This is the only place I've seen chameleons draw and hold crowds. The key, I think, is unparalleled trust in the visitor's inherent wonder at nature. There's no megafauna here; no flashy boat rides or attempts to turn the ecosystem into an indoor zoo; even the waterfall is only glimpsed. The overall effect more closely emulates the excitement of watching wild animals than any other exhibit I've come across. If only every zoo could match ambition with such intelligence.
Absolutely. It's very cleverly-stocked - you never see nothing, but you never see everything. Over two days we saw most things other than the mouse lemurs, frogs and some of the smaller birds.
We did note at the time that out of our zoo nerd crowd (this being Zoohistorica weekend), those who do more 'wildlifing' alongside their zooing tended to enjoy Masoala even more than those who don't - it pushes many of the the same buttons.
And it's still the most realistic recreation of a tropical habitat in a temperate zone I have ever seen.
