The Night Safari..GRRR..ROAR!!!! meow... (22nd Dec 2009)

*Note- The video will be posted together with the post soon. Pictures are in slide show form. There are not much photos as these events occurs at night. Sorry for the inconvenience. We will include the tribal dance by any chance. Please visit http://www.nightsafari.com.sg/ for more information.

"With over 1000 nocturnal animals of about 115 species inhabiting 40 hectares of dense secondary forest, Night Safari is the world's first wildlife park with a night view.Here, you will discover unusual creatures playing and preying in their lush habitat. Explore any of the tree walking trails on foot. Or take a 3.2km tram ride along two loops that cover terrain raging from the rocky Himalayan foothills to the grassy plains of the Equatorial Africa. Either way, it won't take you long to discover why Night Safari has been the winner of Singapore Tourism Awards' Best Leisure Attraction Experience seven times since its inauguration in 1994."
-The description of Singapore Night Safari.-

The Map of Night Safari
























According to the map, the red lines represents tram route, yellow is Fishing Cat Trail, purple is Leopard Trail, white is Forest Giants Trail and pale orange is Walkways.

The Night Safari is open at 7pm, and we reached there at 6pm. Don't worry, we were not mad, instead, we were smart! When we arrived, there was no one there, so we stand in the front line. As time passed by, human being begin to increase. Until 6.50pm, the queue is from the line until the entrance. So, ya' think we are mad now? While waiting, we took some photos about the village houses and many more interesting places.

At 7pm, the tribal dance performers performed a warm up performance at the restaurant, just warm up, not the real performance yet. The tribal dance starts every 1 hour, 7pm, 8pm and the last show is 9pm.

"Let the awe-inspiring tribal performers take your breath away at Night Safari! Hailing from the rain forests of Borneo, be exhilarated by the Thambuakar Tribal performance of tribal dances, acrobatic acts, fire eating displays and blowpipe demonstrations."
-The description of Tribal Dance Performance-

At 7.15pm, we rode the first tram ride.

"Fancy a ride across the landscape that dramatically changes from one of the Himalayan foothills to the jungles of Southeast Asia and Africa? Take the 45-minute tram ride covering 3.2km to catch endearing antics of rhinos, elephants, giraffes, tapirs, tigers and lions, along with a variety of birds. The setting is bathed in shadowy half light, so the creatures are largely oblivious to a visitor's presence."
-The description of Tram Ride-

As the tram journey begins, we venture into the Himalayan foothills. At ground level, the terrain is covered with dense vegetation. Further up, pine and fir trees, scrubby rhododendrons and dwarf bamboos dominate the land. Stout trees, entwined with wood creepers dot the rugged hillside. The first animal we saw is the Himalayan Tahr. They are able to conquer the steep mountains slopes at elevations up to 4,000 meters. Adult males have magnificent shoulders and neck mane. As we venture deeper into the Himalayan foothills, we encountered the Bharal, a.k.a blue sheep, named because of the bluish tinge no the coats of adult males. This animal is mainly found in Tibet, at elevations of 3,500 to 5,500 meters. At the end of the Himalayan foothills, it is the Markhor, a.k.a the 'King of Wild Goats", which is the largest goat in the world.

Leaving the Himalayan Foothills, the tram weaves through the marshlands and low-lying areas of the Nepalese River Valley. A drive-through sambar habitat is the highlight of the Nepalese River Valley zone. The sambar, one of the largest Asian deer, range freely here and often come close to the tram that passengers can almost touch them. The golden jackal is most widely distributed compared to other species of jackals, ranging from Africa and South-eastern Europe, to the Middle East and Asia. It is an opportunist which feeds on anything. The lower mandible of the marsh birds has distended skin pouches. These are used for storing fish, which the marsh birds eats at its leisure. With the armour-plated skin and sheer size, the greater asian rhinoceros is a truly impressive animal. Unfortunately, this animal has been hunted excessively for its horn and there are less than 2,000 left in the wild.

