Over 600 babies born in Singapore wildlife parks in 2016

SINGAPORE — More than 600 animals were born at the Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo in 2016, revealed Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) on Wednesday (Feb 15).

The new births included endangered species such as the Sunda pangolin, painted terrapin, proboscis monkey, Bali mynah and the black-winged starling,

Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, WRS’ deputy chief executive officer and chief life sciences officer said that Singapore wildlife parks have a mission to protect and conserve biodiversity in Singapore and the region.

“We are happy to report that our animal care team did well in breeding some of the rarest South-east Asian animals in 2016. This is but one of the many ways we work on to help save these animals from extinction. We also actively support conservation and research efforts in the animals’ native habitats,” he added.

The painted terrapins for instance is one of South-east Asia’s most endangered freshwater turtle species. Nine newborns were hatched last April in the Singapore Zoo.

In the same month, a proboscis monkey baby, an endangered primate native to the island of Borneo, was also born at the zoo — making it the 30th proboscis monkey born there since 1999.

Beyond native endangered South-east Asian species, other exotic animals from other regions were also born in Singapore wildlife parks last year.

On Oct 3, the Singapore Zoo welcomed cheetah cub Deka — its first cheetah birth in 14 years. Deka, who started out weak and malnourished, was given the round-the-clock care by vets and keepers for two months after she was abandoned by her inexperienced first-time mother.

“Today, she is an active and healthy juvenile that enjoys sprinting about her play area,” said WRS.

Other significant births that were highlighted by WRS included the birth of a manatee calf and four new giant otter babies at the River Safari, a baby Asian elephant and a Sunda pangolin at the Night Safari, and three black-winged starlings and four Bali mynahs at the Jurong Bird Park.

“Each animal baby born and hatched in our parks is an ambassador in their own right. Individually, they represent their wild counterparts, but collectively they embody the need to conserve not just each individual species but the environment as a whole,” said Dr Cheng.