Amazonian Trek
Guests walk in a thick and dense tropical rainforest for a bit, planted with coffee, kapok, cacao, and other Amazonian trees, alongside ferns, bromeliads, orchids, palms, heliconias, and dangling vines. Fallen trees and forest clearings break up the landscape a bit. Tropical bird, frog, and insect calls are played onto the path through hidden speakers. The concrete path has paw prints, bird tracks, and some sliding prints in it, as if an animal dragged itself across. Guests eventually come to the first exhibit in Amazonian Trek, the series of monkey enclosures.
OUTDOOR EXHIBITS
Larger Monkey Exhibits
Guests step onto a raised wooden boardwalk after going under a crumbling stone archway. They enter a sort of an open-fronted long wooden building with long glass windows on either side. It is themed around a mock observation post for primates of the Amazon rainforest. Maps of various portions of rainforest with thumbtacks, the skulls of various primates, notes about primate behavior, and mock fruits and nuts complete the feel of having stepped into a research facility. Guests can actually press buttons on certain recording equipment to hear the notes left of various researchers (this is all for the sake of just world-building, and are not actual researchers, but the facts are truthful).
The glass windows are about 15 feet long each and 10 feet in height, allowing for good views of the primates and their arboreal habits.
There are 3 exhibits on either side, consisting of outdoor and mesh-covered exhibits separated from each other by mesh covering and moats. All are fairly similar in layout. They are connected at the backs by a large U-shaped building, with the middle of the U being directly ahead of guests, and the building extending to their left and right. Each is about 500 square feet, with the exhibits having a maximum height of 25 feet above the ground to allow for climbing and treetop behavior. These have bare soil substrate covered with leaf litter, and a dense ground cover of ferns and lush shrubbery. Kapok, fig, cacao, palms, and coffee trees are planted for climbing, with ropes connecting them as well. Trees of varying heights would be planted so it could actually simulate the understory and canopy. These exhibits have a small shallow pool, tall logs, and heated flat rocks as well. The exhibits are densely planted but would have enough animals for them to be visible.
On the left are 3 mixed species exhibits. The first is for 1.2 Black-Bearded Sakis, 1.2 White-Faced Sakis, and 0.2 Red-Rumped Agoutis. The second in the row is for 1.3 Brown Woolly Monkeys and 1.2 Red Acouchis. The third and final in this row is for 1.3 Venezuelan Red Howler Monkeys and 1.3 Red Uakaris.
All of the enclosures on the right are mixed-species exhibits as well. The first has many ropes, more so than most of the other habitats, and is home to 1.3 White-Bellied Spider Monkeys, 0.4 Northern Amazon Red Squirrels, and 1.2 Azara’s Agouti. This mix should not be a problem, as spider monkeys are generally herbivores, only consuming small insects. The middle exhibit is home to 1.6 Tufted Capuchins, 1.4 White-Fronted Capuchins, 1.4 Guianan Squirrel Monkeys, 1.5 Red-Backed Bearded Sakis, and 1.1 Double-Toothed Kites. This exhibit would likely be the liveliest, with several species of very active monkey and some interesting feeding interactions. The last and final exhibit in this complex displays 1.3 Red-Bellied Titis and 1.2 Green Acouchis.
Guests then exit this exhibit and enter the U shaped building, also themed around the observation post, with wooden walls and ceilings. Desks are up against certain walls, and observations are thumbtacked to the wall everywhere about primate behavior and ecology. Guests could wander back behind the exhibits and see what is the indoor holding for the primates; they have glass skylights to promote the growth of resistant plant species. There are small pools at the bottom of the 30 foot tall glass-walled exhibits, connected to the outdoor enclosures by tunnels at tree and ground level. Ropes and branches are suspended all across the exhibit to promote climbing, while there is some undergrowth for the smaller ground animals to hide in. There are also off-exhibit outdoor and indoor pens for aggressive or expecting animals to be moved for a time until they can be returned to the main enclosure. There are ground paths for the rodents to get away from the other animals as well as arboreal pathways the primates and birds can use to get away from each other.
Guests exit through double doors and emerge again onto the rainforest path.
Riverbanks of the Amazon
Guests come to a large exhibit on the left side of the path, and step onto a raised wooden boardwalk overlooking it, with an alternate path sloping down in the form of a ramp to the left. Both look into the same enclosure.
The enclosure in question is an acre large riverine enclosure with tall wooden posts as its borders, though these are hidden by dense vegetation. The exhibit has tall kapok, fig, palm, and cacao trees, some of which grow over the water to provide some shade on the riverbank and the water itself. Water lilies grow over some of the exhibit’s waterways and reeds grow on some of the mud banks. Some of the enclosure is grassy, but most of it has bare mud and soil substrate. Logs and boulders provide resting places for the animals. There are various waterways in the exhibit, with one very large pool at the front of the exhibit fed by creeks starting at a slightly higher elevation in the enclosure. There are several grassy islands with low brush on them as well. There are several channels and inlets where the water does not move, and vegetation grows. The pools range from 1 to 6 feet deep.
The indoor shelters for the species are not accessible to guests and are located to the left of the exhibit as guests face it. They consist of several large pens with pools of water, glass skylights allowing resistant vegetation to grow, and wooden posts some animals can fit between allowing them to escape and reach separate areas if need be. However, the animals can also be moved to the indoor complex of Amazonian Trek, discussed later.
The above water viewing is on a wooden boardwalk separated from the main exhibit by a large moat, and is raised 10 feet above the exhibit. There are informational boards on the wooden handrail talking about the threats of deforestation and damming and the effects they have on the environment and the Amazon River.
Down below is underwater viewing consisting of a dimly lit tunnel looking into the main front pool. There are signs about the swimming habits of tapirs and capybara as well as how many other animals in the Amazon can swim because the forests seasonally flood. The (fake) skulls of various otter species when compared with the Giant Otter are also on display in illuminated glass cases.
The residents of this enclosure are 0.2 South American Tapirs (a male is kept in a large exhibit seen later and is occasionally rotated in), 2.9 Capybaras, 2.6 Giant Otters (a family group consisting of offspring of a mated pair), and 1.3 Red Brockets.
Ruins of the Yaguara
The largest of the outdoor exhibits, Ruins of the Yaguara is themed around lost and crumbling ruins of an ancient and long gone Brazilian or Peruvian civilization. Although there is no basis for this tribe with real geography, it is true that the jaguar featured prominently in many Mesoamerican cultures, so this exhibit is based off of the temples and remaining structures of the Incas, Aztecs, and Mayans and pulls from their cultural view of jaguars.
Guests come to a crumbling stone archway covered in vines and moss, with small signs saying that it may be unsafe to enter as the structural integrity of the buildings have not been tested. Guests continue anyway and come to a large mossy stone plaza with the remnants of old city all around them. It is themed somewhat around Machu Picchu and various Mayan ruins. Structures, though degraded, are still standing, and serve as the walls and boundaries of the exhibits. The theme is nature retaking the city, with kapok, fig, and cacao trees growing from the ground and splitting portions of wall apart, with vines draping down many of the buildings.
This exhibit is all about predators, so is home to some of the larger predatory species contained within Amazonian Trek.
The stone plaza is a large square with four paths radiating from the center. One is the path guests took to get to the exhibit, while the other three lead to different exhibits. The right hand path leads to a covered part of a temple, with a stone hallway leading to an exhibit. The left leads up some steep stone stairs with an accompanying stone ramp up to another series of exhibits. The path ahead has two exhibits encountered before guests get to the indoor complex of Amazonian Trek.
