Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens Rainforest of the Americas review

Harpy eagles at ROA...

...despite my somewhat negative report, a highlight today was spending some time at the Harpy Eagle area, both in the ROA exhibit and right above it on the path to the aviary. A new female harpy has been introduced to the previously solo male eagle there, and there's some... interesting interactions to say the least. A zoo researcher was on had the entire day, observing and taking notes, but also armed with a water hose!

Apparently the newly introduced lady has quickly become the alpha of the pair, to the point of divebombing the male at points during the day. The male was on guard all day, nervously peeking around corners and keeping his distance, while the female occasionally unfurled her wingspan in his general direction.

It's definitely a worthwhile trip up to the aviary to sit and watch for awhile — and it's also home to one of the singular views of most of the Zoo from up on high! An incredible place for a photographer with a wide angle lens early in the morning.
 
Review of ROA in 2014 and 2019

For when it opened back in 2014, it was a bit barren and the exhibits were still rolling out with their animal stars. If I remember correctly, the was an emerald tree boa/ peacock bass exhibit next to the piranha/ giant Otter exhibit. The boa and otters weren’t on display around the time, although the otters would be a big pull and still attract visitors today. Following down the road, across the last section of the otters was the baird’s tapir. It would appear to be bathing itself in the pool due to the hot summer weather. Some of the vegetation was sprouting which admittedly was a bit lackluster. Going down the trial, I was met with 3 exhibits with other representatives of the Americas in each exhibit: Black howler monkeys with lowland pacas, red uakaris(quite far from visitors but understandable due to their nature), and oropendolas. Among the 3 neighboring exhibits, the oropendola exhibit was lively due to the nesting behavior displayed by the birds. Further down the trail, we are met by an artificial log which housed dwarf caiman along with turtles, as well as the marine toad which was almost never present. Closer to the end of the trail, their was keel billed toucan exhibit which definitely explored its new home by flying around and constantly stopping to interact with its vegetation. And at the end was a signage with a large netted enclosure which would be home to the zoo’s jaguars, still filled with dirt and not obvious trees planted in yet. It was a rather mixed feelings for me due to the beauty of the enclosures design yet the vegetation and some animals needed to make their presence more known.

As of July/August 2019, having gone 3 times in the past 2 weeks alone, it is my all time favorite section of the whole zoo. Some animal species have come and gone: cotton top tamarins appear to have moved out as well as lowland pacas, although the pacas were being housed at the Winnick Animal Center by the entrance to the zoo. The emerald tree boa and peacock bass would be replaced with neon tetras, angelfish, and an caiman lizard. I had completely missed the harpy eagle exhibit the first time visiting ROA back in 2014 but with recent visits, it’s one of my favorite areas to chill out from the harsh heat and just look on up to see these beautiful predators looking around the whole zoo. Green aracari would replace the toucan and I feel was a fitting replacement due to their high energy and quirky behavior. And as for the jaguar exhibit, it’s a show stopper and truly hits the nail on the head for feeling like I’m in the heart of the Amazon. Although the Jaguars did hide the first couple times last month, this last visit on Sunday I was honored with their mighty presence as the male jaguar, most likely Kaloa, was prowling about for snacks their keeper left and would rub up about the tree close to viewing window.

I’m sorry this is a late addition to the thread but didn’t want to seem annoying by making a whole new review thread of ROA. I hope anyone who has gone more recently to see it have enjoyed it thoroughly as I have.
 
I got to see LA Zoo for the first time in 2015, primarily to see the incredible new elephant habitat and Billy. But of course I found many other joys in the zoo! There was a hippo baby at the time, and I saw my first-ever giant otters! Their new habitat was not yet ready--and in fact someone had just broken the heavy glass in the viewing area. The 5 otters were on exhibit in a space toward the inner part of the zoo that had a pool that looked to be about 6' in diameter. When those otters were in that pool all at once, it looked like a whirlpool of solid otters! They were able to swim so rapidly, whirling around without hitting one another that it reminded me of that circus act of 10 motorcyclists whizzing around the inside of a giant orb without incident. It was fantastic, and here I was still marvelling at the sheer size of the otters in addition to this show! I don't know if this was their original exhibit or a temporary one and the pool was probably lol too small for the group, but I had the best time both seeing your indeed-giant otters and seeing them create this whirlpool in their pool!
 
AmbikaFan said:
II don't know if this was their original exhibit or a temporary one and the pool was probably lol too small for the group, but I had the best time both seeing your indeed-giant otters and seeing them create this whirlpool in their pool!
Click to expand...

That is the original exhibit, although it was used with the knowledge that the otters would soon be getting a much better exhibit in ROTA. The zoo got giant otters a few years before ROTA construction started. It is a former maned wolf exhibit that had the pool installed.

It is still in use because the giant otters have reproduced endlessly, and there are always more otters than the main exhibit can house.
 
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