The Indian subcontinent covers a vast area spanning Pakistan in the west to Bangladesh in the east and stretching north to include the Himalayan kingdoms of Bhutan and Nepal. The Indian subcontinent is the only place in the world where tigers and lions reside. Her flora and fauna are as enormously varied as the languages and culture of her people. In India alone, some 65,000 animal species and 13,000 species of flowering plants have been recorded. A healthy respect for nature is deeply ingrained in the culture and religions of the people in the Indian subcontinent. This respect has helped preserve its vast biodiversity, despite it being one of the most populated regions in the world. The barasingha is also known as the Indian swamp deer. The word "barasingha" means twelve points, which refers to the twelve or more times (prongs or slender projecting parts that are pointed at the ends) found on each antler of this animal. It is highly endangered because of excessive hunting for its meat and antlers and lost of habitat. The striped hyena is the one and only hyena species found in Asia. This is the least vocal of the hyenas and usually produces sounds only when it is fighting or comforting its young. The Gir lion used to range from Greece to eastern India but by 1940, it was decimated in all its former range except the Gir forest of India. There are only about 200 individuals living in the protected Gir forest presently. Because of the sloth bear's habit of hanging upside down in trees and its long sickle-shaped claws resulted in it being wrongly classified as sloth. Later, it was known as bear sloth. Finally, this shaggy animal was renamed sloth bear when scientists subsequently discovered it is a bear after all.

After the tram ride, we went down the 2nd station and took a stroll along the Leopard trail. Some people are stupid enough to refuse to go down and want to go on the tram ride, because they miss out a lot. And when I say "a lot", i really meant A LOT. The trails enable you to experience what is it like to walk in the shadowy forest at nightfall.

"Stretch your legs and embark on a brisk stroll along the spooky Mangrove Walk, or any of the Night Safari's three walking trails: the Fishing Cat, Forest Giants and Leopard Trail, where you will be thrilled by the arboreal flying squirrels gliding in midair.Each trail averages half a kilometer in length and can be covered in approximately 20 minutes. Go ahead, discover the adventure in you".
-The description of the Walking Trails-

We started our trail journey with the clouded leopard. It emerges from the dark and drape on a tree branch. We can barely see it too as it is very dark. Then, we went into the giant flying squirrels' cage. In the cage, you might want to stare and wait in anticipation for the squirrel to glide from a tree to another. We continued out journey through the hog badger and the tarsier. These gremlin look-alike have enormous eyes to spot their prey such as lizards, young birds, spiders and insects in the dark. We also went in the mangrove walk to experience bats flying around you. We also saw the Malayan civet, which mark their environment with foul-smelling secretions, called "civet". The secretions, however, have a very pleasant smell when diluted and may be used in the production of perfumes. We also passed by some porcupines, slow loris, owl, the ordinary leopard and also the golden cats. After finished walking the trail, we continued our tram journey from the 2nd station.

The equatorial Africa areas are warm and moist throughout the year. Ample rain and sunlight support luxuriant tropical forests. Farther north and south of the Equator, the landscape gradually gives way to dry sub-tropical grasslands dotted with shrubs and trees. Here, a wet rainy season follows a long, dry spell. During the dry season, food is scarce. Wildebeests, gazelles and zebras undertake migration and travel long distances in search of water and food. The cape giraffe, which is also the tallest existing land animal has an extraordinarily long, prehensile tongue to grasp leaves from high branches. The maximum recorded length of a giraffe's tongue is 53cm! The tram then took us to the serval. The word "serval" is derived from a Portuguese word meaning wolf-deer to describe the animal's deer-like long legs and large rounded ears on a small head. It relies on sound alone to hunt at night. It has great agility and can leap high in the air to snare low-flying birds. Bongo is the largest of the forest antelopes. It can be found in dense bush and bamboo jungles as well as mountainous areas at elevations of up to 4,000 meters.

Indonesia’s biological diversity is incredibly rich. The country covers just over 1% of the world’s surface and yet it has about 10% of the world’s plant species and probably 15% of all known animal species. While Malaysia’s biological diversity does not match up to that of Indonesia, it is nevertheless, enormously rich. These are the specialty of the Indo-Malayan region. The babirusa has the appearance of a pig. The upper canines of the male project through the upper jaw and arch backwards, reminding one of the antlers of a deer. The combined features gave the animal its name, which literally means pig deer in Malay. The Malayan tiger has been relentlessly hunted for its body parts which are believed to have either medicinal value or supernatural powers to ward off evil. Now, the Malayan tiger is a protected species, with 2,000 individuals in the nature reserves and national parks of Malaysia and Thailand.