The right path leads into a crumbling mossy temple. Guests walk down a short, dimly lit stone hallway with signs telling about the importance jaguars had in Moche, Muisca, Olmec, Maya, and Aztec cultures, as well as the importance they play in their own ecosystems today, and their near extinction in the southwestern United States/former range. Continuing on, guests come to the large room of the temple, which serves as one of the viewing areas for the zoo’s jaguars. A 30 foot long glass window makes up the back of the room as guests enter it, and looks out onto the jaguar’s spacious 20,000 square foot habitat, which slopes down to the front where the window is. The windows are also 15 feet tall. The jaguar habitat is grassy and has dense ground cover throughout. It is entirely covered with mesh rising 30 feet into the air to provide ample climbing opportunities. Open patches of soil covered with leaf litter are also present. Kapok, cacao, fig, coffee, and palms are planted fairly densely throughout the exhibit. The front of the exhibit has a small wooden roof extending over the enclosure that the jaguars can use to get out of the weather. There are large fallen trees and rock outcroppings for some variety within the exhibit. The jaguars can climb all the trees in the exhibit, as it is covered with mesh. This is 1 of the zoo’s two jaguar exhibits. The zoo has 2.2 Jaguars, consisting of two unrelated males and two sibling females. The siblings can be exhibited together, while the males must always have the exhibit to themselves. They are rotated into this exhibit regularly. Misters occasionally make the exhibit foggy and humid for the jaguars, often on hot afternoons. This exhibit empties into a 5 foot deep pool at the front of the exhibit which the jaguars can swim in, with a log over the pond. This pond extends for 10 feet of the 30 foot viewing window. On the temple walls are various Mayan/Aztec style paintings and drawings of jaguars and other animals featured prominently in these cultures. Also on the walls are notes from the same fictional research team about the ruins themselves and jaguar ecology/behavior. In glass cases are the model skulls of various South American predators when compared with the jaguar, noting its strong jaw muscles. Guests can exit the way they came or from either side of the temple, which loops back to the main stone plaza.
The left path has an immediate exhibit on the left side, while the others are on the higher levels. This immediate exhibit is around 200 square feet, and is a mesh enclosed rainforest exhibit, with the mesh being attached to a part of the ruins’ walls. Guests view this exhibit from under a gray stone roof supported by thick wooden posts using large glass windows looking into the exhibit, around 10 feet long and 8 feet high. There are two windows looking into the square exhibit, which has its corner jutting into the square. This exhibit has fig, cacao, palm, plantain, and palm trees, with ropes connecting the trees as well. There is some dense ground cover with a small stream emptying into a shallow pond in the exhibit. Fallen trees and rocks make up some structures the animals can rest on. This is actually a mixed-species exhibit, for 0.1 Tayra (another male is kept in an exhibit seen later) and 0.2 South American Coati (there is also a male kept off-exhibit and he is actually an animal ambassador, and another male kept in a later exhibit).
Continuing up the stone stairs and accompanying ramp with handrails, guests come to a series of exhibits in the higher portions of the city ruins. Guests eventually come to a T in the path, with one exhibit dead ahead of them, several more to the right, and one large one to the left. These are all stone paths and consist of broken and damaged parts of the city ruins. The exhibit dead ahead is a 500 square foot exhibit viewed from a raised stone path running alongside the exhibit. It is a very tall, 60 foot high mesh enclosed aviary, held aloft by wooden posts and trees. Kapok and Brazil nut trees are the main tree species, while other aforementioned tree species make up the understory and canopy. There is a small pool at the bottom of the exhibit fed by a clear stream over rocks. Fallen logs dot the forest floor, which is bare soil covered with leaf litter. Vines hang down from the trees and many of the plants are covered with moss. The residents of this enclosure are a mated pair of 1.1 Harpy Eagle.
There are 4 enclosures to the left, and this path is a dead end. There is 1 exhibit on either side of the straightaway, and there is a large circular pavilion at the end of the path, which also has two exhibits. They are all in general similar and serve as rotational exhibits. They have pretty dense vegetation throughout, with kapok, fig, cacao, and coffee trees providing shade, with dead trees and rocks providing cover alongside brush. They are also all mesh enclosed, but darkened thanks to the canopy of trees above. They have small water features, usually consisting of a shallow pond fed by a rocky stream. The animals can freely climb the trees at will. All the enclosures are around 100 square feet. Research notes about various species are pinned up on the old stone walls, with many signs describing the dangers these animals face, from deforestation, poaching, and more. There are also grassy clearings in some of the exhibits. There are 1.2 Ocelots, 1.1 Jaguarundi, and 0.2 Margay in these exhibits. One of the exhibits has a mesh tunnel crossing over visitors’ heads connecting with another empty exhibit; one exhibit will always be empty. The ocelots and jaguarundis are unrelated, while the margays are siblings.
The last exhibit in this complex, which is on the left path, is a large one. This path continues a short distance before coming to a stone overlook between sections of the ruined city walls. This view is 20 feet above the exhibit and overlooks the 30,000 foot large exhibit, with a large moat also separating guests from the cats in addition to a wooden fence hidden underneath the viewing platform. The enclosure is large and grassier, but still has large kapok, fig, palm, cacao, and other trees in the center for the cats to climb. Large rocks and fallen trees dot the grassy exhibit to provide resting structures, and a waterfall feeds the large 5 foot deep pool at the front of the exhibit. It is not mesh covered, and the boundaries are cleverly disguised wooden posts hidden by vegetation and hills. This is the other exhibit for the zoo’s jaguars.
There is actually another portion of the exhibit behind guests when looking at this, and consists of a 10,000 square foot paddock. This is the jaguar’s main swimming paddock, with a 20 square foot, 6 foot deep pool fed by numerous waterfalls and creeks in the exhibit. Meant to simulate a partially flooded forest, some artificial and real trees grow out of the water, and logs and branches overlook the netted exhibit. The 10 foot long glass window looks into the pool and allows guests to view the jaguars swimming. There is a mesh enclosed tunnel connecting the two enclosures over visitors heads, with logs acting as the ramps for jaguars to get up and cross over. This bridge has a mock stone floor and is covered with vines.
The indoor quarters for the jaguars are off-show, but the indoor quarters for the rest of the species can be seen later in the indoor complex.
This concludes Ruins of the Yaguara. Guests can walk back down the stone stairs or ramp to get to the main plaza and then would take the left path to access the rest of Amazonian Trek.
Forest Browsers
Guests come to the final two outdoor exhibits in this part of the complex; the rest of the enclosures are now primarily indoors.
It consists of a raised wooden boardwalk spanning a pit-like valley 100 feet in diameter, with the posts for the bridge forming a wooden fence of sorts underneath the exhibit. The sides of the pit are not tall, only around 5 or 6 feet, but are too steep and vertical for any of the animals to climb and too high for them to jump over. The sides of the bridges look drastically different as well. Signs on the bridge along the wooden handrails tell of the role each species plays in its environment, the threats they face from humans (chiefly deforestation for both as well as hunting and some diseases from domestic animals), and their behavior and ecology. Both habitats are around 10,000 square feet.
The habitat on the left is a fairly dense rainforest type habitat, with ferns and bromeliads making up ground cover. Fig, coffee, palms, and cacao trees make up the understory and canopy of the exhibit. A small creek runs through the exhibit and empties into a 10 square foot pond. There are fallen trees in the exhibit as well, in addition to a salt lick. The animals residing in this enclosure consist of 0.2 Amazonian Brown Brocket and 0.2 Red Brocket.
