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Southeast Asian Focus at New Rainforest Park

Southeast Asian Focus at New Rainforest Park
Mandai to feature new 'immersive zoo-type experience' © TODAY

Picture walking on an aerial walkway that reaches the tree canopies and seeing orang utans up in their natural environment.

That is what visitors to the new Rainforest Park in leafy Mandai will get when the park opens in 2021.

As visitors wander through the South-east Asian forest, they will see the animals in a seemingly cage-less environment.

Other than the aerial walkways, where visitors can interact with arboreal primates, the park will have boardwalks on the ground level and an underground cavern with geological formations.

Said Mr Mike Barclay, chief executive of Mandai Park Holdings: "The philosophy we want to have is that visitors will be in this environment with the animals... and get really close to them."

While the animals may appear close enough to touch, there will be measures to ensure the safety of both humans and wildlife. These include keeping the aerial walkways far enough from the trees where the primates live.

There will also be trekking and adventure activities at the new park.

Besides the Rainforest Park, the hub will include the Bird Park, which will be moved from its current premises in Jurong, Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari.

Mr Barclay said: "There are 5,000 South-east Asian species which are facing extinction in the wild, and we want to tell some of those stories and encourage people to build an affinity with these species, as we also do work in the field to try and protect them."
Mandai to be nature hub with five wildlife parks. Image: The Straits Times
Mandai to be nature hub with five wildlife parks. Image: The Straits Times

Mr S. Iswaran, Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry), who was at yesterday's event, said: "With a strong focus on conservation and sustainability, Mandai will be a hub for nature education and research, as well as a leading nature destination in Asia. Visitors will be able to retreat from the bustle of city life, be reinvigorated by nature, learn about animal conservation, and spend quality time with family and friends while cycling or hiking."


Source : The Straits Times

Indah Gilang Pusparani

Indah is a researcher at Badan Perencanaan Pembangunan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Daerah Kota Cirebon (Regional Development Planning and Research Agency of Cirebon Municipality). She covers More international relations, tourism, and startups in Southeast Asia region and beyond. Indah graduated from MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London, United Kingdom in 2015. She finished bachelor degree from International Relations from University of Indonesia in 2014, with two exchange programs in Political Science at National University of Singapore and New Media in Journalism at Ball State University, USA. She was awarded Diplomacy Award at Harvard World Model United Nations and named as Indonesian Gifted Researcher by Australian National University. She is Researcher at Regional Planning Board in Cirebon, West Java. She previously worked as Editor in Bening Communication, the Commonwealth Parliament Association UK, and diplomacy consulting firm Best Delegate LLC in USA. Less
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