Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Rainforest of the Americas review

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
On April 24, 2014 I visited the opening day of the Los Angeles Zoo’s new Rainforest of the Americas will fellow Zoochatters Blackduiker, ungulate nerd, and Team Tapir. The day spent with this group was a joy. Sadly the new exhibit was not what we all hoped that it would be.

Firstly it looks like the Clearcut Rainforest of the Americas because the whole landscaping consists of spindly seedlings. In 20 years it may be a lush, forested joy, but now it is an unpleasant, scrubby experience.

The opening of the exhibit is a veritable forest of now-seedlings of fruit trees and food plants found in the forest. Once they grow in this part of the exhibit could be elegant and really nice, but it won't be for years.

The red uakari exhibit might as well be off-exhibit in a shed. It is 20 feet away from the pathway behind a tall fence. No kids can see it and most adults will have to strain to see it. These are sensitive animals, so of course they need to be exhibited carefully, but this solution is mind-bendingly awkward.

The reflection is so bad in the Goliath bird-eating spider, marine toad, and dwarf caiman exhibits that you can't see the animals, and I don't mean that you have to strain - you CAN'T SEE THE ANIMALS. Complete fail.

The monkey and bird exhibits are covered with heavy netting that makes the animals difficult to see. The harpy eagle exhibit is big, but covered with such heavy mesh and at such an angle that you can't see the bird.

The piranhas and other fish weren't in their tank yet. The piranha tank is in front of the giant otter underwater viewing. When fully implemented this effect might be brilliant.

The parts that work are the giant otter exhibit, which really is good.

The tapir/cotton-top tamarin exhibit is pretty good.

The signage and narrative are good.

The end of the exhibit is an interactive network of constructed giant lilypads over a pond that you can cross. That worked very well and was being enjoyed by kids and adults.
 
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Thanks for the review and it really is too bad that the new complex is hit-and-miss as many zoo nerds were eagerly anticipating a genuinely terrific addition to a hit-and-miss zoo. Rainforest of the Americas cost over $20 million and the price tag on new exhibits (even in an expensive city like Los Angeles) makes for a frustrating evaluation of the complex. Simple things like glare on the windows should have been taken care of considering the vast sum of money available, and what is the deal with the jaguar exhibit? There is a lot of discussion about it on the link below, which details the more than $172 million that the zoo has spent on new projects.

http://eng.lacity.org/projects/zoo/pdf/Monthly_Report.pdf
 
snowleopard said:
Thanks for the review and it really is too bad that the new complex is hit-and-miss as many zoo nerds were eagerly anticipating a genuinely terrific addition to a hit-and-miss zoo. Rainforest of the Americas cost over $20 million and the price tag on new exhibits (even in an expensive city like Los Angeles) makes for a frustrating evaluation of the complex. Simple things like glare on the windows should have been taken care of considering the vast sum of money available, and what is the deal with the jaguar exhibit? There is a lot of discussion about it on the link below, which details the more than $172 million that the zoo has spent on new projects.

http://eng.lacity.org/projects/zoo/pdf/Monthly_Report.pdf
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The jaguar exhibit is forthcoming. I don't know what the timeline is for it. It was obviously deleted from the initial plans that got built and then added back in when it was clear that funds were available for it.

ROTA is not finished and I need to amend my review to make that clear. I was there for a shakedown cruise. Some of the animals were not out yet (fish, emerald boa).

Some of the problems are deep and structural. The glare on the tanks is a fatal problem for those exhibits. They are not functional. Hopefully a solution is being engineered to fix the problem.

The plants will grow in. For now the hill with the exhibit is barren and that is going to be very brutal on hot summer days. For the potential future of the exhibit's atmosphere you can look a few hundred feet away at the older South America exhibit which exists in a lush, tropical-like envelope of greenery. If that is the future of ROTA then it could be a beautiful exhibit someday, but it is not now, nor will it be anytime soon.
 
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I was actually there today and it was not that sunny when I was there so I could see the Goliath Bird Eating Spider and the caimans and Maine toad. The tapir was moving around a lot and later on she was sleeping right by the glass viewing area. The otters were playing in the water and were playing with maps that people threw in. I also saw the bird show.
 
sounds like a real boondogle and economic political screwup compared to outstanding american rainforest exhibits in Miami, Jacksonville and New Orleans which I have visited several times.
 
wally war eagle said:
sounds like a real boondogle and economic political screwup compared to outstanding american rainforest exhibits in Miami, Jacksonville and New Orleans which I have visited several times.
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It has come up in several discussions that the best outdoor South American rainforest exhibits in the U.S. are in Florida. One obvious advantage that they have in this regard is a climate and vegetation that are a lot closer to tropical America than the rest of the country.

The LA exhibit has some very serious flaws, but there is a major addition on the way with the jaguar exhibit and maybe they can fix the glare situation. They can't make the plants grow faster unfortunately unless there is someone out there with mutant super-plants, and that could raise another set of problems...
 
wally war eagle said:
sounds like a real boondogle and economic political screwup compared to outstanding american rainforest exhibits in Miami, Jacksonville and New Orleans which I have visited several times.
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The rainforest exhibits in Miami and Jacksonville have the same problems mentioned by David as the rainforest exhibit in Los Angeles does.
 
I don't know if this is true but if the glass is inclined in slightly it cuts the glare down considerably, I will have to test it for my self i suppose to find out.The other solution would be covered viewing areas around the glass panels.

On the plant side the Cannas behind the group photo should reach full hight within a couple of years her in the UK so in LA they should take off even faster if they have a mixture of varieties they can top 9-10 feet down to 18 inches, that will give a good jungle effect. I cant of course speak for the other plantings.
In our garden we have an Arundix which is the giant reed of the Camargue it grows to 10foot in a year and bushes out the following spring it looks rather exotic until the winter savages the leaves. Most folk think it is a bamboo, which it isn't.
 
