There are 4 animal shows at the Singapore Zoological Gardens (Singapore Zoo) daily.
They are :
1. Rainforest Fights Back Show
Venue : Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre
Show Times : 12:30pm and 2:30pm
2. Splash Safari Show
Venue : Shaw Foundation Amphitheatre
Show Times : 10:30am and 5:00pm
3. Elephants at Work & Play Show
Venue : Elephants of Asia
Show Times : 11:30am and 3:30pm
4. Animal Friends Show
Venue : Rainforest Kidzworld Amphitheatre
Show Times : 11:00am and 4:00pm
One of the first things we looked out for when we visit the Singapore Zoo is the shows! In order to catch all the shows, one has to meticulously plan for it and the map of the zoo will come in handy…
Upon taking a closer look at the map, the first thing you’ll notice is that the shows are located at the north side of the zoo , that is furthest away from the entrance. The Rainforest Show, Splash Safari Show as well as the Elephants Show are relatively close to each other. Not too far away is the Animal Friends Show at Kidzworld.
The next thing you’ll need to note is the timing. As kiasu Singaporeans, the 2bearbear were there at the opening of Singapore Zoo. The Singapore Zoo opens from 8:30am to 6:00pm daily. You’ll note by now that the first show starts at 10:30am. Each show lasts approximately half an hour.
What we did during this visit to the Singapore Zoo was to catch the Splash Safari Show (@ 10:30am), Elephants at Work & Play Show (@ 11:30am), Rainforest Fights Back Show (@ 12:30pm) and lastly the Animal Friends Show @ 4:00pm.
As each show lasts half an hour, we managed to visit other animals in between shows as well. But we’ll get to that later…
After entering the Zoo, we headed for the Boat Dock 1 for a boat ride to the north of the Zoo (Note : Unlimited boat rides cost $6 while unlimited tram rides cost $5; The Zoo-per Saver inclusive of both tram and boat rides costs $27 and was the one we took – added discounts with OCBC cards). From there, we covered parts of the Kidzworld before catching the first show. By the way, the first boat ride starts at 9:15am at intervals of 15 minutes.
Let’s get to the shows proper…
1. Splash Safari Show
The Splash Safari Show is probably the best of all the 4 shows at the Singapore Zoo. While it was entertaining with stunts done by the experienced sealion, there were also comical scenes included as part of the show. For instance, the sealion would clap its flippers to encourage the audience to clap especially when it thinks it deserves it or has just accomplished a trick.
Sea Lion Claps at the end of his trick @ the Singapore Zoo
The host would then say that there’s something lurking in the waters…
It is a shark! Neh…just the sea lion swimming side ways! The Splash Safari Show has got to be the best of the 4 shows. Kudos to the trainer who has trained the sea lion really really really well!
2. Elephants at Work & Play Show
Next, we headed to catch the Elephants at work and play show!
Did you know that elephants have very good sense of balance?
The elephant not only crossed the log but CHANGED 180 DEGREES IN DIRECTION, RIGHT ON THE LOG!
Of course the elephants have very strong trunks and are able to easily lift logs…
Did you know you can mount an elephant with its trunks as well?
How to Mount an Elephant
Overall, the show was ok. The elephants were well trained and the waving of their trunks were really cute. The show however revolved pretty much around logs. It would be good to show their strength through other aspects.
3. Rainforest Fights Back Show
The Rainforest Fights Back Show was not as entertaining as the previous 2 shows. Nonetheless, we could see that the trainers had put in alot of effort. Here are a few shots from the show…
Spider Monkey at the Singapore Zoo
Orang Utan at the Singapore Zoo
The reason why the show was not entertaining was because the tricks were all isolated ones. The acts didnt really gel together although individually they were good.
4. Animal Friends Show
This show was somewhat more impressive than rainforest fights back (surprisingly). Im still amazed that all the animals on the show was adopted! That is to say, they were abandoned or given up by their previous owners and given a second lease of life at the Singapore Zoo!
The other thing we were amazed was that mice were trained to scamper across the roof in a precise direction! I mean, how do you train a mouse right? Impressive stuff…here are some of the acts at the show…
Dog skipping with a skipping rope at the Singapore Zoo!
Some of the animals of the show was still very new to the show and the trainers take time to train and allow them to meet audience (to get used to many people clapping) from time to time.
Verdict
Therefore after all that we’ve said, we would rank the shows in this order
1. Splash Safari Show
2. Elephants at Work & Play Show
3. Animal Friends Show
4. Rainforest Fights Back Show
Please take time to see all the shows because the trainers have placed in alot of effort to train and pass on valuable nuggets of information to the audience. Plus, some of the tricks are really neat!
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Hope you have enjoyed our coverage of the animal shows at the Singapore Zoo!