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It is not about Singapore (human) population but still a piece of good news. The efforts of our zoological team pay dividends. And 998 is quite an auspicious number too. 🙃 Bountiful baby year: S’pore wildlife parks welcomed close to 1,000 newborns in 2024 Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/bountiful-baby-year-spore-wildlife-parks-welcome-close-to-1000-newborns-in-2024 It was a huge bundle of joy for Mandai Wildlife Reserve in 2024 as it welcomed 998 baby animals across its parks. The bumper births surpassed 2023’s 970 newborns, which was then the highest number of babies the wildlife parks have collectively produced since 2013. Among the new additions are 34 species listed as threatened under the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, Mandai Wildlife Group (MWG) said on March 27. Singapore Zoo One of them was Putri, a proboscis monkey whose wild populations are declining due to habitat loss from deforestation for timber and oil palm plantations. Putri, whose name means “princess” in the Malay and Indonesian languages, is the second offspring to parents Malaka and Jeff. She can often be seen playing with her brother Bayu or clinging to her mother at the proboscis monkey habitat. Of the 143 species that gave birth in 2024, 23 are part of internationally managed breeding programmes such as the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria’s Ex-situ Programme. The arrival of five slender-tailed meerkat pups – the twins residing at the Great Rift Valley of Ethiopia and the triplets at Wild Africa – marks the first births of the species since 2019, said MWG. Adding to the list of crowd charmers is a female Linne’s two-toed sloth named Hope and three oriental small-clawed otters. Another highlight was the arrival of two Goeldi’s monkeys – the first infants in nine years – along with four ring-tailed lemurs and two emperor tamarins. In the realm of reptiles and amphibians, the endangered golden mantella and black-legged poison frog were among the key breeding successes, said MWG. “These species require highly specific water conditions for reproduction, and the animal care team achieved a breakthrough by studying and fine-tuning optimal water parameters,” it said, adding that the team also simulated natural seasonal changes, such as adjusting temperatures and humidity, to improve breeding success. “In a crucial step, eggs were carefully retrieved for assisted hatching, to maximise chances of survival.” The efforts put in led to a total of 31 golden mantella hatchlings, which was the highest in three years. According to MWG, another of its key breeding efforts focused on the Chrisangi leaf insect, a species native to Singapore, to prevent extinction and support conservation efforts. Night Safari A bounty of fawns were also birthed at Night Safari in 2024. Among the additions were three Malayan sambar deer, five barasinghas, and a male hog deer. The arrival of three Turkmenian markhor kids also marked a milestone as the first offspring for the species in five years. Markhors, with their wide hooves, are perfectly adapted to the rocky, mountainous terrains that they inhabit in the wild. MWG also welcomed a male woylie, the fifth joey born at Night Safari since 2021, at the Tasmanian Devil Trail. The joey, which initially stayed close to its mother after birth, is now growing bolder, curiously exploring its habitat and engaging in enrichment activities. River Wonders At River Wonders, it welcomed two special additions – a giant anteater pup and a West Indian manatee calf. Solana, the fifth pup born to Zapata and Iapura, has transitioned to a solid diet of ant eggs and boiled eggs. As she continues to get used to the presence of keepers, the playful young one often climbs onto its mother’s back for comfort. Meanwhile, the shy West Indian manatee calf at the Amazon Flooded Forest has formed a friendship with a young female born in 2023. The two can often be seen grazing together. The latest calf, like her buddy, was bottle-fed by the aquarists and tended to round the clock as no nursing behaviour was observed from its mother. The endangered Lake Titicaca frog was also successfully bred by River Wonders in the same year it was first exhibited. The blue discus, a tropical fish native to South America, continues to thrive with 80 new members joining the school. Bird Paradise High conservation value species like the golden parakeet and yellow-mantled chattering lory were born in Bird Paradise in 2024. To ensure their survival, eggs that were neglected or abandoned in the aviaries were safely retrieved and incubated at its breeding and research centre. According to MWG, newly hatched chicks are placed in a specially controlled environment. The chicks will be hand-raised and gradually exposed to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, preparing them for release to the aviaries. Other notable baby birds included first-time hatchings for MWG, such as the blue-winged leafbird, Madagascar teal and Meller’s duck as well as the first Nyasa lovebird and green honeycreeper hatchlings in over seven years. They also celebrated its first-ever penguin hatchlings with two gentoo penguin chicks born to first-time parents Riki and Peach, and one to parents Citrus and Enzo.

Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. The SingapoRediscovers vouchers for tourist attractions, tours and hotel bookings will be given out via SingPass. Every Singaporean aged 18 and above in 2020 is set to receive S$100 worth of SingapoRediscovers vouchers, which can be used on staycations, attraction tickets and tours. The vouchers can be used between December this year and the end of June next year. A S$10 subsidy will also be provided for children and youth tickets for attractions and tours, said the STB. Each adult may purchase up to six children or youth tickets at subsidised prices during the duration of the scheme. Announcing the details on Wednesday (Sep 16), Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said the move will help the local tourism industry, which has been battered by the COVID-19. “This is not a social assistance scheme. This is an economic scheme to help our tourist attractions to preserve their capabilities that have been built up over the years, while they consolidate capacity in the interim,” Mr Chan told reporters at the Jurong Bird Park. The vouchers will be provided in denominations of S$10 via SingPass, and may be used to purchase tickets for attractions and tours, and accommodation bookings at licensed hotels, said the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) in a separate fact sheet on Wednesday. More details on the redemption mechanism will be announced in November. STB will be calling a tender to appoint the platform providers for the redemption of the vouchers, said chief executive Keith Tan. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat announced in August that the Government would give out S$320 million worth of vouchers to encourage Singaporeans to support local tourism businesses. The scheme will complement the ongoing SingapoRediscovers campaign launched in July, said the STB. More than 200 deals and bundled packages have been launched “to encourage locals to explore different precincts and aspects of life of Singapore”, the STB said. The vouchers will provide more encouragement for Singaporeans to do so, it added. All licensed hotels, tourist attractions and tours that have been approved by the STB to operate or reopen can benefit from this scheme. "We're working out the economic impact now, but certainly we do expect a return, not necessarily to the Government but obviously to the merchants. From the response we've seen so far, even from the initial SingapoRediscovers campaign, the merchants have responded very positively," said Mr Tan. "There is clearly a sense that they are responding, and the reason why they're responding is that they must see there is commercial return of interest and return of benefits to them," Mr Tan added. Mr Chan said he expects merchants to benefit from a "multiplier effect". “We’ll expect a certain multiplier effect because when people come here, they will also spend on other things ... So for example, they can use this to pay off the tickets or defer the cost of the tickets for coming in. But when they come in, they will spend on some of the F&B and other services that the attractions, hotels or the tours provide," said Mr Chan. “We think that there will be a catalytic effect. As to the exact extent of the catalytic effect, it will be hard to predict at this point in time, but we hope that is at least a few times what we have provided for in the Budget,” he added. Responding to questions on why the vouchers may not be used for F&B and retail purchases, Mr Chan said: "It's a balance between which sector we want to target, and also the simplicity in the administration so that people who (have) the vouchers can actually use it in a most convenient way. That's how we have designed the system." Thanking tourist attractions for “putting in an effort” to put safe management measures in place amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Chan said: “The other thing that they have done very well over the last few months or so was to help us work out the arrangement to have safe cohorting for the live performances.” From Sep 18, attractions that have received approval to resume operations can apply to the STB to increase their operating capacity from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, subject to approval from the Ministry of Trade and Industry. Attractions can also apply to increase the capacity of their number of outdoor shows to five zones, with 50 people in one zone, subject to safe management measures. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/business/singaporediscovers-tourism-vouchers-chan-chun-sing-covid-19-13115702 in before haters gonna hate n negative comments as highlighted its an economic scheme meant to help the tourism sector with many livelihoods at stakes do our part or jus dont use the vouchers lor why need to kpkb so much so many negative comments on fb from ppl who dont get the whole point behind the tourism vouchers there r many ppl struggling out there n wud prefer more social assistance schemes to tide them thru n so may not understand these vouchers are targeted to help those in the tourism biz to secure their jobs n prevent the tourism n sector industry from collapsing with our borders closed to tourism now n in the near future even locals spending may not be of much help but can help jiu help? for those who still have jobs n wanna bring ur kids out. bt maybe shd have given to those under 18 toooo la

Wonderful piece of news! At 7.50am on the 14th of August, Jia Jia gave birth to her first pandaaaa cub! Gender is yet to be determined and will be announced at a later date. This is the first time the pair of pandas have successfully mated since attempts at breeding first started in 2015. That's six years of trying! But technically maybe only six times since they only mate once a year. Wah awkward angle ah. Feel so violated for Jia Jia. 😆 Another reason to go River Safari in the near future!

https://www.scmp.com/video/china/3122632/visitor-chinese-zoo-dangles-live-chicken-tiger-enclosure The court shld hang the idiot on the pole for the tiger.

https://mothership.sg/2020/08/wrs-adopt-an-animal/ Animal lovers looking to show support for Singapore's zoological institutions and the creatures they care for, here's some news. Members of the public can now adopt an animal of their choice from the Singapore Zoo. Choose from 10 featured species Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) launched its "Adopt an Animal" programme on Aug. 13. Under this programme, people can choose to symbolically adopt one of 10 of the zoo's featured species. These are: 1. Ah Meng the Sumatran orangutan 2. Ben & Bella the African penguins 3. Bosco the red ruffed lemur 4. Bunny the two-toed sloth 5. Coco the Aldabra giant tortoise 6. Matahari the Malayan sun bear 7. Pedro the California sea lion 8. Psota the pygmy hippopotamus 9. Rambo the eastern grey kangaroo 10. Ronnie the rex rabbit There are three tiers of adoption, with prices ranging from S$200 to S$1,500. Each contribution is accompanied with special privileges such as adoption e-certificates, admission tickets and invitations to WRS events and previews. The higher the adoption tier, the more the privileges. You can make an adoption here: https://www.wrs.com.sg/en/get-involved/partner-with-us/become-a-wildlife-partner/select-your-contribution.html Funds contribute to care of animals Funds collected from these symbolic adoptions will be channeled towards the care of animals, such as providing for their daily meals, the purchase of medical equipment, and the general upkeep of animal habitats. These contributions will also support research and education programmes across WRS' parks, as well as conservation projects in Singapore and Southeast Asia. Such a programme helps provide the public with accessible ways in which they can "play active roles in conservation and be inspired to care for wildlife," said WRS Senior Director of Partnership Isabel Cheng. This was after visitors visited the parks and felt a particular connection with the animals. "After visiting us and making a connection with these species, many have followed up to ask how they can do something for wildlife and make meaningful contributions towards our animals and the conservation work we do around the world." Although adoption is currently only available for animals from the Singapore Zoo, there are plans to expand the programme to include creatures from Jurong Bird Park, River Safari and Night Safari.

latest news on the London Zoo fire which caused Misha the aardvark, one of the best-loved animals in the zoo, to perish... Aardvark dies in blaze at London Zoo, meerkats missing https://www.todayonline.com/world/more-70-firefighters-tackle-blaze-london-zoo

white but born in PRC! http://news.omy.sg/News/Local-News/story20140521-264666