On my members sneak peak tour of Rainforest of the Americas with several fellow ZooChatters, I also experienced several of the same frustrations as David. But loved the Giant Otter habitat and saw only a few flaws with the Tapir yard; I would have preferred more natural footing and lush plantings. But realize the sand probably makes for keeping the pool cleaner. I was very frustrated with the glare of the glass fronted exhibits; Marine Toad, Dwarf Caiman, etc., but feel with a little more investment on a better canopy installed, this problem could be reduced considerably.

I had no problem with the design of the bird aviaries; Toucan and Curassow, but did see the immediate need for planting mature shade for the soon approaching summer heat. A few more mature plantings throughout the area, in the next several months for that matter, would be wise. And as for the aviary netting being too thick, I didn't really see that as a viewing problem. The viewing angle for the Harpy Eagles was actually the culprit; although we never walked around to the aviary ramp for a supposedly better view. My biggest complaint would be with the whole Red Uakari high fence viewing fiasco. We're talking at least a 6' obstruction. I believe at the 20 plus foot distance we're already giving them, a 4' fence would have sufficed. I can remember when they were being exhibited in the same roundhouse space that currently houses the Squirrel Monkeys not all that many years ago and viewing them at a distance of less than 5', without ever experiencing any unruly behavior on their part; and I'm talking several years. Los Angeles Zoo, "tear down that fence!" And please put up something more reasonable for public viewing, yet not too invasive for these rarely seen monkeys.

One last complaint, that could become a major issue, the already dirty exhibit windows. If the current poor window upkeep of such viewing areas
for the Ocelots, Gorillas, Langurs, Orangutans, etc. are any hint of things to come, we're in for more disappointment for our zoo guests.
 
DavidBrown said:
Here is an article from the LA Times about the new Rainforest of the Americas exhibit with some video of the new complex.

Exotic species are settling in at L.A. Zoo's new rain-forest exhibit - latimes.com
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"Some of these species are unique in the animal kingdom, as well as in zoological facilities," said zoo Director John Lewis.

I really hate when zoo spokespeople (or in this case the director) spew out literally meaningless catch-phrases and sound-bites! It makes them sound like idiots!
 
Special thanks to David Brown,Indigo and Black Duiker we really enjoyed our visit to the Los Angeles Zoo with you guys.Now as far as RFOA we pretty much agree with all thats already been mentioned here.No doubt Giant Otters were the crown jewel of the complex probably followed by Harpy Eagle and Tapir exhibits.It was cool to see Red Uakaris for the first time despite their lackluster exhibit.

Team Tapir223
 
Here's a short video clip sent to me the other day through ZOOMAIL, a members signup offering, of the Giant River Otter exhibit. The video can be enlarged to full screen:

 
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Thanks for the review Blackduiker! I've got to agree — I just don't know how anyone would have let those glare-filled glass enclosures at the back of the ROTA path go through. It feels like a huge oversight. Everyone either walked right past them or bonked their heads trying to get up close and personal to the glass.

If I remember right the Santa Barbara Zoo has a somewhat similar viewing area and they solved any glare issues with a very thick canvas cover stretched out overhead. Tons of viewing angles and even some much-needed cover from the sun may be easily had.

That said, has there ever been a more inconsistent new area opened up in the LA Zoo? The highest highs definitely outrank the lowest lows, but there's not much in-between. When it works it's absolutely terrific, like the amazing giant sea otter area, with the pirhanna tank effect, multiple height sightlines, and above and below water viewing.

When it doesn't, it's almost completely broken. While I love the harpy eagle's actual habitat, if he's not viewable from the elevated otter station, you have to backtrack and search out for the pathway to the aviary to see him. I actually dig the idea of habitats that connect two separate areas, but a lot of people seemed lost.

Besides some weird sightlines, especially with that red uakari headscratcher, the pacing is pretty broken depending on which side you enter from. I'm assuming the new jaguar area will fix that when it finally opens. And it's about time — I always feel pretty bad whenever I swing by the C-section where he's currently stationed at.
 
Back from a return visit to ROA...

...and I've got to admit I'm more disappointed with each trip. I know over the weeks and months, the plants and vegetation are going to skyrocket and the exhibit will start to live up to it's Rainforest namesake, but as it stands now, it's got to be one of the most unbearably hot and confusing sections of the zoo.

Lots of construction on the far end for what looks to finally be an outstanding, and large, jaguar exhibit. There's also a merch stand that I don't remember from my last visit that has to be the loneliest and least profitable shop on the grounds. The amazing otter habitat loses almost all of it's energy and charm when the waterslide isn't operating, which has been the last couple of visits. And it's a bummer to walk up to that terrific above-water otter viewing station and see little more than visitor maps floating in the water.

The more I walk that trail, the more I'm confused about the intentions behind the sight lines. Despite the tamarins being the mascot for this highly publicized exhibit (to the point of there being someone dressed up as one at the gates for photo ops) I would bet that 90% of the visitors never notice the little guys. They're hidden in the middle of the tapir section, a section that beyond the initial viewing window is pretty difficult for most people to see any activity. The walls are a little high and pretty far from the trail, and there are freshly planted shrubs along the longest wall. I heard multiple people complaining that they had no idea what they were supposed to be looking for. Pretty much after the tucked away red uakari's the exhibit seems to be a race to the exit for most.

While the jury's still out until the jaguars get their much-needed new home, my biggest gripe is that it just seems like an exhibit that's not ready for primetime. I've got high hopes for it to improve over the next year or two, but non-functional features, unfinished exhibits, not enough cover for visitors walking through, and hidden away fan-favorites that people would love a closer look at kind of make ROA a dud.
 
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