![]() ![]() In 2003, Wildlife Reserves Singapore launched a massive rebranding exercise, which was shelved due to widespread public disapproval. Several key staff, including CEO Bernard Harrison, left as a result in 2002, citing differences in management style. The restructuring of the zoo was not without controversy. Night Safari, which began under the zoo, became a separate branding entity. The zoo underwent a restructuring to improve its efficiency and branding which included the merging of shared services and expansion of consultancy services overseas. On 1 August 2000, Singapore Zoological Gardens, Jurong Bird Park and Night Safari were integrated under Wildlife Reserves Singapore, under the umbrella of Temasek Holdings. This was followed by white tigers from Cincinnati Zoo in 1988 and giant pandas from Wolong National Nature Reserve in 1990. The first animals displayed in this manner were the rare golden snub-nosed monkeys from China in 1987, which attracted more than half a million visitors. In 1987, the zoo began to display rare animals loaned by other zoos. By 1990, 1,600 animals from more than 160 species lived in social groups, housed in 65 landscaped exhibits with boundaries conceived to look as natural as possible. On 27 June 1973, the Singapore Zoo opened its gates for the first time with a collection of 270 animals from over 72 species, and a staff of 130. The director of the National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka, Lyn de Alwis, was hired as a special consultant to work out the problems inherent in tropical zoos. Animals were collected from dealers and donated by sponsors. In 1970, consultants and staff were hired, and in 1971, the construction of the basic 50 enclosures was started. The executive chairman of the PUB, Dr Ong Swee Law, set aside 88 ha (220 acres) of land for the construction of a zoological garden. At the time, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) decided to use some of its land holdings around reservoirs for parks and open recreational facilities. The conception of the Singapore Zoo dates from 1969. Prior to the establishment of Singapore Zoo, there were other short-lived zoos in Singapore's history, including the first recorded zoo founded in the early 1870s at the present-day Singapore Botanic Gardens, a zoo opened in the 1920s in Ponggol (present-day Punggol) by animal trader William Lawrence Soma Basapa and two zoos run by two brothers by the surname of Chan during the 1960s. History Īh Meng the Bornean orangutan at the Singapore Zoo on Free-Ranging Orangutan Island The Singapore Zoo has been highly ranked by various international metrics. It houses the largest captive colony of orangutans in the world. Singapore Zoo has always exhibited animals in naturalistic, 'open' exhibits with hidden barriers, moats, and glass between the animals and visitors. The zoo attracts over 2 million visitors every year. Within the zoo, there are about 315 species of animals, of which some 16 percent are considered to be a threatened species. All five parks makes up the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, which consists of more than 15,000 animals from 1,000 species. ![]() It is operated by the Mandai Wildlife Group, which also manages the neighbouring Night Safari, River Wonders, the Jurong Bird Park as well as the forthcoming Rainforest Wild Park. ![]() Opened in 1973, the zoo was built at a cost of $9 million that was granted by the government of Singapore. ![]() The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a 28 hectares (69 acres) zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. ![]()
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