In tropical rainforests, tiny streams and wide rivers snake through dense vegetation, providing the forest inhabitants with a source of water to drink, bathe, frolic and escape from predators. Plants flourish near riverbanks and feed countless forest creatures, great and small. The tapir drive-through habitat offers guests the enthralling experience of being able to view the elusive creatures at a throw-stone distance as we enter the Asian riverine forest. The Malayan tapir has a distinct black and white coat pattern which allows the tapir to blend in with its forest surroundings, especially at night. A solitary animal, the tapir is endangered as a result of the destruction of its forest habitat. It communicates with each other through shrill whistles. The docile-looking animal, red dhole has been known to kill even leopards and tigers when it hunts in packs of five to 20. Sadly, the red dhole is persecuted by men because they view the animal as a competitor for game. Destruction of its habitat and elimination of its natural prey are also contributing to its endangered status. Owing to the destruction of its habitat, the Asian elephants have fewer places to migrate to when searching for food. As a result, they eat more than what can be grown back in the limited areas now available to them. This overtaxes and further destroys their habitat. Having not enough to feed, they often rampage plantations, which results in farmers persecuting them.

‘Pampas’ means level plain in Guarani Indian. At the South American Pampas, these flat, fertile grasslands of Argentina and Paraguay grow to different heights depending on the amount of rainwater they receive. Divided broadly into humid and arid areas, the pampas is endowed with rich soil and supports huge animals. Being one of the richest grazing areas in the world, the bioclimatic zone faces serious threats from agricultural activities. At least 35 animal and 15 plant species are at serious risk of extinction. The capybara, or water hog, is the largest living rodent. It is a good swimmer and usually found near water. Adaptations to the aquatic environment include swimming membranes between the toes and the high position of the ears and eyes on the head. When in danger, the capybara can dive and stay underwater for several minutes. The giant anteater is the largest anteater species. It survives primarily on insect fare, but also consumes fruit and even an appreciable quantity of earth, sand and twigs, which aid in its digestion. Its only means of defense are its sharp, 15-centimeters long claws attached to muscular forelimbs!

The terrain in Burmese Hillside is marked by steep, rugged highlands surrounding central lowlands. Moist tropical and dry subtropical deciduous forests dominate the landscape. Much of the lowland and hill forests of Burma have been used selfishly for their own benefits although large unprotected tracts of forest still exist. The gaur is the most massive of wild cattle. The bulls can attain a shoulder height of up to two meters and weigh up to 1,000kg. It is highly endangered due to excessive hunting and destruction of its forest habitat. The thamin is also known as the Burmese Eld's deer. This animal has very specialised habitat requirements. The loss of its habitat is causing its population to decline rapidly that it is endangered.

So, its the end of the tram ride. We wanted to watch the Creatures of the Night Show, but unfortunately, the seats for 8.30pm show was full. So, we have to wait for the 9.30pm show. We went to the ranger station for a visit. there's a display of wild insects and worms such as beetles and some gigantic worms and cockroach-alike insects.

Then, we went for a stroll along the Fishing Cat Trail. We encountered the Himalayan Tahr, again, and came to the mouse deer. The mouse deer moves around daintily with their pencil-thin legs. Not true deer, these animals do not have antlers and the males use their elongated canines as a weapon for defense. We passed by the Binturong and came into the Fishing Cats. The fishing cats are undoubtedly the stars of this trail. Guests are treated to a drama as the cats watch their fishy prey with intense concentration and suddenly lunge into the water to pin them down. They are awesomely adorable and you should look at them when they sit by the riverbank and wait for fishes to come. They are incredibly cute! Other inhabitants along this trail also include the elusive pangolin, the playful otters, barking deer(they do not bark actually), Indian Gharial and also the largest bat in the world-the Malayan flying fox.

The slide show. I did not expect it to be so small, so you can always pause to read the words. And please allow it to load first before watching it if you find it lagging.

As we walked back from the trail, it was 8.45pm and we started to queue up. Finally, it was 9.30pm. We rushed for the best seats.

"Thirty minutes of non-stop action. Get ready to welcome out star casts that includes binturongs, otters, raccoons, owls, wolves, hyenas, civets and servals. The show demonstrates the behavior and incredible abilities of our animals of our animals, ranging from their predatory to survival skills. Do not miss this opportunity to experience one of the world's most exciting nocturnal animal shows."
-The description of the Creatures of the Night Show-

Look, I can't really describe the show, it is amazing. The wolves ran up the stage and gave a howl, civets jumped tremendously high for their treats, Binturong crawled on ropes, and otters recycling waste products. Just enjoy the video.

-Source: http://nightsafari.com.sg/
Special thanks to Mr. Google ^.^

The video is currently not available and we promise to post it soon. Sorry for the inconvenience and your patience and corporation are appreciated.

Thank you for reading!