Introduction on the Singapore Zoo

Set in a rainforest environment, Singapore Zoo's world famous 'Open Concept' offers the opportunity to experience and be inspired by the wonders of nature.

Home to over 2500 specimens from 315 species, 16%of which are threatened, the Zoo has attained a strong reputation internationally for its conservation initatives and breedings programmes.

To better meet the healthcare needs of its animals and working towards its aspiration to become a leading global centre of excellence for veterinary healthcare and research, a purpose-bulit Wildlife Healthcare and Research Centre was set-up in March 2006.

In 2008, 1.6 million visistors enjoyed the experiential learing experience at 28-hectre award- winning Zoo. Singapore Zoo is part of Wildlife Reserves Singapore. The Zoo is designated a wildlife rescue centre by the governing authority.

Official Website:

http://www.zoo.com.sg/

Komodo Dragon

The Komodo Dragon also known as Varanus komodoensis or land cocrodile is a largest species of monitor lizards. The Komodo dragon has a huge muscular tail as long as its huge body. It also has a long, yellow, deeply forked tongue. They also have long, flat heads with rounded snouts, scaly skin, bowed legs.

Physical Characteristc

1. Can grow to a length of over 3m, with an average length of 2.5m and a weight of 91 kg or even more.
2. Keen sense of smell, if aided by favourable wind, enables it to seek out preys up to 8.5km away by using its tongue!!!
3. They have 60 teeth that are laterally compressed with serrated edges which are replace frequently.
4. Deaf despite having large ear holes, can see up 300m but poor visual discrimination of stationary object.
5. Have a mouth filled with bacteria and venom gland to kill and disable the prey.
6. Fast and agile, capable in swimming and climbing.

Population

There is currently 3,000 to 5,000 on the island of Komodo, Gila Motang, Rinca and Flores. However, there are concerns that there may presently be only 350 breeding females.

Diet & Behaviour

1. Carnivorous and cannibalistic and it has a usual appetite.
2. Can eat a whopping 80 percent of its body weight in a single feeding.
3. Can survive on as little as 12 meals a year.
4. Wide-ranging, other reptiles (including smaller Komodo dragons), birds, bird eggs, small mammals, monkeys, wild boar, goats, deer, horses, and water buffalo.
5. Generally solitary animals, except during the breeding season.
6. Males maintain and defend a territory, allowing other dragon to cross during food runs.
7. Maintain burrow within their core range and to regulate its temperature.

Habitat

Reproduction

1. The female lays her eggs in burrows cut into the side of a hill or in the abandoned nesting mounds
2. The female lies on the eggs to incubate and protect them until they hatch.
3. They are born quite defenseless, and many are eaten by predators, left alone to survive.

STATUS:

Endangered: The largest threat is volcanic activity, fire and subsequent loss of its prey base. Currently habitat alteration , poaching of prey species and tourism may have the most pronounced effect.Commercial trade in specimens or skins is illegal under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Video on Komodo dragon

False gharial

The False gharial, also known as the Malayan gharial, false gavial, or Tomistoma (Tomistoma schlegelii) is a fresh-water reptile resembling a crocodile with a very thin and elongated snout, which is thicker than the gharial.

Description

1. The false gharial is an unusual freshwater crocodilian (a group that includes alligators, crocodiles, caimans and the gharial) about which very little is known.
   
2. Like the gharial (Gavialis gangeticus) from which it gets its common name, this species has a slender snout .
3. Juveniles are dark/chocolate brown with black banding on the tail and body, a creamy white belly and dark blotches on the jaws; much of this colouration is retained into adulthood .
4. Controversy over the taxonomy of this species remains, as morphological features (other than the snout shape) suggest it belongs in the family Crocodylidae where it is currently placed, but recent biochemical and immunological evidence suggests a closer relationship with the gharial, indicating it should also be placed in the family Gavialidae .

Population

1. A total population estimate is not possible but an estimate of below 2,500 mature adults was agreed by a consensus of active researchers as a cautious figure.

Diet & Behavior

1. Until recently very little has been known about the diet or behavior of the false gharial within the wild, but thanks to some research on the part of biologists details are slowly being revealed.
   

2. It has come to the attention of biologists that the false gharial's diet is much more varied than they had originally thought.
   

3. Until now the false gharial was thought to have a diet similar to its relative the true Gharial (i.e. only fish and very small vertebrates) but new evidence and occurrences have proven that the false gharial's broader snout has enabled larger individuals to prey on larger vertebrates (including monkeys, deer & fruit bats.)
   

Conservation

1. The false gharial is threatened with extinction throughout most of its range due to the drainage of its freshwater swamplands and clearance of surrounding rainforests.
   
2. The species is also hunted frequently for its skin and meat and the eggs are often harvested for human consumption.
   
3. However, positive steps have been taken by the Malaysian and Indonesian governments to prevent its extinction in the wild.
   
4. There are reports of some populations rebounding in Indonesia, yet with this slight recovery, mostly irrational fears of attacks have surfaced amongst the local human population

Habitat

1. The false gharial is native to six river systems in Sumatra and Malaysia, along with the remote river systems of Borneo.
   
2. It is extinct within all of Indochina where it has not been observed in the wild since the 1970s.
   
3. Fossils found in Southern China and Taiwan indicate that this and closely related extinct species ranged further north in Asia earlier in the Tertiary .

Reproduction

1. The false gharial, like all other crocodilian species, lays eggs.
   
2. It is not known when the species breeds in the wild or when its nesting season is. It is a mound nester.
   
3. Females usually mature at 2–3 m. Mated females will lay a clutch of 30-60 eggs in a mound of dry leaves or peat.
   
4. Once the eggs are laid, and construction of the mound is completed, she abandons her nest.
   
5. Unlike most other crocodilian species, the young receive no parental care and are at risk of being eaten by predators like mongooses, big cats such as tigers and leopards, civets, and wild dogs.
   
6. The young hatch after 90 days and are left to fend for themselves.

A video on the animal