The world’s largest freshwater aquarium has opened to the public at the nature-themed River Safari in Singapore. River Safari is Asia’s first river-themed wildlife park. The freshwater aquarium is a 12-hectare park featuring fish and other wildlife from eight of the world’s major rivers: the Congo, Ganges, Mississippi, Amazon, Mekong, Nile, Murray and Yangtze. The aquarium is made at a cost of over USD 160 million. There are nearly 300 species of animals on display at River Safari, of which 42 species are endangered.
The new freshwater aquarium measures 2,000 cubic meters and has a viewing area measuring 22 meters by 4 meters. Singapore is already home to the world’s largest oceanarium. SEA Aquarium features more than 100,000 marine animals and contains 45 million litres of water. The largest salt-water aquarium was opened in November.
In the Amazon Flooded Forest exhibit, the tourists can wander through a viewing tunnel window measuring 22m by 4m with a volume of 2,000 cubic metres (around 440,000 gal). Animals that could be seen in the park include catfish, salamander and manatees. The exhibit houses 18 different species of fish and animals, including arapaima, piranha and river otters. The freshwater aquarium also has reptiles and amphibians such as Chinese alligators, Indian gharial, giant salamanders and frog-faced soft-shell turtles.
The purpose of the aquarium is to create a greater awareness of freshwater habitat conservation by bringing visitors up close to such fish species that are dependent on freshwater habitats. In addition, through captive breeding programmes, it hopes to contribute to the population of endangered freshwater species. River Safari is open daily from 9am until 6pm and tickets are priced at the cost of S$35 (£19) for adults and S$23 (£12) for children once the full range of attractions, including boat rides, open later this year. In the meantime, tickets will be available at a discounted rate.
