As someone who also enjoys visiting botanic gardens I enjoyed it very much! I think both the education and conservation aims of zoos are greatly enhanced by the inclusion of a botanical component.
And incidentally while this would annoy many friends and colleagues involved in botanic garden conservation and in seed banks, I think the reverse is true as well. Particularly the education and visitor engagement roles of botanic gardens would be improved by the inclusion of companion zoological exhibits. No ecosystem can function without both plants and animals (and more).
At least one of the cycads in the zoo is an Encephalartos woodii, an extremely rare cycad which is extinct in the wild. About 500 specimens exist though all of them derive from a single male plant, no females are known to exist. Hybrids with other Encephalartos do exist though. I think this cycad might be on display in Africa Rocks.
Astonishing Cycads As you step through the portal across from Australian Outback into Africa Rocks, you’ll find our two newest cycads to your right. The shorter of the two is a Wood’s cycad Encephalartos woodii—considered among the rarest plant species in the world.
