I think they opened their first one in the 1940s (they were experimenting at the time with reversed lighting situations) but I can't find anything further to that.
The Smithsonian Achives list
Nocturnal Room, 1974-1975
Nocturnal Exhibit Plans, 1977
A document called "Smithsonian Institution: Five-Year Prospectus, Fiscal Years 1991-1995"
includes "A nocturnal exhibit will include species such as the zorille, aardvark, fennec fox,
cobra, and insects."
The Smithsonian Achives list
Nocturnal Room, 1974-1975
Nocturnal Exhibit Plans, 1977
A document called "Smithsonian Institution: Five-Year Prospectus, Fiscal Years 1991-1995"
includes "A nocturnal exhibit will include species such as the zorille, aardvark, fennec fox,
cobra, and insects."
A side note, two exhibits in the Small Mammal House that currently do reverse lighting to make them nocturnal are for the brush tailed bettong and Madagascar jumping rat.
A side note, two exhibits in the Small Mammal House that currently do reverse lighting to make them nocturnal are for the brush tailed bettong and Madagascar jumping rat.
The jumping rats are always active when I go and I like the fact that you can see into their off exhibit area so you can see them in normal light. The bettong [ does the zoo have more than one?] is always sleeping and I've never seen it move and I've even heard someone say to the person they were with "is it dead?".
I don't know how that was the first thing they thought of.
According to the Map in the 1982 Guidebook, there was a "Nocturnal exhibit"in the Reptilehouse.
Unfortunately, the guidebook itself has no further information about it, but it contains some pictures of nocturnal species ( fennek, Bats, Sugar Glider). I guess, they had some nocturnal enclosures, because the Zoo has kept and bred also Tarsiers in the past. I belive, they were on display.
I didn't I spelled "nowt" with a w, in point of fact.
And if you are not a teenager, then I apologise for the assumption although my point about young people often being the loudest on here to complain about young people does stand as a general statement.