The other side of the enclosure is much more open, with the same tree species as in the other side; however, they are protected at the roots. The enclosure has a sandy, clay-like soil covered with leaf litter, with patches of rich dark brown soil as well. The bromeliads and brush are also protected at the roots from digging behavior. Logs and rocks dot the exhibit’s floor, though there is no water feature in this exhibit (the animals still of course have troughs with water, there is just no water feature like a pond or creek). The residents of this enclosure are 1.7 White-Lipped Peccaries.
Both species have off-exhibit indoor shelters, and actually share the same space, with a thin soil substrate over metal to protect against damage, though there are patches of rich soil they can root around in. Wooden posts separate paddocks and create isolation pens for calving or aggressive individuals. The small brockets can squeeze through most of the gaps of the wooden posts and access different pens, except for the isolation pens. This allows the brockets to escape animals when they would like to. These species also have access to the indoor quarters of Amazonian Trek.
Guests continue on the wooden boardwalk and the path curves around a bit to the left, before guests come to the indoor part of Amazonian Trek.
INDOOR COMPLEX AND ASSOCIATED PADDOCKS
Main Lobby
Guests come to a massive sprawling concrete building with a mock rock exterior, making it look like part of the ruins from earlier. Moss covers the outside and vines drape down from above. The building is around 3 stories tall and is an impressive sight from outside. There is a large pond on either side of the entrance, so guests cross over on a wooden boardwalk bridge.
A set of glass doors leads into the exhibit, then another pair of doors, and guests enter the lobby. It is dimly lit, with lights high above and the light inside exhibits being the only sources of illumination. It is 3 stories tall and around 35,000 square feet in total size. It is essentially one massive intersection in shape, with guests entering from what would be the south path. The left and right paths in the intersection are dead ends, while the path ahead leads to the rest of the complex.
Guests walk down a small ramp to the ground level of the complex, but they can also choose to take an elevated metal pathway on their left or right, which also has a carpeted ramp up to it. These paths rise from the ground level about 30 feet into the air. They have metal railings with glass panes in between the metal posts to make up to enclose the path. This path winds around the entire lobby and views all of the exhibits. From the ground guests see the life of the forest floor and lower understory, and from the walkways they see the animals of the canopy.
There is really only one main type of exhibit in the lobby that is repeated throughout, but each is slightly different and also contains different species. These consist of around 45 to 60 foot tall, 900 square foot glass-fronted indoor exhibits with glass skylights allowing for natural plant growth. There are 10 of these exhibits in total. These exhibits each have a centerpiece, usually in the form of a kapok or small Brazil nut tree, though in one case it is a massive mossy log covered with vines. These exhibits are also exposed to a natural watering system designed to mimic tropical rain showers; these are about every 90 minutes, and last for around 5 minutes, during which sprinklers on the ceiling of the enclosures are turned on and douse the enclosures. Natural thunder sounds as well as the sound of rain hitting leaves is played into the lobby when these occur.
The lobby is mainly for mammals and birds, though each dead end path has a circular enclosure 4 feet in diameter home to invertebrates.
Starting on the left hand side, there is one exhibit along the left wall as guests face it, two directly ahead on one wall, and one on the right wall, in addition to the large vivarium in the middle of the path. Lastly, there is one along the straightaway to the forward path as well. There are large, circular gray stone planters as well, two around 6 feet from the vivarium. The planters have bromeliads, ferns, and orchids in them. There are also four wooden benches, located right next to the planters, with two facing the left and two facing the right. This pattern is repeated on the right hand side.
This is the mammal side of the lobby, so the enclosures are all mainly for mammals. Starting from the left and first exhibit, here are the animals. The first one has a lvery large, mossy, vine-covered log, plantains, coffee trees, and cacao trees in addition to palms. A small creek empties into a rocky pond at the base of the exhibit, and there are various logs for climbing. Ropes and branches also dot the exhibit’s upper layers. This is home to the zoo’s 1.0 Tayra and 1.0 South American Coati (again, the zoo has another animal ambassador male). The ropes and branches are to make sure the animals can make full use of available space. The second is fairly similar, with a thick canopy making the exhibit dimmer and more shadowy. There is a similar rocky streambed, logs and rocks, and fairly dense brush. This exhibit is rotational, and can be home to 1.2 Ocelots (only one animal on exhibit), 1.1 Jaguarundis (only one animal on exhibit), or 0.2 Margays (these are exhibited together). These are the same individuals as are kept in Ruins of the Yaguara. The third exhibit on this side is for primates; in this case, tamarins and marmosets. This has some vines and ropes for monkeys to climb and has a small Brazil nut tree as its centerpiece. It also has scrubby dense undergrowth. 1.9 Common Marmosets, 1.5 Pied Tamarins, and 1.6 Golden Lion Tamarins, and 0.2 Lowland Paca are the residents of this mixed-species exhibit. The cat exhibit borders this one and has large glass windows allowing for a predatory prey setup, where the cats can see into the monkey enclosure. The last exhibit on this side, on the right, is for 1.5 Goeldi’s Marmosets, 1.9 Emperor Tamarins, and 1.5 Golden-Headed Lion Tamarins. This exhibit has similar ropes and vines as the other monkey exhibit to provide climbing structures. The original plan was to have Cotton-Top Tamarins and possibly Pygmy Marmosets here, but Cotton-Top Tamarins are found a bit outside the Amazon, and Pygmy Marmosets would be too small to be visible in this kind of exhibit. The center exhibit in the middle of path has a soil substrate, with mock tree trunks, logs, a few stones, and ferns for ground cover. This is home to 0.1 Brazilian Red-and-White Tarantula. The last exhibit located on the path to the rest of the complex, has a kapok tree, palms, bromeliads, vines, coffee, and cacao trees, and lots of brush. It is home to 1.6 Black-Capped Squirrel Monkeys, 1.1 Brazilian Three-Banded Armadillos, 1.1 Hoffmann’s Two-Toed Sloth, and 1.1 Green Iguanas. The exhibit is a bit dimmer thanks to a thick canopy and understory, so is fairly dense. There is rich soil on the ground for the animals to dig in.
The other side is for the birds, chiefly macaws, amazons, toucans/aracaris, and birds that could not be put into the main aviary for fear of either hybridization or aggression. There are 5 exhibits on this side as well, one on the right as guests enter, two on the back wall, one on the left, and one on the way to the rest of the complex. These all have a kapok or small Brazil nut tree as their centerpiece, with accompanying coffee, cacao, palm, fig, and plantain trees making up the understory. Ferns and shrubbery coat the forest floor, while bromeliads and vines dot the tree trunks. The forest floor is often pretty dense, but has open patches of soil where food is placed to tempt the residents out. All of these exhibits have part of the back wall that is actually a clay lick, nearly vertical with some small jutting roots and rocks for the birds to perch on as they consume the clay. The plants in these exhibits are often reinforced and protected, and were left to grow for longer because they need to stand up to the sometimes destructive nature of macaws. The first exhibit on the right has a somewhat red theme, and is home to 1.1 Scarlet Macaws, 1.2 Green-Billed Toucans, 1.1 Red-Browed Amazons, 1.1 Ivory-Billed Aracaris, and 1.2 Red-Billed Curassows. The second exhibit, the first one on the back wall, has a blue theme: it is planted with macadamia trees and moriche palms in addition to the other flora. 1.1 Blue-and-Yellow Macaws, 1.1 Channel-Billed Toucans, and 1.2 Blue-Billed Curassows are the species kept within. The third, bordering the first on the same wall, has a yellow and green theme, and is larger at around 970 feet and 60 feet tall, and contains 1.1 Military Macaws, 1.2 Yellow-Throated Toucans, 1.1 Golden Conures, 1.2 Black Curassows, 1.1 Saffron Toucanets, and 1.1 Yellow-Naped Amazons. The fourth drops the color theme and essentially has a mix of bird species; 1.1 Red-and-Green Macaws, 1.3 Variegated Tinamous, 1.2 Keel-Billed Toucans, 1.1 Curl-Crested Aracaris, and 1.2 Wattled Curassows. The last exhibit of this style, on the way to the rest of the complex, is home to 1.1 Chestnut-Fronted Macaws, 1.1 Toco Toucans, 1.2 Black-Necked Aracaris, and 1.1 Red-Footed Tortoises. Lastly, the center vivarium on the right hand side is a bit taller, around 7 feet tall, with the inhabitant having access to 4 feet of that. It has various branches, bromeliads, ferns, and mock tree trunks, simulating an understory, with mock vines hanging down as well. It is home to 0.1 Pinktoe Tarantula. This concludes the lobby.
