S'pore Night Safari features nocturnal animals in action<\/p>\n
By Samsudin Berlian<\/p>\n
_________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
At the invitation of the Singapore Zoological Gardens,The
\nJakarta Post visited the Night Safari Park, the first of its kind
\nin the world, last week, before its May 3 opening.
\n_________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n
SINGAPORE (JP): What would it feel like to roam -- under the
\nmoonlight -- the woods of Southeast Asia, the Indian
\nsubcontinent, and tropical Africa, and come face to face with
\nwild and exotic animals such as mountain goats, single-horned
\nrhinos, Asiatic lions, and even hyenas?<\/p>\n
You don't even have to risk your life to do so. In fact, all
\nyou need is one evening of your time and S$15 (Rp 21,500) to
\nenter the newly-opened Night Safari Park here.<\/p>\n
The 40-hectare park is located alongside the Singapore
\nZoological Gardens, overlooking the Upper Seletar Reservoir on
\nthree sides. It will house -- when it is fully completed in the
\nnear future -- a total of 93 species and some 1,000 specimens.
\nAll of them are nocturnal and some are endangered species.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is represented by anoa, the diminutive, dark-brown
\nbuffalo of Sulawesi, babirusa pig-deer, the wild swine of the
\nsame island, and a species of porcupine.<\/p>\n
Visitors can view even bigger animals while sitting for 45
\nminutes in electric trams which weave through two loop roads in
\nthe tropical rainforest, and walk on a 2.8-kilometer trail to see
\nsmaller ones.<\/p>\n
Some of the animals are so close you can reach out and kiss
\nthem; that is, if they don't object.<\/p>\n
The East Loop features animals from the Himalayan foothills,
\nNepalese river valley, Indian subcontinent, Equatorial Africa and
\nthe Indo-Malayan region.<\/p>\n
The West Loop displays those from the Asian riverine forest,
\nSouth American pampas, and Myanmarese hillside.<\/p>\n
One of the walking trails features not animals but trees, some
\nof them rare.<\/p>\n
One of the tallest trees in the park which will surely arouse
\nnostalgic sentiment among Singaporeans is the Jelutong tree, also
\ncalled the Chewing Gum tree.<\/p>\n
Its gum was extracted for commercial use before gum chewing
\nwas outlawed in the city-state two years ago.<\/p>\n
This trail has a calming influence after all the excitement of
\nmeeting those wild creatures.<\/p>\n
But if other visitors seek out the solitude of this particular
\ntrail at the same time, then you may find yourself surrounded by
\nthe endless chattering of Homo sapiens.<\/p>\n
Dreamlike<\/p>\n
Cleverly placed spotlights -- set to just the right brightness
\n-- create a shadowy dreamlike quality as the animals eat and play
\nunder the leaves while spectators watch from the darkness.<\/p>\n
The nocturnal animals, unlike when they are placed in daytime
\nzoos, are quite active.<\/p>\n
Executive chairman of Singapore Zoological Gardens, Ong Swee
\nLaw, said the S$60 million (Rp 83 billion) Night Safari is not
\njust an ordinary \"daytime zoo lightened up at night.\"<\/p>\n
The animals include fishing cats, leopard cats, Indian sloth
\nbears and fish-eating ghavial crocodiles, golden jackals, painted
\nstork, sacred ibis, purple coots, and blue Himalayan bharal
\nsheep.<\/p>\n
It also houses barking deer which actually bark like dogs,
\nmousedeer no bigger than mice, and giant anteaters which consume
\nup to 30,000 termites a night.<\/p>\n
Since the animals are encouraged to breed, some of them had
\nalready produced babies to greet visitors at the opening night
\nlast Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Eighteen of the 43 endangered species have newborns, according
\nto Park officials. All in all more than three dozen baby animals
\nhave already been born in the park.<\/p>\n
Touted as the world's first night safari, the park has the
\ndistinctive smell, or lack-of-smell, of Singapore. The air was so
\nclean and devoid of any animal odors that one wonders whether the
\nexperience is real.<\/p>\n
It might be advisable for the park caretakers to allow a
\nlittle -- just the slightest -- of the animal's odors to enter
\nthe nostrils of park visitors, so as to make the safari a more
\ncomplete experience.<\/p>\n
The park spares no expense in providing visitors with a vivid
\nsense of \"wildness.\" Clever construction, supported by the subtle
\nlighting, conceals the barriers -- either wires or moats --
\nerected to contain dangerous animals.<\/p>\n
They even built semi-open toilets -- hybrids of dead stones
\nand living trees -- to make you feel a little creepy while posing
\nin the defenseless position.<\/p>\n
As at other recreation parks, souvenir stands abound and a
\nrestaurant awaits diners for a moonlight meal -- that is, if it
\nisn't raining.<\/p>\n
The park opens half an hour before the sun sets at 6:30 p.m.
\nand closes at midnight.<\/p>",
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