The idea for a bird park was proposed in 1968 by Dr Goh Keng Swee, then Minister for Finance, after he had visited the aviary at the Rio de Janeiro Zoo when he was in Brazil a year earlier. Goh wanted the bird park to be a place of nature in the industrial area of Jurong. Officially opened in January 1971, the Jurong Bird Park opened 2 years before the Singapore Zoo. It was reported to be the biggest aviary in the world at the time, spanning over 20.6 hectares with 78 display aviaries and more than 7,000 birds. The centrepiece of the park was the Jurong Falls Aviary, later known as Waterfall Aviary, which housed one of the world’s tallest man-made indoor waterfalls, standing 30 metres high. Hugely successful, in August 1972 the Jurong Bird Park recorded its millionth visitor, and over the years upgraded itself both infrastructurally and in its activities. In recent years, it became a significant contributor to conservation efforts, with its breeding programme focused on endangered species. In 2023, Jurong Bird Park moved to Mandai and reopened as Bird Paradise, forming an integrated nature and wildlife precinct together with the Singapore Zoological Gardens, the Night Safari, the River Safari, and the upcoming Rainforest Wild.
