About Us

Queen Elizabeth II visits the Waterfall Aviary shortly after the opening of the Bird Park

History

The idea of a bird park in Jurong was first conceived in 1968 by Dr Goh Keng Swee, the then Minister for Finance. During a World Bank Meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Dr Goh visited a zoological garden and was impressed with its free-flight aviary.

He saw that Jurong would be more than an industrial zone for Singaporeans where people could relax with nature. All this Dr Goh saw in the Jurong Bird Park, which would be the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

The western slope of Jurong Hill (Bukit Perepok) was chosen in December 1968.

While the Park was being built, the Park’s officials urged ambassadors and foreign dignitaries to Singapore to contribute birds for the new park. Soon, birds from all over the world finches, pheasants, herons, mallards, owls, cockatoos began arriving. By opening day, 12 countries, 7 zoos and 40 private donors had contributed birds to the Park.

On 3 January 1971, Jurong Bird Park was opened to the public. It was built at a cost of $3.5 million, excluding land cost.

Plan and Layout

Jurong Bird Park is a 20.2 hectare open-concept park. It is the largest in the Asia Pacific and the best in the world. Its collection of more than 8,000 birds from 600 species is among the largest in the world. The Park specialises in birds from Southeast Asia.

The Park has four walk-in aviaries, among which is the world’s largest walk-in aviary with the tallest man-made waterfall for visitors to enjoy a close-up view of free-flying birds from Africa. Bird shows, staged at the Pools Amphitheatre and Fuji Hawk Walk are entertaining and informative and have thrilled visitors from all over the world.

The Bird Park’s exhibits and aviaries are specially designed to closely resemble the natural habitats of the birds. There are also open spaces landscaped with exotic flowering plants such as heliconias to enhance the beauty of the Bird Park.