No more elephant rides at zoo from next month
Visitors to the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari will no longer be able to get as close to the elephants there or take rides on these animals, starting from Jan 5.
The parks will be among the first in Asia to implement the "protected contact management system" that offers greater safety for elephant-keepers and better welfare for the animals.
The new system will take between three and five years to fully implement as the elephant enclosures will have to be redesigned.
The first phase of moving towards the protected contact system will be the cessation of programmes involving direct visitor contact with the elephants.
From Jan 5, activities in which the elephants are taken out of their exhibits will be stopped.
This is to allow the elephants to spend more time in the exhibits and to socialise among themselves, said Wildlife Reserves Singapore yesterday.
But the twice-daily Elephants At Work And Play show will continue and visitors will still be able to take part in elephant feeding sessions after each show.
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