The River Safari is a river-themed zoo and aquarium located in Singapore. It is built over and nestled between its two counterparts, the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari, Singapore. It is the first of its kind in Asia and features freshwater exhibits and a river boat ride as its main highlights. The safari was built at a cost of S$160m, with an expected visitor rate of 820,000 people yearly. The Giant Panda Forest was opened to the public on 29 November 2012, with a soft opening on 3 April 2013, attracting close to 1,500 visitors. This attraction is the fourth zoo in Singapore, along with the Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, and Night Safari, all of which are managed by Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The park was officially opened on 28 February 2014, and it was announced that more than 1.1 million have visited the River Safari since its soft opening in April 2013.
Construction
Conceptualization of such as River Safari began in early 2007, and its construction was officially announced to the public on 11 February 2009 with an estimated completion date of late 2011. The project began with an estimated budget of S$140 million as well as an annual visitor rate of 750,000, however since the original announcement in 2009 the budget has since increased by S$20 million in 2010, due to rising construction costs, to S$160 million and the annual visitor rate has also increased to 820,000. The park is built within the current compound already shared by the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari and occupies, making it the smallest of the three parks.
Attractions
The park boasts a tropical rainforest setting along with as river theme with various animal attractions, theme park rides and other major exhibits.
One of the main attractions is a pair of male and female giant pandas – Kai Kai and Jia Jia – which are housed in a specially constructed climate-controlled enclosure which change throughout the four seasons emulating their original environment. The zoo grows its own plantation of special bamboo specially for the feeding of the giant pandas. These pandas are a sign of the twentieth anniversary of friendly Sino-Singapore relations. The park also received a conservation donation from CapitaLand. The names of the two pandas were selected from entries of a public naming competition organised in 2010. The pandas, which arrived in September 2012, are on a ten-year loan from China.
Theme park rides
The park features a boat ride called the Amazon River Quest. It features over 30 wildlife species from the Amazon River, such as Brazilian tapirs, capybaras, guanacos, brown-headed spider monkeys, brown capuchins, black howler monkeys, red howler monkeys, collared peccaries, jaguars, maned wolves, giant anteaters, two-toed sloths, Caribbean flamingos, common rheas, scarlet ibis, and green iguanas. It was opened to visitors on 7 December 2013. A 15-minute Reservoir Cruise on the Upper Seletar Reservoir, will travel along the outskirts of Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari compound, which border on the reservoir, giving visitors a chance to spot animals including giraffes and Asian elephants. Tickets are priced at S$5 for adults and S$3 for children aged three to 12, on top of River Safari admission. Each cruise can take up to 40 passengers and runs at 15-minute intervals from 10.30am to 6.00pm daily. The boats are wheelchair-friendly. The ride opened on 1 August 2014. Awards The safari won the best family attraction award by Tripzilla travel magazine in 2018.