Guests can continue straight ahead or take a path to their left; on the walkway, this leads to a flight of stairs and ramp down to ground level, and circumvents the Greenhouse for those not wanting to go in. This path still has large glass windows looking into the Greenhouse, though.
The Greenhouse
So named because of the humid temperature, abundant plant life, and glass roof, the Greenhouse is made up of essentially 3 separate zones, each displaying a different type of animal.
Guests can enter the Greenhouse from both ground level of the lobby as well as the elevated walkways, which lead out onto the different levels of the Greenhouse. However, once inside, guests can still walk down or up a flight of stairs with an accompanying ramp to get to the level they are not on. On both levels, visitors enter through two pairs of glass doors, also with hanging chains to make sure animals stay within the aviary. Guests first enter the largest of the three parts of the Greenhouse, the Birdhouse. The Greenhouse is around 2 hectares in size, with the Birdhouse taking up around 110,000 square feet of that. The exhibit towers over visitors’ heads at 170 feet in height.
The ground path is a wooden boardwalk path winding through the thick jungle. It is enclosed with wooden posts, which animals can pass between to cross the path, but people cannot go outside these because they are too close together. The path crosses over a wide river running through the Greenhouse. There is also a wooden handrail along the path, which has informational boards and signs. Some feeders are located next to the path to encourage birds to approach the path. There are certain areas where large logs run over the path, above visitors heads, allowing terrestrial animals to get from side to side. Boulders, mossy logs, and some salt licks dot the forest floor, with thick tree trunks, ferns, and small palms making up the forest floor. Logs and rocks cross over the streams to allow animals to cross.
The treetop path consists of a mix of wooden boardwalks and rope bridges. These connect large, 15 foot diameter wooden observation posts, some of which are covered with thatch roofing, some of which are not. These have informational boards listing all the species in the exhibit, so that guests can have reference boards for every species. All bridges have handrails made of wood or rope. Guests can look out over the vast aviary from a bird’s eye view. Certain observation decks have spaces in the middle with trees coming up through them.
The aviary is planted with cacao, fig, palm, Brazil nut, kapok, coffee, and rubber trees, with thick vines and bromeliads coating the trees. These provide foraging, perching, nesting, and hiding structures for the birds.
There are mammals in this exhibit that don’t present any threat to the birds. They consist of 3.3 Linnaeus’s Two-Toed Sloths, 3.4 Brown-Throated Sloths, 3.3 Silky Anteaters, 3.3 Southern Tamanduas, 3.8 Pacarana, 3.6 Red Brocket, and 3.10 Lowland Pacas.
Because there are heron species in the exhibit, not just any fish could be put in the rivers of the exhibit. They had to be non-predatory to avoid feeding on ducklings and waterfowl, likely bottom-feeding, large enough not to be viewed as prey by birds but small enough to easily navigate the aviary’s waterway, and a certain group of fish fit these requirements perfectly. The inhabitants of the river are freshwater stingrays; all are female, and the species are Ocellate River Rays, Xingu River Rays, and Tiger River Rays.
The birds in the Birdhouse are varied, and there is an exceptional number of species (63 to be precise). For congeneric species, usually just males are in the exhibit. The exact numbers of species will be near impossible to say, so I’ll just provide a list of species here for now.
Blue-Headed Parrot
Cobalt-Winged Parakeet
Ochre-Marked Parakeet
Helmeted Curassow
Great Curassow
Blue-Throated Piping Guan
Spix’s Guan
Undulated Tinamou
Great Tinamou
Horned Screamer
Grey-Winged Trumpeter
Wattled Jacana
White-Faced Whistling Duck
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Black-Bellied Whistling Duck
Ringed Teal
Puna Teal
Brazilian Teal
Sunbittern
Scarlet Ibis
Roseate Spoonbill
Rufescent Tiger-Heron
Boat-Billed Heron
Agami Heron
Croaking Ground Dove
Peruvian Pigeon
Ladder-Tailed Nightjar
Speckled Chachalaca
Blue-Crowned Motmot
Troupial
White-Tailed Trogon
Blue-Crowned Trogon
Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock
Yellow-Rumped Cacique
Crested Oropendola
Crimson-Crested Woodpecker
Black-Headed Berryeater
Plush-Crested Jay
Violaceous Euphonia
Golden Grosbeak
Red Pileated Finch
Capuchinbird
Bananaquit
Rufous-Collared Sparrow
Red-Crested Cardinal
Red-Capped Cardinal
Silver-Beaked Tanager
Blue-Grey Tanager
Paradise Tanager
Turquoise Tanager
Blue-Necked Tanager
Opal-Rumped Tanager
Green Honeycreeper
Purple Honeycreeper
Spangled Cotinga
Salvadori’s Antwren
Sword-Billed Hummingbird
Swallow-Tailed Hummingbird
Long-Billed Starthroat
Sapphire-Spangled Emerald
Black-Throated Mango
Violatea Hummingbird
Rufous-Tailed Jacamar
Guests come to the next section of the Greenhouse, which is around 47,000 square feet. They enter through a set of large glass double doors with hanging chains again, and emerge into the mammal area of the Greenhouse, called the Lodge. Guests cannot stay on the ground from this point on, so a wooden ramp and staircase lead into the canopy once again.
This area serves as the indoor quarters for most of the non-predatory mammals, and is not the full-time of home of any species, though in general at least a handful of animals will be in this part of the complex at any given time.
The Lodge consists of around 7 medium-sized islands, each from 200 to 400 feet in size depending on the species. The islands vary, with some being grassy with some palms or fig trees, others having brush and tall kapok trees with ropes and vines for climbing, and others yet being covered in dense vegetation nearly all around. The water in the exhibit has a muddy bottom with waterweeds and logs, and is around 5 feet at its deepest and 4 feet as an average. Reeds line the waterways and there are muddy banks on most of the islands. Some species kept in the exhibit can swim, so have access to multiple islands; ropes connect certain islands as well, allowing animals more space. This exhibit is a bit lower, around 130 feet in height.
A muddy and scrubby island with trees protected at the roots is home to the zoo’s White-Lipped Peccaries. Another densely forested one is home to the Amazonian Brown Brockets and Red Brockets. Another with many ropes, branches, and a kapok tree is often home to 1.10 Peruvian Spider Monkeys, which is connected to a smaller grassy island with ropes. Another similar exhibit with a Brazil nut tree has 1.12 Red-Faced Spider Monkeys as its inhabitants, who also can access a smaller island. Several animals capable of swimming can access all the islands. These consist of the zoo’s South American Tapirs (including the male, who is often found here), the Giant Otters, the Neotropical River Otters, and the Capybaras. The spider monkeys are rotated outside sometimes into the spider monkey habitat in the larger monkey row.
