Safari Zoo Run 2019 To Go Green

The 2019 edition of the Safari Zoo Run will be taking place on Sunday 24 February at Mandai.

Safari Zoo Run was initially conceived to commemorate the Singapore Zoo’s famous matriarch and one of the country’s most well-loved animal personalities, Ah Meng the Orang Utan, who passed away from old age in February 2008.

Bring Your Own Bottles

And this year, runners taking part in the Safari Zoo Run 2019 are being strongly encouraged to bring their own bottles to reduce single-use plastic.

This is because Wildlife Reserves Singapore, who are behind the staging of the Safari Zoo Run 2019, together with event organisers Pink Apple, are aiming to promote conservation.

Wildlife Reserves Singapore is a self-funded organisation that focuses on protecting biodiversity in Singapore and South East Asia through collaborations with like-minded partners, organisations and institutions.

In Singapore, they are dedicated to the management of the Jurong Bird Park, Singapore Zoo, Night Safari and River Safari and they hope to inspire people to value and conserve biodiversity by providing meaningful and memorable wildlife experiences through the visiting of these parks.

And their conservation message also ties into the four different animal teams that runners will be able to join when they sign up for the Safari Zoo Run 2019.

The four park’s animal icons – Jurong Bird Park’s Sunny the Hornbill, Night Safari’s Chawang the elephant, River Safari’s Canola the manatee and Singapore Zoo’s Ah Meng the Orang Utan will champion various conservational causes and runners registering can pick the one that resonates the most strongly with them.

Ah Meng and Chawang are both forest-dwelling creatures. So Team Ah Meng and Team Chawang will raise awareness on deforestation and protect the homes of their forest inhabitant friends, by pledging to use sustainable sourced products such as FSC-certified items.

Team Canola on the other hand, will protect the river dwelling neighbours and provide cleaner homes for them by reducing single-use plastics that have destroyed their watery environment. You can pledge to reduce the use of single use plastics by opting for refillable water bottles during the run.

Finally, runners joining Team Sunny will pledge to reduce their carbon footprint by taking public transportation instead of driving.

As well, in keeping with the theme of the race too, Run For Wildlife, the race will also do away with plastic wraps for race tees and finisher medals.

Run Through River Safari – A Race First

Runners will also get the chance to run through the River Safari and have a glimpse of the river dwellers as well as the opportunity to say hi to park icon Canola, the manatee at the Amazon Flooded Forest.

This is the first time that the race is bringing runners through the River Safari.

Previous editions of the race had featured running routes through only the Singapore Zoo and the Night Safari.

New Race Categories

And to spice up the event as well, the Safari Zoo Run has also introduced new race categories to further encourage family bonding. The Safari Zoo Dash and the Safari Zoo Junior Dash will allow adults to team up with their children for a competitive 2km race.

On the other hand, experienced runners will get the chance to test out their endurance with the 12km Competitive Run, an increase from 10km last year.

And families can opt for a leisurely 4km stroll as they appreciate nature and wildlife along the way.