Upper Seletar Reservoir.

The current zoo is not the first ever zoo in Singapore. That honour goes to the privately owned Punggol Zoo, which was forcibly closed in 1942 amid fears of a Japanese invasion.

Today, Fort Canning Park, the ArtScience museum and Raffles Hotel are all within a short walk of each other. The Botanical Gardens is a short taxi ride away. The Interlace is an architecturally designed, high density, residential apartment complex which resembles irregularly stacked bricks.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 has seen all of the above sites except the Interlace, but hopes to see it on her next trip to Singapore.

Answer: Upper Seletar Reservoir

Ong Swee Law was chairman of the Public Utilities Board in Singapore and it was written that he felt the city did not have enough family venues. He started the discussion on creating a zoo and was given the task of evaluating if a zoo would meet the needs of the people of Singapore. The government gave $9 million to the cost and development of the zoo plus allocated 260 acres of land for the zoo project.

Singapore zoo came to fruition and was constructed on the Upper Seletar Reservoir, finally opening to the public in June 1973. It was one of the first zoos that had an "open zoo" design as opposed to strictly caged animals. In the open design, animals are displayed in enclosures that closely resemble an animal's natural habitats. In addition to entertainment, the zoo is known for educating the public about the animals and conservation efforts as well as animal care and rescued wildlife.

PR's jaknginger loves a good zoo and marvels at the efforts to maintain such a project.

Answer: Komodo dragon

When the zoo opened, it held approximately 300 animals (representing 72 species) that were housed in 50 different enclosures. Orangutans, elephants and sun bears were all on display from the outset, although two of the sun bears famously escaped prior to the official opening. The first Komodo dragon at the zoo was Bima, who was born in 1993 and arrived from Lisbon Zoo. Since then, the zoo has expanded considerably and by 2020 it housed nearly 300 species. When all of the Mandai parks are combined, there are over 1000 different types of animals represented.

Player pusdoc of Phoenix Rising's Red Crew gets dizzy trying to count all the animals.

Answer: Breakfast with the Orangutans

Orangutan Ah Meng was the first to participate in the breakfast program, which is now held at a restaurant named for her, and she was named a "special tourism ambassador" for her efforts. A sumptuous buffet is served to humans, and the orangutans join the party, although they snack on more appropriate food such as sunflower seeds and fruit. There are no barriers between the humans and apes, and photo opportunities abound. Separate tickets must be purchased to reserve a spot at breakfast. The zoo has an "Orangutan Island" and both Bornean and Sumatran orangutans are housed there - both types are critically endangered, primarily due to habitat loss.
Riding an elephant was discontinued from 2015 following an injury to a keeper in 2001.

Player pusdoc has now added Singapore to her bucket list and hopes to dine with her close relatives there.

Answer: Golden snub-nosed monkey

Singapore zoo is known for borrowing rare animals from other zoos and this practice not only increases the number of visitors through their doors, it raises awareness of these animals. The first such exhibit was the golden snub-nosed monkey borrowed from China in 1987, which resulted in over half a million visitors. Since then, giant pandas and white tigers have also been short stay visitors.

The golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) lives in mountainous areas of central and southwest China. The male is a larger animal than the female and has longer golden guard hairs. They are social animals, generally living in complex groups of between 5 to 600. They eat lichen, leaves, fruits and seeds depending on seasonal availability. The golden snub-nosed monkey has a conservation status level of 'endangered' in the first quarter of the twenty-first century.

Red Crew's smpdit really should quit monkeying around.

Answer: Polar bear

Singapore Zoo acquired polar bears Nanook and Sheba in 1978 and housed them in a climate-controlled space. In 1990, Inuka was born to the bears and quickly became a beloved symbol of the zoo for many. Sadly, Inuka became ill at the age of 27, which is beyond the usual life span for polar bears in the wild or in captivity. The zoo made the difficult decision to euthanize Inuka in 2018, and has no plans to resume polar bear exhibits. Inuka was born weighing 350 grams, but weighed over 500 kg at the time of his death.

Player pusdoc is bearing up well during this time of mourning for Inuka.

Answer: Singapore Zoological Gardens

The original name of the zoo was the Singapore Zoological Gardens, but was simplified in 2005 to the more modern Singapore Zoo. It is also known as the Mandai Zoo by the locals because of its location in the Northern Singaporean district of Mandai. The zoo is situated on the Mandai Wildlife Reserve and is managed by The Mandai Wildlife Group.

Sentosa Island is Singapore's playroom, located just off the south coast. There are amusement parks, scenic walks, beaches, cable cars, golf courses and luxury hotels. Marina Bay Sands is an iconic building in central Singapore, consisting of three hotel towers, with a replica of a boat balanced on the top. Taronga Park Zoo is also a world-class zoo, but it is in Sydney, Australia.

Phoenix Rising's Ozzz2002 visited the zoo in 2011 and was VERY impressed.

Answer: Steve Irwin

Steve Irwin, known as "The Crocodile Hunter" after his television show of the same name, was an internationally known conservationist, environmentalist and zoo keeper. In 2004 he filmed an episode of the third season of "The Crocodile Hunter Diaries" sub-titled "Steve's Singapore Safari" at the zoo. According to the zoo's website, Steve was very impressed by the way the animals were allowed to roam and interact with the visitors. He was so impressed, he named the zoo a sister organisation for his own park, Australia Zoo, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast.

Irwin worked extensively with the Singapore Zoo on the concept and design of the Australasia Zone, even to the point of designating appropriate flora for the displays. He also provided some Eastern grey kangaroos and inland taipans for the exhibits from his own park. In March 2006, six months before his unexpected death, he was present at the public opening of the display.

Red Crew's leith90 was also very impressed with Singapore Zoo, but had not known about Irwin's involvement until she saw a memorial at the Australasia display.

Answer: The Wildlife and Healthcare Research Centre

The Wildlife and Healthcare Research Centre was opened in 2006. Here, patrons of the zoo can view injured or ill animals in various stages of their recovery. Through the wildlife centre, the zoo performs research not just for the health and well-being of the animals, but also for protecting the wildlife. The zoo also successfully breeds hundreds of endangered and vulnerable animals each year. Some notables have been a polar bear, turtle and in 2009, they hatched a Komodo dragon, the first time this has occurred outside its native Indonesia!

Jaknginger hatched this question for PR's Red Crew team quiz.

Answer: Jurong Bird Park

The Jurong Bird Park is a sanctuary home to some 400 different species of birds in Western Singapore. The idea of building the bird park came after the then Minister for Finance, Dr Goh Keng Swee, visited a similar refuge in Rio De Janeiro. Work on building the park began in 1969 and it opened its doors to the public in 1971.

In 2016, the governing body of the Mandai Wildlife Group (MWG), which manages both the bird park and the zoo, announced that the bird park would relocate to larger premises on the Mandai Wildlife Reserve. The Mandai Reserve which houses the Zoo is also home to the Night Safari and River Wonder, both of which are under the MWG umbrella . Along with the move, the bird park will change its name to Bird Paradise.

Phoenix Rising's leith90 wonders if there will be any phoenixes in the park.