Guests then come to the last part of the Greenhouse, the Treetops. This is home to the zoo’s Amazon raptor and vulture collection. Guests once again enter through double glass doors with hanging chains, into another around 47,000 square foot exhibit with 170 feet of height. Kapok, coffee, fig, Brazil nut, palm, coffee, and rubber trees provide nesting and perching structures. The raptors in here, as well as the King Vultures, are animal ambassadors, so congeneric hawk-eagles are rotated in. Rope and wooden bridges connect thatched roof observation decks, on which keeper talks take place discussing the raptors of the Amazon and South America as a whole, and the dangers they face from farming and deforestation.
A large river runs through the exhibit, emptying into various ponds. Boulders and logs dot the ground. There are also open patches of bare ground with leaf litter, though as these are raptors they will hardly ever go to the ground. The zoo’s 0.1 Ornate Hawk Eagle and 1.0 Black Hawk Eagle are rotated into this exhibit, while 1.3 Greater Yellow-Headed Vultures, 1.1 Crested Eagles, 1.1 White-Necked Hawks, and 1.1 King Vultures are full-time residents (though all of these are again ambassadors, so are taken out of the enclosure fairly frequently).
This concludes the Greenhouse.
The Waterways
The Waterways is a large, roughly 35,000 square foot exhibit complex dedicated to life of the Amazon and Orinoco Rivers and their various tributaries. It is fairly dimly lit, mostly illuminated by the light inside the aquariums as well as ones high up above visitors’ heads. It consists of 2 large aquariums and several other medium-sized to small ones, mostly home to fish or semi-aquatic reptiles.
It is a rectangular hall and fairly simple in layout, with the two larges tanks dominating most of the left and right walls. The tanks then end and several other tanks can be seen set into the walls. There are display centers in the middle of the path, essentially splitting it into left and right sides. Wooden benches and planters with orchids and bromeliads are also present. There are several exhibits in the middle of path, including two 9 foot tall 4 to 6 foot diameter circular tanks and one large 30 square foot exhibit. The exhibit is entered from the left end, and the rest of the complex is accessed from the right end.
The left side will be discussed first. The large tank is around 2 million gallons, made visible thanks to the three, 15 foot long and 10 foot tall glass panes that run its length, only having underwater viewing. This tank has a muddy substrate with some dead mossy logs, mock tree trunks, and rocks, though in general the water column is decently open. The pool is around 15 feet deep in most areas. It is well planted, having water lettuce, water lilies, water hyacinths, bladderworts, hornworts, waterweeds, grasses, and moss as its flora. It has some shallow mud banks and logs near the shore for some animals to haul out on, with heat lamps at those locations as well. It is the main large fish tank and is also home to some non-gilled residents. The main focus of this tank is the 1.1 Amazonian Manatees that call it home. The zoo is hoping to breed these animals to better understand their reproduction and increase the population of this unique species. This tank also has a few other semiaquatic residents: 2.3 Arrau Turtles, 1.2 Twist-Necked Turtles, and 2.2 Smooth-Fronted Caimans (large individuals) also call the exhibit home. The fish in this exhibit are all generally large to very large: the exact numbers are not given, but suffice it to say for the larger fish less than 5 animals are present and for the slightly smaller ones there are usually less than 30 animals, though with some of the cichlids, dollars, and piranhas this can be more like 60 animals. The large fish in the tank consist of Arapaimas, Tambaqui, Red-Tailed Catfish, Silver Arowanas, Piraibas, Tiger Shovel-Nosed Catfish, Redbelly Pacu, Peacock Bass, Tiger River Stingrays, and Atlantic Tarpons. The tank gets fed regularly, but it is still undeniable that once in a while, a caiman or larger fish might snack on a small fish. However, because there are so many in the tank and they can reproduce, the population sustains itself through these small, occasional dips. Small fish include Orinoco Sailfin Plecostomus, Oscars, Chocolate Cichlids, Turquoise Severums, Flag-Tailed Prochilodus, Disk Tetras, Red-Bellied Piranhas, Largescale Foureyes, Red Hook Silver Dollars, Silver Dollars, Blue/Brown Discus, and Banded Leporinus. There are 3 other medium-sized tanks set into the walls for other Amazonian residents. The first is a 200 gallon tank with Amazon sword plants and Brazilian waterweed over a pebble bottom, with some driftwood and rocks in the tank as well. It is home to schools of Freshwater Angelfish, Ram Cichlids, Lemon Tetras, Emperor Tetras, Head-and-Taillight Tetras, Leopard Cories, a Jumbie Teta, and some Apistogramma nijsseni. The second tank is rather similar, around 220 gallons, and is another community tank for Green Discus, Marbled Hatchetfish, Sterba Cories, Ember Tetras, Rummy-Nose Tetras, Cardinal Tetras, and Neon Tetras. The last enclosure in this row is a large, 300 gallon tank for a small group of Black Spot Piranhas and some Crenicichla strigata (pike cichlids). This last mix is the most experimental; the fish are similar in size, but there could be some aggression. If this were to be the case the pike cichlids would be removed with the piranhas being kept.
The other side is geared towards reptiles and mammals more than fish. There is another large tank, 3 million gallons, this one also having two thirty foot long viewing windows, which are 15 feet tall. The water extends to 10 feet as guests see it, so 5 feet of the viewing is above water, though in reality the pool is 15 feet deep and guests can look down when right up against the glass to see the additional 5 feet. The main focuses of this tank are the unrelated 0.2 Amazon River Dolphins though there is also a family of 1.3 Neotropical River Otters, a mother and her young, within the enclosure. The otters can have access to the Lodge when the Giant Otters are not using it. A school of Peacock Bass also inhabit the tank. The interactions between the dolphins and otters would make this exhibit a definite highlight for guests. The water column is mostly clear, with waterweeds, logs, and rocks on the muddy substrate. A fishing boat also lies on the bottom of the exhibit, and signs talk about the relationship between otters and fishermen and the sometimes negative interactions between them. Some sticks lie on the bottom for dolphins to ideally play with, as well as some palm fruit and Brazil nuts. Various toys made of natural materials are placed into the exhibit regularly for enrichment. The other enclosures in this line are all for reptiles and one amphibian, and are larger than the fish tanks in general. The first is a 30 square foot mixed species exhibit for various reptiles associating with the water. There is a 5 foot deep pool bordering the glass viewing window for this exhibit, which itself is about 20 square feet. The other 10 square feet are terrestrial space, consisting of a mud bank and an upper layer with ferns, bromeliads, orchids, and small palms, both real and fake, on mossy soil with leaf litter. Some logs and branches jut out over the pool while others with real and fake trees and vines cross over on the land area under the heat lamps. This exhibit is home to 0.1 or 1.0 Northern Caiman Lizards (they rotate through), 1.2 Plumed Basilisks, and a school of False Black Tetras. The second exhibit in the lineup is a 25 square foot exhibit with a muddy bank and some bromeliads and ferns, but is mostly a 20 square foot pool ranging from 5 to 3 feet in depth, with a muddy bottom, some logs, waterweeds, branches, rocks, and a wooden fishing pole. The water in here is moved very slowly, and represents a stagnant stream or channel in the rainforest. This exhibit has some dead leaves as well, on the shore and in the water. It is home to 1.0 Yellow-Spotted River Turtle and 1.1 Mata Matas. The last exhibit in the row is 30 square feet and fairly densely planed, with trees hanging out over the water, ferns, bromeliads, vines, moss, and small palms. Some rocks and logs also dot the exhibit, which has a 20 square foot pool about 5 feet deep. There is a slow current in the exhibit, simulating a backwater. The resident is either 1.0 or 0.1 Yellow Anaconda, rotated in and out.
There are 3 exhibits in the middle of the room as well as one that looks like an exhibit but does not hold any species. The middle of the hall has a 30 square foot exhibit with wooden railings looking into a pit of sorts, with guests standing about 8 feet above where the animals are. Mock and real tree trunks, ferns, bromeliads, palms, shrubs, logs, and heated rocks dot the surface of the water, which itself is around 5 feet deep. This exhibit is home to 1.1 Cuvier’s Dwarf Caimans. There is a small waterfall into the exhibit creating the sound of rushing water, and also generating a current in the exhibit. Located next to this exhibit is a similar pit, simulating the forest floor of the Amazon, with roots, mock trees, shrubbery, ferns, rocks, logs and other things. Every 15 minutes or so, this exhibit is steadily flooded with water to show visitors how the rainforest becomes the flooded forest for several months, then empties again. This occurs throughout the day, with the water being recycled over and over again. It can be compared to San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey “tar” pit in terms of how it functions. The two other exhibits in the middle are the circular aquariums. One is on either side of these two pit-like exhibits. The one closer to visitors as they enter is a tiny bit larger, around 6 feet in diameter and 9 feet in height, with the animal having access to 5 of that 9 feet. The aquarium within has a large log, some branches, Amazon sword plants, Brazilian waterweed, pebbles, water plants and grasses and a submerged mock tree trunk with a root system. This exhibit is home to 1.0 Electric Eel. Informational boards talk about how much voltage electric eels can send out and why they do so in different scenarios; to sense their surroundings, to shock and kill prey, and to deter predators mostly. The other tank is still 9 feet tall but around 4½ feet in diameter. Planted with Amazon swords and Brazilian waterweed in addition o various aquatic grasses, and with some logs and mock root systems, the aquarium has plenty of hiding space as well as open water for swimming. This is a community tank for tetras, and varying numbers of the following species reside within: Emperor Tetras, Neon Tetras, Black Neon Tetras, Cardinal Tetras, Black Phantom Tetras, X-Ray Tetras, Glowlight Tetras, Coffee Bean Tetras, Lemon Tetras, Head-and-Taillight Tetras, and Rummy-Nose Tetras. Although not a tetra, this exhibit also has Amazon Puffers. Various signs in the entire hall tell about the dangers of overfishing, dams, deforestation, and overharvesting for the pet trade and the damage this causes to the Amazon ecosystem.
Exiting this large room, guests come to a long dimly lit hall, illuminated thanks to the lights in the enclosures on each side. On each side of this 30 foot long hall is a large, glass-fronted, 40 square foot exhibit, with a 30 square foot pool in each and 10 feet of land area. These exhibits have muddy banks with some bromeliads, ferns, and small palms. Logs and flat rocks also dot the bank of the pool. Larger palms and small coffee, cacao, and rubber trees make up the larger flora. The clear pools have a muddy substrate with artificial tree trunks and roots in them for hiding places, and are also planted with waterweeds, water lettuce, and some water lilies. Heat lamps are disguised among the plants on the muddy banks as well. The exhibit on the left is home to 0.3 Spectacled Caimans, while the right is home to 0.2 Black Caimans (a male is also rotated on exhibit for these animals, and they do have occasional access to each other as they are hoped to breed). There is a fishing pole and some broken oars in the Spectacled Caiman exhibit and an overturned boat in the Black Caiman exhibit. Informational boards in front and on the sides of the exhibits tell about the dangers caimans and crocodiles in general face: hunting for their hide and meat and habitat destruction. The signs also tell about the ecological importance of caimans, and how when the Black Caiman is extirpated in areas, the Spectacled Caiman fills its role, but prey populations still skyrocket and in turn cause more damage. This makes it more difficult for the Black Caiman to try and regain footing in these areas. They also say what guests can do, such as never buying authentic caiman or crocodile skin items and supporting groups protecting the Amazon Rainforest. The caimans also have access to outdoor pools that can be seen elsewhere in the South American zone.
The last room is home to a few more fish species as well as some amphibians. It consists of a 60 square foot room with small to larger than average vivariums and aquariums set into the walls. There are a total of four 300+ gallon aquariums. The room has a curved right wall, which all of the exhibits are located on, and is essentially a transition between The Waterways and the next area in the indoor complex, but still has its own animals. The first aquarium is 300 gallons of slightly acidic water, is dimly lit, and simulates the flooded forest. With a muddy substrate, it is covered in leaf litter, and has artificial tree trunks as well. Some logs and branches, also with dead leaves on them, dot the floor of the tank, which has a patch of aquatic grass and some waterweeds. This tank is home to 0.2 Amazon Leaffish. The second enclosure in the line is very similar and is the same size, with many dead leaves, a large log, a muddy bottom, and artificial roots and tree stumps. This is home to 1.1 Common Surinam Toads. The third is a large, 500 gallon aquarium with a small muddy bank with moss and some palms, but is mostly a large pool with waterweeds, water lettuce, lilies, logs, and flat rocks over a muddy bottom. It is home to 1.1 Twist-Necked Turtles. The last in this row has tree stumps, a bed of aquatic grass, many waterweeds, some branches and twigs, water lettuce, bladderworts, and other aquatic plants, and is 400 gallons. It exhibits 1.0 large Cayenne Caecilian. Guests walk out of this room into the next part of the complex.
This concludes The Waterways.
Forest of Darkness
This exhibit showcases the nocturnal animals of the Amazon Rainforest, as well as many of the smaller reptiles and amphibians found in the rainforest. Guests exit the caiman hall and come to another large, dimly-lit lobby, not quite as large as the main entrance hall. It is around 25,000 square feet in size, and unlike the lobby with its two levels, this hall is around 30 feet in height and does not have an elevated walkway of any sort.
It is a very large rectangular hall, with two large exhibits on the right hand side, and a large number of medium-sized exhibits on the left hand side, as well as three larger than average circular exhibits bisecting the hall. There are also two exhibits against the wall guests enter from.
On the left side are glass-fronted enclosures set into the walls, primarily for amphibians and reptiles. There are 4 medium-sized exhibits around 25 square feet in size, and five smaller, 5 to 10 square foot exhibits as well. The larger exhibits will be discussed first. The first in the line as guests enter is a dimly-lit exhibit with ferns, bromeliads, and various green shrubbery, both artificial and real. Logs and some heated rocks dot the forest floor, which is covered with leaf litter. There are artificial kapok and Brazil nut tree roots and trunks in the exhibit as well as small palms. This exhibit is home to 0.2 South American Bushmasters. The next exhibit is slightly larger at 30 square feet and is taller, at 8 feet from ground to top. This exhibit has a floor of leaf litter over soil, with flat-topped heated rocks, hollow and solid logs, artificial tree trunks, small palms, ferns and ground palms, a small coffee tree, and a 10 square foot pool. A rock feature at the back feeds the pool with a small cascading stream and waterfall; the snake can also get up onto these rocks thanks to some ledges. This exhibit is home to 1.0 Boa Constrictor. The third exhibit is similar to the first, with leaf litter substrate, but has small Amazonian trees for climbing, some branches laid across the exhibit with real and artificial leaves, more bromeliads, a few more tree trunks, and some temple ruins on the right of the exhibit. This is home to 0.2 Common Lanceheads. The last large exhibit in the row is similar to the boa constrictor exhibit, with some large rocks at the back of the exhibit, and also has some temple bricks like in the previous exhibit. There is a soil substrate, logs, heated rocks, a 10 square foot pool fed by a waterfall, palms, and various shrubs. This enclosure is home to 1.0 Rainbow Boa. The smaller exhibits hold different snake species. The first two are almost exactly the same in layout; mostly vertical 10 square foot vivariums with bromeliads, ferns, palms, branches, vines, and very lush vegetation. There is leaf litter at the base of the exhibit, but the ground will hardly ever be used by these species. The first contains 0.2 Emerald Tree Boas and the next 1.1 Amazon Tree Boas. The third is similar, but has many more bromeliads and brightly colored orchids. This is home to 1.0 Eyelash Viper. The fourth is less vertical than those before it and more horizontal, consisting of a 5 square foot 12 inch deep pool with waterweeds and pebbles, and a muddy bank with thick dense vegetation of palms and ferns. This is home to 1.2 Aquatic Coral Snakes. The fifth and last exhibit is forested with mock tree trunks, logs, and branches in thick rich soil with leaf litter, but is more horizontal, and is small at 5 square feet. It is home to 1.0 Surinam Horned Frog. Signs talk about the dangers of deforestation and the pet trade on these snake species and many animals found in tropical regions. All of these exhibits are exposed to a regular shower each hour that lasts for around 4 minutes, created by sprinklers on the ceilings of the enclosures.
