During a World Bank meeting in Rio de Janeiro, Goh visited its zoological garden and was impressed with its free-flight aviary.

He set out to ensure that Singaporeans would have a place where they could escape from urban life and relax with nature.

As a result of the upgrade, the park got a new entrance plaza, a park-owned and managed Bongo Burgers restaurant, an ice cream parlour, a gift shop and a bird hospital.

[15] Potential uses for the Jurong site after the bird park's closure include residential or recreational space.

The aviary housed and had successfully bred many endangered birds, such as the Bali myna, black-winged starling, Edwards's pheasant, Malayan peacock-pheasant, Mindanao bleeding-heart, Santa Cruz ground dove and straw-headed bulbul.

[24] A series of large aviaries that housed different species of birds of prey including Andean condors and king vultures.

On 27 November 2019, a pair of critically endangered Philippine eagles named Geothermica and Sambisig were sent to the park as part of a recovery programme.

[25] Larger ground-dwelling birds such as cassowaries, saddle-billed storks and sarus crane were housed in this area.

Around the enclosures were four huts containing interactive displays like elephant bird egg replicas and a cassowary's casque as well as a dig site play area for children where they could excavate dinosaur fossils.

[29] The "High Flyers Show" showcased the natural abilities and skills of various different birds including their yellow-naped amazon named Amigo who could sing in three different languages.

The monorail system used four fully air-conditioned four-car trains which travelled around the park in approximately 11 minutes.

It ceased operations in 2012 and was replaced by a trackless tram service similar to the ones found at the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari.