Night Safari is the world's first nocturnal zoo, located in Mandai, Singapore. One of the country's most popular tourist attractions, it is one of five Mandai Wildlife Reserve parks, including Singapore Zoo, Bird Paradise, River Wonders, and Rainforest Wild ASIA.

The concept of a nocturnal park in Singapore was suggested in the 1980s by the former executive chairman of the Singapore Zoo, Ong Swee Law. Constructed at a cost of S$63 million, the Night Safari was officially opened on 26 May 1994 and occupies of secondary rainforest adjacent to the Singapore Zoo and Upper Seletar Reservoir.

The Night Safari currently houses over 900 animals representing over 100 species, of which 41% are threatened species. The Night Safari is managed by Mandai Wildlife Group, and about 1.3 million visitors visit the safari per year.

  • Barasingha
  • Barred eagle owl
  • Binturong
  • Black pond turtle
  • Brazilian porcupine
  • Buffy fish owl
  • Common barn owl
  • Common palm civet
  • Eastern white pelican
  • Fishing cat
  • Gharial
  • Giant anteater
  • Gray-handed night monkey
  • Indian muntjac
  • Kinkajou
  • Lesser mouse-deer
  • Leopard cat
  • Maned wolf
  • Oriental small-clawed otter
  • Small-toothed palm civet
  • Southern river terrapin
  • Southern three-banded armadillo
  • Spectacled owl
  • Spotted giant flying squirrel
  • Striped hyena
  • Sunda loris
  • Sunda pangolin

Leopard Trail

The Leopard Trail houses a variety of nocturnal animals from the rainforests of Asia like clouded leopards, a flying fox walkthrough aviary, and habitats for some native animals. The Asiatic lions are also visible from a boardwalk on the edge of the trail.

  • Asian palm civet
  • Asian small-clawed otter
  • Asiatic lion
  • Binturong
  • Buffy fish owl
  • Clouded leopard
  • Greater hog badger
  • Indian crested porcupine
  • Indian rhinoceros
  • Large flying fox
  • Leopard cat
  • Lesser short-nosed fruit bat
  • Malayan porcupine
  • Masked palm civet
  • Senegal bushbaby
  • Small-toothed palm civet
  • Spotted wood owl
  • Spotted whistling duck
  • Sunda pangolin
  • Sunda slow loris

East Lodge Trail

The trail leads to the crossroads of all continents.

  • Aardvark
  • Bongo
  • Babirusa
  • Red river hog
  • Sloth bear
  • Spotted hyena
  • White Bengal tiger

Tasmanian Devil Trail

Opened in 2012, this trail features a wallaby walkthrough habitat and smaller enclosures for other nocturnal Australian animals. The trail also has a large man-made cave called the Naracoorte Cave, a reconstruction of the Naracoorte Caves National Park, which has several indigenous paintings and holds invertebrates and reptiles.

Four female Tasmanian devils arrived from the Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary in November 2022, part of an insurance population managed by the Save the Tasmanian Devil Programme run by the Department of Natural Resources & Environment.

  • Asian forest scorpion
  • Cave racer
  • Chilean rosehair tarantula
  • Common brushtail possum
  • Crested gecko
  • North Island brown kiwi
  • Madagascar hissing cockroach
  • Mexican fireleg tarantula
  • Morepork
  • Red-necked wallaby
  • Sugar glider
  • Tasmanian devil
  • Woylie

Creatures of the Night presentation

The Creatures of the Night presentation is a popular highlight at Night Safari, highlighting animal conservation and sustainability efforts.

  • Asian small-clawed otter
  • Binturong
  • Bornean bearded pig
  • Buffy fish owl
  • Common raccoon dog
  • Fennec fox
  • Indian crested porcupine
  • Raccoon
  • Turkey vulture

Notable animals

  • Chawang the Indian Elephant. Found in Malaysia in his youth, he is the animal icon of Night Safari and the largest resident in Singapore's wildlife parks.
  • Tripod, an Indochinese Clouded Leopard who lost his front leg in a fight.
  • Sipho, the park's male White African Lion.
  • Thulie and Newari, a pair of Greater One Horned Rhino brothers.

Presentations

The "Creatures of the Night" presentation is a performance presented by the animals in the Night Safari. A binturong shows off its ability to hang upside down with its prehensile tail, a spotted hyena displays its powerful jaws and otters spread awareness to recycle reusable items.

Cultural performances are a regular feature at the safari, and include tribal dances, blowpipe demonstrations and fire eating displays.

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Night Safari, Singapore (32844106997).jpg|Greater flamingos

File:FishingCat-NightSafari-Singapore-20100110.jpg|Fishing cat

File:Night Safari (12547007914).jpg|Southern red muntjac

File:Night Safari (12547015514).jpg|Striped hyena

File:Night Safari, Singapore (47735377252).jpg|Bull Asian elephant, Chawang

</gallery>

Awards

  • ASEAN Tourism Association – Aseanta Awards For Excellence (1995)
  • Top 10 Best Family Experience (2006)
  • Best Leisure Attraction Experience (2003, 2004, 2006)
  • Leisure Attraction of the Year (1996, 1997, 1999, 2000)
  • Best Trail Marshall of the Year, Mohammed Munzir Aziz. (2008)
  • Best Trail Marshall of the Year, Mohammad Ridhwan Shahril. (2009)
  • Best Ground crew of the Year, Vijayeswaran Visvalingam. (2009)
  • Best Animal Caretaker of the Year, Hadi Akmal (2015)

Transportation

Night Safari is not served directly by any MRT line, with the nearest station being Springleaf MRT station. There are three bus services operated by SBS Transit, SMRT and Tower Transit which call at the zoo or pass by. Bus services 138 and 927 from Ang Mo Kio and Choa Chu Kang respectively call at a bus stop at the zoo. Bus service 171 plies the road along Mandai Road and not into the zoo.

Bus

A shuttle service, known as the Mandai Khatib Bus, plies daily between Khatib MRT station and the Zoo.

Notes

References

  • Lin Xinyi, "Night Safari: From trailblazer to tourism icon", The Straits Times, 31 May 2007
  • Night Safari official website
  • Map of Night Safari