There are three large vivariums in the middle of the room housing different species. One of these is home to a specific kind of animal: namely, poison dart frogs. At 10 feet tall and 6 feet in diameter, planted with all sorts of ferns, palms, bromeliads, and lush vegetation, it is immediately noticeable upon entering the hall, and is the first in the row of these vivariums. It has standing water inside the bromeliads for breeding purposes. There is rich, dark soil as the substrate with small logs and pebbles. Some branches cross the exhibit as well, allowing frogs to access any point within it. This exhibit is home to a myriad of poison dart frogs: the Splashback, Green-and-Black, Yellow-Banded, Maranon, Dyeing, Spot-Legged, Reticulated, Anthony’s, Three-Striped, and Blessed Poison Dart Frog species are present in the exhibit. However, while not a poison dart frog, the exhibit is also home to a small group of White-Leaf Frogs. The second of these vivariums is behind the poison frog exhibit, about 5 feet from it. This enclosure is of similar size, but 5 feet in diameter and 9 feet tall. It too is circular. It has a rich soil substrate with leaf litter covering it and small ferns and palms. Some flat rocks, logs, and branches dot the floor of the exhibit. This exhibit is home to 1.0 Goliath Birdeaters. The last in this row is again for frogs but not for poison frogs; instead, it is home to treefrogs. It has many bromeliads, vines, orchids, and palms and is very dense and lush, with a rich soil substrate with leaf litter. Branches cross the exhibit again to allow climbing for the inhabitants. Small groups of Giant Broad-Headed Treefrogs, Giant Monkey Frogs, and White-Leaf Frogs call this exhibit home.
The right side of the hall is dedicated to animals of the Amazonian night; namely, nocturnal mammals and birds. The first exhibit is a mixed-species exhibit for various species. It is around 80 square feet and viewed from a series of 15 foot tall, 20 foot long windows. The exhibit has both and real and artificial trees (real species include palms, coffee, rubber, and cacao trees as well as palms), ground palms and ferns, soil substrate covered with leaf litter that allows digging, branches and ropes crossing the exhibit, a small shallow stream, and some large logs, with tubes in them that can be filled with food. This is home to 1.3 Azara’s Night Monkeys, 1.2 Six-Banded Armadillos, 0.2 Brazilian Three-Banded Armadillos, 1.2 Hoffmann’s Two-Toed Sloths, 1.2 Brazilian Porcupines, 1.2 Kinkajous, and 0.3 Lowland Pacas. An exhibit with a glass wall next to it is planted similarly and is around 60 square feet, with no ropes, and is home to 1.0 Spectacled Owls.
There are two exhibits actually located on the wall guests came in from as well, one on either side of the large open entryway. The one on the left as guests enter is decently large, at 10 square feet, and is 8 feet tall. It has a centerpiece of a rotting, fallen tree, with some branches strewn about on the floor of the exhibit, which is covered with leaves. There is also viewing into the area below this vivarium, which is a system of tunnels. There are some mounds of earth, palms, and ferns for cover, and patches of open earth. This is exhibit is home to a colony of Bullet Ants. The exhibit on the right as guests enter is even larger, consisting of two separate but connected vivariums. Each vivarium is around 10 square feet and 8 feet tall, which, when combined, and including the connection between the vivariums, makes the entire exhibit around 25 square feet. They both have soil substrates covered with leaf litter and mounds of earth. They also have logs and branches on the forest floors, and a system of branches covered with leaves towards the top of the exhibit. Vines and moss coat these real branches, which come from various Amazonian trees. Ramps up to these branches are in the form of artificial tree trunks, allowing the ants access to these. One side of the enclosure is home to the rubbish dump, while the other is home to the nest. The exhibits are connected so ants can leave materials in the rubbish dump; a set of 3 glass tubes, one on the ground level of the vivarium, one at the top, and one at the middle, connect them. This exhibit is home to a colony of Leafcutter Ants, likely an Atta species (possibly Atta cephalotes). Also in this exhibit is a small group of Central American Cave Cockroaches, which would not be looked on as prey by the ants, and would eat a different diet of fruits and vegetables, so would not prey on the ants either.
Guests then walk out through a set of double doors and find themselves immersed in the Amazon after dark. The ceiling has a mural of stars and the moon, and cicada and animal sounds are played in through hidden speakers. This room is around 300 square feet in size and 30 feet in height, with guests walking on a curving wooden boardwalk with wooden handrails through it. There are several small gaps in the wooden fencing that animals can get through but guests cannot. Small lamps and lanterns on the fence illuminate the path at several intervals, but are spaced out. This exhibit also has a large but fairly shallow stream running through it, with a couple small waterfalls and pools. This is stocked with small prey fish, like guppies, bettas, goldfish, and so on. The exhibit is planted with palms, coffee, rubber, and cacao trees, with dense brush as well. Guests can see 1.2 Southern Tamanduas, 1.2 Silky Anteaters, 1.1 Brown-Throated Three-Toed Sloths, 1.3 Gray Short-Tailed Opossums, 1.2 Yapoks, 1.3 Pacaranas, a large group of roughly around 10.10 Greater Bulldog Bats, a group of 8.15 Greater Spear-Nosed Bats, and an even larger group of somewhere around 0.0.30 Seba’s Short-Tailed Bats. This exhibit may also be home to a pair of 1.1 Amazonian Pygmy Owls, but this mix is very experimental and the bats may be in danger; if the owls did prey on the bats, they would be removed. Informational boards talk about deforestation and the different threats these different species face as well. There is a break in the wooden fencing instead replaced by a glass panel looking into the river so guests can see the yapoks and bulldog bats in action. Guests come to another set of double doors and hanging chains, and enter the last area in the indoor complex.
Story of the Amazon
The last “exhibit” in the complex holds no animals, and serves as both a grim reminder of the damage that has been and continues to be done to the Amazon as well as a call to action to guests. It is around 900 square feet, and is bordered on one wall with glass doors leading to the outside again. The centerpiece is a large raised diorama of sorts, consisting of broken, felled, and charred trees. Axes and chainsaws lay on the forest floor, with scorch marks on every tree. This serves to both remind guests of deforestation as well as the forest fires the Amazon has experienced in recent years. The sounds of crackling flames are played in through speakers, as are the sounds of chainsaws and trees falling.
Signs talk about what we as guests can even do to help the Amazon and our forests in general; support ecotourism and groups against deforestation, don’t cast aside flammable objects or litter (especially do not drop cigarettes or lighters, and be careful with fireworks), research things you buy in case you are wondering if they are sustainably sourced, and more.
