Underwater World, other animal attractions safe

Jamie Ee Wen Wei Straits Times 28 Feb 10;

Visitors to Underwater World Singapore in Sentosa can safely swim with the dolphins or dive with the sharks.

There is also a sharks' nursery pool, where visitors get to feed over 10 baby sharks like the bamboo shark and nurse shark using a feeding stick.

These activities at the attraction are safe, said its spokesman, because visitors will be accompanied by experienced trainers and staff.

She stressed that the attraction's sharks and dolphins cannot be compared to larger marine animals like whales in terms of size and strength.

The spokesman was commenting on last Wednesday's fatal incident in SeaWorld, Florida, in which a killer whale being given a rub before a watching audience suddenly grabbed its trainer and dragged her underwater. The woman drowned.

She described the Florida incident as unfortunate, adding that at Underwater World, animals are assessed on their consistency and stability in their training behaviour before they are involved in the visitors' programmes.

Singapore's other animal attractions also emphasised that the safety of visitors and their staff are of paramount concern, and that there are safety measures to ensure harm-free interactions with the animals.

At Jurong BirdPark, Night Safari and the Singapore Zoo - all part of Wildlife Reserves Singapore - a total of 115 species of mammals, birds and reptiles are involved in animal shows. These are trained to carry out certain actions through positive reinforcement, which rewards them with treats and praises. Those that display aggression are never used in the shows, said Mr Kumar Pillai, Night Safari's assistant director of zoology.

While rare, there have been at least 10 animal-related accidents involving visitors and trainers since the zoo opened 37 years ago. The most terrifying one took place on Nov 13, 2008, when cleaner Nordin Montong was mauled to death by Omar, a white tiger, after he climbed into the big cats' enclosure. His death was ruled a suicide.

The most serious incident in which an animal attacked its trainer happened in 2001, when Chawang, a bull elephant, gored Mr Gopal Krishnan, his keeper of 18 years. Mr Gopal was in hospital for nearly two months, with fractured ribs and a punctured lung. He is back at work as a zookeeper.

Chawang was later retrained and is now the star of the Night Safari.

Mr Pillai said large animals like hyenas and wolves that may be dangerous are managed under protected contact, which means there is no physical contact between them and their trainers. For bull elephants like Chawang, trainers use a 2m long pole with a ball to direct and move the animals.

Mr Pillai added that the attraction has safety procedures in place that all its zookeepers are familiar with. Zookeepers are assessed yearly on their knowledge of these regulations. Emergency drills are also conducted twice a year to ensure that staff are familiar with the procedures.

Only experienced keepers are allowed to care for or train animals. They also work on a 'buddy' system. Zoo curators are on hand to consult on animals due to appear in shows. Trainers are also instructed to not make sudden or loud movements that can startle animals under their charge.