The Planet's Rarest Babies at Wildlife Reserves Singapore!

In celebration of the World Animal Day this year, Wildlife Reserves Singapore announced the arrival of some of the world’s rarest babies, among them the critically endangered Sunda pangolin that is native to Singapore.

Photo by Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Between January and August 2014, over 400 animal babies were born or hatched in Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, River Safari and Singapore Zoo. Nearly one in four births belongs to animals listed as ‘threatened’ in the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species* and these include the Bali mynah, Javan langur, proboscis monkey and giant anteater.

Photo by WRS

Tatak Digitista witnessed the spectacular work of Wildlife Reserves Singapore in 2010 (Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Jurong Bird Park) and early this year (River Safari).  TaD is happy to know and share this development as a result of WRS' conservation program and open zoo system.
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The birth of a critically endangered Sunda pangolin in Night Safari is one of the most iconic births for WRS as the species is native to Singapore and is the logo for the Wildlife Reserves Singapore Conservation Fund. Night Safari is the world’s first zoological institution to house the elusive, solitary, nocturnal creature which in recent years has been driven closer to extinction by illegal animal trafficking, habitat loss and being hunted for their meat and scales at an unsustainable level. This is the third successful birth of a Sunda pangolin in WRS since 2011.

Photo by WRS

Photo by WRS

Another exciting development comes from the giant river otters at River Safari which displays this rare species for the first time in Asia. While their first pup in 2013 did not survive, the giant otters are now proud parents of two new pups. Parents Carlos and Carmen have become more experienced in raising their young and have started teaching the pups how to swim.

Photo by WRS

Photo by WRS

Over at Jurong Bird Park, a Goliath palm cockatoo is successfully bred for the first time. Goliath palm cockatoos have one of the lowest hand-rearing success rates among the parrot species due to their specialised diet. The park also successfully bred eight critically endangered Bali mynahs. Conservation efforts for the species intensified in 2010 – the year which marked the start of a partnership with Indonesia’s Begawan Foundation. Bred specifically to increase the off-site numbers of Bali mynahs in the wild, all progenies will eventually be sent back to Bali.

Photo by WRS

Photo by WRS

Photo by WRS

Singapore Zoo is ecstatic to welcome the births of two critically endangered species to their collection: the cotton-top tamarin and southern river terrapin. Singapore Zoo also saw the birth of an endangered proboscis monkey this May and the park continues to house the largest collection of proboscis monkeys in the world, outside of Indonesia.

Photo by WRS

Dr Cheng Wen-Haur, Chief Life Sciences Officer, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said: “The world is undergoing an unprecedented loss of wildlife as a direct result of human related activities. Each of these births represents a precious glimmer of hope in our effort to help save the planet’s biodiversity.  Many of them are part of coordinated conservation breeding programmes to safeguard against extinction in the wild.  All of them are invaluable ambassadors for their species to connect our visitors to the need for their protection.”