Rain Forest halls are extremely common in modern zoos, and the first domed jungle ever built in the world was the "Tropical Rain Forest" building in 1974 at the Topeka Zoo. It's too bad that this tiny zoo, in the State of Kansas, is still primarily known for a 34 year-old building! Some zoos spell their buildings "Rain Forest", while others prefer "Rainforest" or "RainForest". The notion of an indoor jungle is appealing to both zoo directors and zoo visitors.
Since 1974 there have been rain forests constructed in countless zoos, and judging by the reactions of others here at ZooBeat it seems that many of these so-called "jungles" have failed to realistically recreate a true tropical atmosphere. The subjectivity of analyzing zoo exhibits comes to the forefront when discussing such buildings, as what one individual adores another person critques as being too garish, too concrete, or simply too depressing.
Anyway, in the 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" there is a list of the 10 best indoor tropical rain forests in the United States. Here it is:
#1 = Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo's "Lied Jungle" (1.5 acres)
#2 = Bronx Zoo's "Jungleworld"
The following 8 are in alphabetical order:
Brookfield Zoo's "Tropic World" (length of a football field)
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's "RainForest" (85,000 sq. ft)
Denver Zoo's "Tropical Discovery"
Franklin Park Zoo's "Tropical Forest"
Minnesota Zoo's "Tropics Trail"
National Zoo's "Amazonia" (15,000 sq. ft)
Sedgwick County Zoo's "Jungle" (0.5 acre)
Tulsa Zoo's "Tropical American Rainforest"
I've only visited 1 of these buildings (Denver), but after this summer will have seen at least 5 and maybe 6 of the so-called "jungles". Does anyone agree with the list?
Since 1974 there have been rain forests constructed in countless zoos, and judging by the reactions of others here at ZooBeat it seems that many of these so-called "jungles" have failed to realistically recreate a true tropical atmosphere. The subjectivity of analyzing zoo exhibits comes to the forefront when discussing such buildings, as what one individual adores another person critques as being too garish, too concrete, or simply too depressing.
Anyway, in the 2008 book "America's Best Zoos" there is a list of the 10 best indoor tropical rain forests in the United States. Here it is:
#1 = Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo's "Lied Jungle" (1.5 acres)
#2 = Bronx Zoo's "Jungleworld"
The following 8 are in alphabetical order:
Brookfield Zoo's "Tropic World" (length of a football field)
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo's "RainForest" (85,000 sq. ft)
Denver Zoo's "Tropical Discovery"
Franklin Park Zoo's "Tropical Forest"
Minnesota Zoo's "Tropics Trail"
National Zoo's "Amazonia" (15,000 sq. ft)
Sedgwick County Zoo's "Jungle" (0.5 acre)
Tulsa Zoo's "Tropical American Rainforest"
I've only visited 1 of these buildings (Denver), but after this summer will have seen at least 5 and maybe 6 of the so-called "jungles". Does anyone agree with the list?
Shedd's exhibit is entirely fake plants! I won't accept it.
