A new specialised hospital dedicated to the treatment and rehabilitation of Singapore’s native wildlife has officially opened at Mandai Wildlife Centre, a key initiative by Mandai Nature, the conservation arm of Mandai Wildlife Group. The facility, launched on July 22, is designed to provide comprehensive veterinary care with the goal of fully rehabilitating animals and releasing them back into their natural habitats.

Located within the Rainforest Wild Adventure East site, the hospital features enhanced facilities including a larger rehabilitation yard and advanced diagnostic equipment such as a moveable surgery table. Unlike the Mandai Wildlife Group’s other veterinary hospitals, which primarily serve zoo animals, this new centre focuses on wild animals rescued across Singapore. It also serves as a research centre to collect valuable data on native fauna, complementing ongoing conservation efforts.

The centre treats a variety of species, ranging from injured pangolins and orphaned bats to hawk-eagles. A team of four staff members, including junior veterinary nurse Nadhrah Hassan, care for animals requiring intensive and often round-the-clock attention. For example, an orphaned lesser dog-faced fruit bat in their care requires milk formula feedings multiple times daily. The facility’s 10-meter-long rehabilitation yard provides ample space for birds and bats to regain flight strength before their release.

Over the years, Singapore has seen a decline in overall wildlife admissions at rescue hospitals, dropping from over 2,700 cases before 2015 to about 1,100 annually between 2022 and 2025, partly due to increased wildlife centres and heightened public awareness. Mandai Wildlife Centre’s head, Charlene Yeong, noted that this has allowed the team to concentrate resources on animals needing specialised care, avoiding unnecessary transfers of healthy wildlife such as pythons, thanks to outreach efforts with construction and dormitory workers.

The centre actively monitors key species like the Sunda pangolin, a critically endangered mammal frequently threatened by habitat loss and traffic accidents in Singapore. Annual pangolin admissions have increased to 30–40 cases in recent years, with treatment addressing injuries from barbed wire and vehicle collisions. The hospital collects biological samples and implants microchips in high-priority animals to facilitate long-term conservation research and population monitoring. Similar tracking efforts are in place for reticulated pythons, the centre’s most commonly admitted species, revealing their ability to travel wide distances across the island.

Despite the hands-on care, the centre emphasises the importance of minimizing human contact to prevent habituation, which could impede animals’ ability to survive once released. So far, the facility has achieved a 62 percent success rate in rehabilitating and returning animals to the wild in partnership with the National Parks Board.

Looking forward, Mandai Wildlife Centre aims to become a regional hub for training and conservation science, collaborating with educational institutions and international researchers to enhance wildlife care and knowledge across Southeast Asia.

For staff like Nadhrah Hassan, the work is both challenging and rewarding. “The difficulties I face in this work are minor compared to what wild animals endure in today’s rapidly developing world,” she said. “I feel a responsibility to use my skills to give these animals the best possible chance of returning to where they belong.”