The Mandai Wildlife Bridge is an ecological bridge in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. It links portions of the

Central Catchment Nature Reserve The Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR) is the largest nature reserve in Singapore, occupying 2880 hectares. Forming a large green lung in the geographical centre of the city, it houses several recreational sites, including the Singapore Zo ...

that are otherwise separated by the Mandai Lake Road. The bridge will allow animals, but not people, to cross from one part of the reserve to the other. Prior to the bridge's construction, animals such as

mouse deer Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small, even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, and are the only living members of the infraorder Tragulina. The 10 extant species are placed in three genera, but several species also are k ...

civet A civet () is a small, lean, mostly nocturnal mammal native to tropical Asia and Africa, especially the tropical forests. The term ''civet'' applies to over a dozen different species, mostly from the family Viverridae. Most of the species's div ...

s, shrew-faced squirrels and

Sunda pangolin The Sunda pangolin (''Manis javanica''), also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolin, is a species of pangolin. It is a member of the Manidae family. Its English name comes from the Malay name "pëngulin", which means "roller". It is native to S ...

s were cut off from others of their own species by Mandai Lake Road. The bridge is intended to allow individuals living on either side of the bridge to breed with each other and increase genetic diversity. According to authorities,

roadkill Roadkill is a wild animal that has been killed by collision with motor vehicles. Wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVC) have increasingly been the topic of academic research to understand the causes, and how they can be mitigated. History Essenti ...

was not the direct reason for constructing the bridge. However, several animals including a

, a

leopard cat The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a Felinae, small wild cat native to continental South Asia, South, Southeast Asia, Southeast, and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List as it is widely di ...

, a

sambar deer The sambar (''Rusa unicolor'') is a large deer native to the Indian subcontinent, South China and Southeast Asia that is listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2008. Populations have declined substantially due to severe huntin ...

, a

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a Suidae, suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The speci ...

and several

Sunda colugo The Sunda flying lemur (''Galeopterus variegatus''), also called Malayan flying lemur and Malayan colugo, is the sole colugo species of the genus ''Galeopterus''. It is native to Southeast Asia from southern Myanmar, Thailand, southern Vietnam, M ...

s had been found dead on or near the road in the two years prior to the completion of the bridge, and it is hoped that the bridge will reduce such incidents.

History

The bridge spans over Mandai Lake Road. The bridge was completed on 6 December 2019 after years of construction. Trees have been planted on the bridge to replicate a forest environment for animals to use as a crossing although it will take 5 to 10 years for the canopy to mature. The trees planted are of varying heights in order to better replicate a forest environment. The bridge does not actually go into the Central Catchment Nature Reserve but connects two buffer zones which have been established adjacent to the reserve. The buffer zones help ensure that the reserve itself is not impacted by the structure. The bridge is part of a long-term project to develop the area in an environmentally friendly way. The long-term project will include reforestation of the area, as part of a 10-year Mandai Ecological Reforestation Plan. The project will also add a new bird park and a rainforest park to the area, which already contains the

Singapore Zoo The Singapore Zoo, formerly known as the Singapore Zoological Gardens or Mandai Zoo, is a zoo located on the margins of Upper Seletar Reservoir within Singapore's heavily forested central catchment area. It is operated by the Mandai Wildl ...

, the Night Safari and the

River Wonders River Wonders, formerly known as River Safari, is a river-themed zoo and aquarium located in Mandai, Singapore, it forms a part of the Mandai Wildlife Reserve, consisting of the Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and Bird Paradise and the upc ...

attractions.

References

{{coord, 01, 24, 27, N, 103, 47, 00, E, display=title Bridges completed in 2019 2019 establishments in Singapore Protected areas of Singapore Central Water Catchment Road infrastructure in Singapore Conservation projects Wildlife crossings