Recent content by zooish

With S'pore's population hitting an unbearable 5 million soon, all available space on the mainland will be taken up. The only nature areas left will be those unsuitable for development like catchment and military zones. Heartening to see so many here lamenting the loss of a small but exquisite...

Spelt "Nyala" but pronounced En-ya-la. The one to the left is the female Nyala, but the one to the right looks like an Impala - another psecies of antelope. Nyalas always bear white stripes.

Tell your uncle don't play with the "playful" yellow one. Its the king cobra, not one to mess with. Though not the most venomous of local snakes, king cobras inject huge amounts of venom with every bite - enough to kill an elephant. A human can die within half an hour of being bitten.

Erm, no she's a common chimp. Older common chimps tend to have dark faces. Bonobos tend to have a more 'funky' centre-parting hairstyle. Additionally, it doesn't make sense for a bonobo female to bear a common chimp baby. The 2 species are never mixed in zoos (well, in ethical ones at least)...

"Sentinel Chickens" provided by the AVA to detect avian flu. Bred with no immunity against bird flu, hence will be the first to succumb to the disease, providing advance warning. http://www.birdpark.com.sg/whatsup/birdflu2005.html If you look carefully, you'll notice such chickens all over...

The new male was transferred over to the Zoo from the Night Safari some weeks back. The old male was put down due to complications arising from old age (organ failure etc).

In other countries, zoos are either fully government funded or backed by a strong zoological society with deep coffers. Unfortunately, the SG govt doesn't believe in giving money to animals, so the new management has been forced to turn a profit in order to survive. The govt has drastically...

Agree with you on the profitability part. But the young workers are hired as F&B staff, not zookeepers/animal handlers. The young workers are not qualified to handle animals, only the professionally-trained staff do. F&B is the least questionable way for the zoo to derive profit. Better...

Javan Tree Ducks (Dendrocygnus javanica) are also known as Lesser Whistling Ducks because of their shrill vocalizations.

For regular zoo-goers, you may remember the old Small Mammals exhibit, with squirrels, prairie dogs, slow loris, etc.. Well, its been upgraded (now called "Critters Longhouse")and features several new displays, most notably the rare Tamarins. Tamarins and the related Marmosets are South American...

Radjah Shelduck (Tadorna radjah) Native to Australia and New Guinea

Well said. If anyone insists on being foolish and tries to push their luck with wild (or even tame) animals, then don't blame the animal for doing what comes most naturally - biting or attacking. Any creature with a mouth has the ability to bite. So don't bother asking silly questions like...

It is not wrong to comment that the lion looks sad. But don't be too quick to attribute the sadness to a factor(s) which you cannot be entirely sure of. My reply was targetted at the last line of your first post. Saying that the lion looks sad because it lost its dignity/spirit is not...

Anthropomorphism is always a touchy issue. Should we project human emotions and expressions onto animals? The lioness looks like she has a sad face to us, but no one can say if she is really sad. Are ALL animals capable of feeling sad? Certain apes and elephants feel grief, but its just what...