Continue to Visit the Singapore Zoo

Please continue to visit the Singapore Zoo, nothing have changed except that its star inhabitants - the three white tigers - were nowhere in sight.

A red sign hanging on a wooden gate, which barred access to the viewing gallery of the white tiger enclosure, bore the words 'Exhibit closed. Any inconvenience is regretted'.

It was a stark contrast to the scene only the day before in which horrified visitors screamed and watched helplessly from the viewing gallery as a cleaner who had jumped into the enclosure was mauled to death by the tigers.

The temporary closure of the exhibit was for investigation purposes and to allow the tigers to settle down following the incident, zoo officials said.

But that did not stop local and foreign visitors from stopping by the enclosure of one of the Singapore Zoo's key attractions yesterday.

Some were there hoping to view the extremely rare tigers, others out of curiosity to see for themselves where the incident had taken place. A number were disappointed tourists who were there specifically to see the white tigers.

Though the viewing gallery was closed, the enclosure area was still clearly visible from the sides.

Polytechnic student Gillian Chan, 19, wanted to check how the tigers, her favourite zoo exhibit, were doing after she heard about the incident.

'I am very concerned about the tigers and I hope they won't be put to sleep because it wasn't their fault,' Miss Chan, who visits the zoo almost yearly to see the white tigers, said.

Miss Jolin Chew, 25, a sales co-ordinator, and her friend, Miss Ng Li Xin, 25, a share registrar, had taken leave to visit the zoo.

They had planned their visit a few weeks before and yesterday's incident did not put them off. They headed for the white tiger exhibit first, hoping to see them.

Disappointed

Miss Ng said: 'I don't think the zoo is unsafe just because of the incident as the man jumped into the enclosure on his own.'

One Malaysian family was disappointed.

Mr Lee Hon Leong, 38, who arrived in Singapore with his family yesterday, said: 'We had come all the way from Kuala Lumpur because the white tigers are very rare.'

His crestfallen daughter, 13, and son, 9, had been excited about seeing the tigers.

'Perhaps we will drop by again after six months so that we can see the tigers,' Mr Lee said.

Several tourists from Australia were also disappointed at the closure.

Mrs Leanne Stummer, 40, and her husband were at the zoo for the first time with the main purpose of viewing the tigers because of their rarity.

'We read online that it was one of the main attractions of the zoo here and wanted to see them,' she said.

Although disappointed, she was sympathetic about the tragedy.

'People need to remember that these are wild animals,' she added.

Mr Mike Barnett, 57, and his wife, while disappointed, also understood why the enclosure had to be closed.

'The tigers need time and quiet to settle down after what happened,' he said.

A woman was seen gesturing and discussing in Mandarin with friends how the cleaner could have climbed into the enclosure. She declined to be interviewed.

The zoo opened the Rainforest Kidzworld, a new exhibit targeted at children, yesterday afternoon.

Ms Isabel Cheng, director of sales, marketing and communications, Wildlife Reserves Singapore, said it was not possible to reschedule the event at such late notice.

She said that Thursday's incident was an isolated case.

'The safety of our visitors and employees were not compromised, thus we decided to proceed with the grand opening,' she added.

Groups of kindergarten children trooped past the white tiger enclosure led by their teachers on their way to the Rainforest Kidzworld. Some stopped to look before moving on.

Teacher Chew May Ling, 31, said: 'We had hoped the children could see the tigers, but they are too young to know what happened. We are just here for the opening of Kidzworld.'