On the other side of this burned, ruined diorama, though, is a thriving forest ecosystem with model plants such as orchids and bromeliads and more. A river runs through the diorama and empties into a large pool. Sounds of rain falling, birds chirping, and frogs calling are played through speakers.
The idea is that yes, humans have a huge impact on our global ecosystem, yes, the Amazon is in danger, and if we do nothing it will be destroyed; however, the message is also that if we choose to unite for the common good of our planet, and prioritize its needs rather than focusing on our division, and teach children about this, then we can make the planet a better place for generations to come.
With that, guests exit through the glass doors and conclude their journey through Amazonian Trek.
ANIMAL LIST (in order of appearance)
Mammals (57): Black-Bearded Saki, White-Faced Saki, Red-Rumped Agouti, Brown Woolly Monkey, Red Acouchi, Venezuelan Red Howler, Red Uakari, White-Bellied Spider Monkey, Northern Amazon Red Squirrel, Azara’s Agouti, Tufted Capuchin, White-Fronted Capuchin, Guianan Squirrel Monkey, Red-Backed Bearded Saki, Red-Bellied Titi, Green Acouchi, South American Tapir, Capybara, Giant Otter, Red Brocket, Jaguar, Tayra, South American Coati, Ocelot, Jaguarundi, Margay, Amazonian Brown Brocket, White-Lipped Peccary, Common Marmoset, Pied Tamarin, Golden Lion Tamarin, Lowland Paca, Goeldi’s Marmoset, Emperor Tamarin, Golden-Headed Lion Tamarin, Black-Capped Squirrel Monkey, Brazilian Three-Banded Armadillo, Hoffmann’s Two-Toed Sloth, Linnaeus’s Two-Toed Sloth, Brown-Throated Sloth, Silky Anteater, Southern Tamandua, Pacarana, Peruvian Spider Monkey, Red-Faced Spider Monkey, Amazonian Manatee, Amazon River Dolphin, Neotropical River Otter, Azara’s Night Monkey, Six-Banded Armadillo, Brazilian Porcupine, Kinkajou, Gray Short-Tailed Opossum, Yapok, Greater Bulldog Bat, Greater Spear-Nosed Bat, Seba’s Short-Tailed Bat
Birds (95): Double-Toothed Kite, Harpy Eagle, Scarlet Macaw, Green-Billed Toucan, Red-Browed Amazon, Ivory-Billed Aracari, Red-Billed Curassow, Blue-and-Yellow Macaw, Channel-Billed Toucan, Blue-Billed Curassow, Military Macaw, Yellow-Throated Toucan, Golden Conure, Black Curassow, Saffron Toucanet, Yellow-Naped Amazon, Red-and-Green Macaw, Variegated Tinamou, Keel-Billed Toucan, Curl-Crested Aracari, Wattled Curassow, Chestnut-Fronted Macaw, Toco Toucan, Black-Necked Aracari, Blue-Headed Parrot, Cobalt-Winged Parakeet, Ochre-Marked Parakeet, Helmeted Curassow, Great Curassow, Blue-Throated Piping Guan, Spix’s Guan, Undulated Tinamou, Great Tinamou, Horned Screamer, Grey-Winged Trumpeter, Wattled Jacana, White-Faced Whistling Duck, Fulvous Whistling Duck, Black-Bellied Whistling Duck, Ringed Teal, Puna Teal, Brazilian Teal, Sunbittern, Scarlet Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Rufescent Tiger-Heron, Boat-Billed Heron, Agami Heron, Croaking Ground Dove, Peruvian Pigeon, Ladder-Tailed Nightjar, Speckled Chachalaca, Blue-Crowned Motmot, Troupial, White-Tailed Trogon, Guianan Cock-of-the-Rock, Yellow-Rumped Cacique, Crested Oropendola, Crimson-Crested Woodpecker, Black-Headed Berryeater, Plush-Crested Jay, Violaceous Euphonia, Golden Grosbeak, Red Pileated Finch, Capuchinbird, Bananquit, Rufous-Collared Sparrow, Red-Crested Cardinal, Red-Capped Cardinal, Silver-Beaked Tanager, Blue-Grey Tanager, Paradise Tanager, Turquoise Tanager, Blue-Necked Tanager, Opal-Rumped Tanager, Green Honeycreeper, Purple Honeycreeper, Spangled Cotinga, Salvadori’s Antwren, Sword-Billed Hummingbird, Swallow-Tailed Hummingbird, Long-Billed Starthroat, Sapphire-Spangled Emerald, Black-Throated Mango, Violatea Hummingbird, Rufous-Tailed Jacamar, Ornate Hawk Eagle, Black Hawk Eagle, White-Necked Hawk, Crested Eagle, Greater Yellow-Headed Vulture, King Vulture, Spectacled Owl, Amazonian Pygmy Owl
Reptiles (21): Green Iguana, Red-Footed Tortoise, Arrau Turtle, Twist-Necked Turtle Smooth-Fronted Caiman, Northern Caiman Lizard, Plumed Basilisk, Yellow-Spotted River Turtle, Mata Mata, Yellow Anaconda, Cuvier’s Dwarf Caiman, Spectacled Caiman, Black Caiman, South American Bushmaster, Boa Constrictor, Common Lancehead, Rainbow Boa, Emerald Tree Boa, Amazon Tree Boa, Eyelash Viper, Aquatic Coral Snake
Amphibians (16): Common Surinam Toad, Cayenne Caecilian, Surinam Horned Frog, Splashback Poison Frog, Green-and-Black Poison Frog, Yellow-Banded Poison Frog, Maranon Poison Frog, Dyeing Poison Frog, Spot-Legged Poison Frog, Reticulated Poison Frog, Anthony’s Poison Frog, Three-Striped Poison Frog, Blessed Poison frog, White-Leaf Frog, Giant Broad-Headed Treefrog, Giant Monkey Frog
Fish (50): Ocellate River Ray, Xingu River Ray, Tiger River Ray, Arapaima, Silver Arowana, Tambaqui, Redbelly Pacu, Piraiba, Red-Tailed Catfish, Tiger Shovel-Nosed Catfish, Peacock Bass, Atlantic Tarpon, Orinoco Sailfin Plecostomus, Oscar, Chocolate Cichlid, Turquoise Severum, Flag-Tailed Prochilodus, Disk Tetra, Red-Bellied Piranha, Largescale Foureye, Red Hook Silver Dollar, Silver Dollar, Banded Leporinus, Blue Discus, Freshwater Angelfish, Ram Cichlid, Lemon Tetra, Emperor Tetra, Head-and-Taillight Tetra, Leopard Cory, Jumbie Teta, Apistogramma nijsseni, Green Discus, Marbled Hatchetfish, Sterba Cory, Ember Tetra, Rummy-Nose Tetra, Cardinal Tetra, Neon Tetra, Blackspot Piranha, Crenicichla strigata, Electric Eel, Black Neon Tetra, Black Phantom Tetra, X-Ray Tetra, Glowlight Tetra, Coffee Bean Tetra, Amazon Puffer, False Black Tetra, Amazon Leaffish
Invertebrates (6): Brazilian Red-and-White Tarantula, Pinktoe Tarantula, Goliath Birdeater, Bullet Ant, Leafcutter Ant, Central American Cave Cockroach
# of Mammals: 57
# of Birds: 95
# of Reptiles: 21
# of Amphibians: 16
# of Fish: 50
# of Invertebrates: 6
Total Number of Species: 245
This concludes the most diverse, and hopefully largest, complex in the South American zone. Next time we journey with the fictional EZ (Expedition Zenith) Climbing Co. to the slopes of South America's greatest mountain range in World of the Andes.
- Crotalus
