SINGAPORE, Oct 4 — Singapore’s new bird park, Bird Paradise, will be home to 3,500 birds from more than 400 avian species and is set to open in the second quarter of 2023.
The current bird park — Jurong Bird Park — is scheduled to close on January 3 next year, exactly 52 years after it opened in 1971.
The new park will feature eight large walk-through aviaries and will be the first of the new wildlife parks located at Mandai Wildlife Reserve to open to the public, said Mandai Wildlife Group, which manages the park, in a press release yesterday.
Visitors to the park will be able to experience the natural environment of distinct regions with geographically appropriate features, vegetation and bird species through the large walk-through aviaries.
Almost a quarter, or 24 per cent, of the bird species in the new park will be threatened species, the highest percentage listed under human care in a single zoological park, added Mandai Wildlife Group.
It will be home to critically endangered species such as the Philippine eagle, Vietnam pheasant and Negros bleeding-heart, which will be housed in a zone specially dedicated to birds of high conservation value.
The new bird park will also have the world’s largest living genetic reserve of hornbills under human care, with over 20 species, added the group.
Highlights of the new park include the Heart of Africa, where visitors can observe birds in a dense misty forest with meandering forest streams, and Wings of Asia, which recreates the tranquil bamboo forests and sloping rice terraces of Southeast Asia.
A state-of-the-art avian hospital and an extensive breeding facility are among the support facilities at Bird Paradise, said Mr Mike Barclay, the group chief executive officer of Mandai Wildlife Group.
Development work for the rest of the Mandai precinct is underway with the remaining features set to open progressively through to 2025. — TODAY
