The Singapore Zoo

	One rainy day in June we decided it was time to do something tourist-like. Deep inside, we felt we were assimilating too well into Singapore culture. It was time to feel like visitors again. It was time to go to the zoo.

All kidding aside, the Singapore Zoo is probably the finest specimen of a zoo in Southeast Asia. There are many different types of animals, almost all living outside cages. If you've been to San Diego, the Singapore Zoo compares favorably to the San Diego Zoo, only smaller.

One of the most unique things about the Singapore zoo is that all the animals are sponsored. Not simply individual sponsorship, which is also common the US. We're talking full fledged Corporate sponsorship. For example, the tigers are sponsored by Tiger Beer, the Elephants, Singtel, etc. I can't help but think what kind of stress this must put on the animals. "Look, Tiger Beer is paying good money for you to be here, so the least you can do is growl once in a while and scare a few kids!"

My favorite thing at the Singapore zoo is the "free range" animals they have. They actually have small groups of animals who live in trees which are not separated from the human being who come to look at them. One of these animals was a tiny little monkey. At first I thought it was cool to get so close to a cute little monkey, but then I realized he looked more like a shrunken head with white trollie hair around it. Not so cute after all.

Another free range animal we saw was the brown lemur. We caught them just at the end of their feeding time, which consisted of banana slices. Did you know that when you get close to a lemur, you can look into his huge round eyes and see his thoughts? Well, the lemur I tried this with seemed to be thinking, "I didn't get a banana, but your nose is looking pretty tasty." I didn't spend too much time with him.

Even though the zoo is not huge, the heat makes it quite difficult to walk around in one day. The thoughtful zoo engineers must have considered this because every so often there are "human refrigerators", air conditioned rooms with Coke machines so expensive, they must pay the electric bill with the profits. Oh well, no one can knock creative marketing. One does have to wonder why the poor polar bears don't have an air conditioned room, however. I guess they don't drink Coke after all.

The Singapore Zoo is a recommended attraction for all visitors to Singapore, and some of our lazy Singaporean friends who say they've never been there (you know who you are!).

One rainy day in June we decided it was time to do something tourist-like. Deep inside, we felt we were assimilating too well into Singapore culture. It was time to feel like visitors again. It was time to go to the zoo.

All kidding aside, the Singapore Zoo is probably the finest specimen of a zoo in Southeast Asia. There are many different types of animals, almost all living outside cages. If you've been to San Diego, the Singapore Zoo compares favorably to the San Diego Zoo, only smaller.

The Singapore Zoo is a recommended attraction for all visitors to Singapore, and some of our lazy Singaporean friends who say they've never been there (you know who you are!).

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