You can soon see over 400 types of birds at Singapore’s brand new bird park

If you were saddened by news of the closure of Singapore’s iconic Jurong Bird Park next year, you might be happy to hear that its replacement looks set to begin operating just a short while after. Yesterday, Mandai Wildlife Group – the current operators of Jurong Bird Park – announced that the new Bird Paradise in Mandai Wildlife Reserve is set to open sometime in the second quarter of 2023. The 17-hectare zone is confirmed to be the first of several new wildlife parks within the Mandai Wildlife Reserve to be opened to the public, with over 3,500 birds from over 400 species set to make the park their home.

“By co-locating all of Singapore’s wildlife parks and other nature-based experiences together at the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, it is being positioned as a unique destination for nature and wildlife activities,” the group said in a press release. “This will offer more potential for the Bird Paradise, which includes an avian hospital, and the Mandai Wildlife Group’s other operating parks to become leading centers of animal conservation, education, and research. ” It was also mentioned that the new attraction was designed to emphasize environments inspired by different avian ecologies and habitats, with the goal being to introduce visitors to the natural behaviors of birds and how they adapt across species.

As such, the park will be broken up into a number of sections that will resemble different parts of the world, such as the Heart of Africa area with its elevated canopy experience that will give visitors a peek at bird species from the African continent from above. Then there’s the Wings of Asia zone that incorporates a bamboo forest and sloping rice terrace aesthetic. Beyond being visually spectacular, these designs also work functionally as food sources and hospitable environments for species such as the critically-endangered Baer’s Pochard and Milky Stork.

The group also announced that along with its diverse array of bird species, it would also be dedicating a significant amount of resources to conservation and education efforts. For instance, some of the park’s most threatened species will be placed in the Winged Sanctuary, which is specifically designed for birds with high conservation value like the Philippine Eagle, Vietnam Pheasant, and the Negros Bleeding-heart. About 24 percent of the park’s species will consist of threatened variants – the highest percentage under human care in a single zoological park anywhere.

Other conservation and education initiatives will include things such as off-site conservation, active research work, and even hands-on learning programs like live feeding sessions and interactive encounters with the birds. “Going beyond play, these elements also create awareness among visitors and evoke deeper reflection on the real-life threats faced by the animals in the wild, many of which are at risk of extinction should action not be taken to conserve their habitats,” the group said. This is how people die in stampedes like Indonesia’s latest football riot Crush, eat whole, or feed to the birds: How do you eat this iconic Malaysian snack? Elon Musk unveils his Tesla robot, and it’s at least a robot 10 Netflix stand-up specials that prove Asians are killer comedians, too Cover image sourced from Mandai Wildlife Group.

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