Tropical halls

Marhi

Marhi

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Hi all! I am big fan of tropical halls with free-flying birds or butterflies. I know about few of them but I would love to discover more :) Do you know any good tropical halls? I prefer those where you can find more taxas - like free flying birds, butterflies, with lizards or frogs freely in the area etc.

Also, I am heading to Leipzig in close future. They have some rarities in Gondwana but I haven't seen any during my last visit. Finding birds are very hard there (at least for me) ... does anybody know any hints how to find at least half of the species? Is there any place where you can see them around feeders?

Tropical halls which I've visited and I loved:

(1) Tropical hall in Zoo Wien, Austria: great, especially because of Chloropsis hardwickii (Birdhouse is awesome as well)

(2) Tropical hall in Zoo Nürnberg, Germany: beautiful, with butterflies, tanagers and you can observe manatees there

(3) Gondwana hall in Zoo Leipzig, Germany: huge, great collection

(4) Sechuan, Prague Zoo, Czech republic: ok, it is not tropical hall but the bird collection is great

(5) Bird House, Dvůr Králové, Czech republic: I love it, mostly because of turacos there

(6) Tropical hall, Walsrode, Germany: great one (as most of all Walsrode)

(7) Regenwald, Zoo Köln, Germany: great one too, mostly because of
Aceros cassidix

(8) Bird house, London Zoo, Great Britain: lovely, I loved free flying pittas there

(9) Haus des Meeres, Wien, Austria: wonderful but mixing species from many places (Asia, Africa etc.), friendly Tocko is awesome

I am sure there is more, especially in Germany and Netherlands. I've never been to Netherlands but I hope it is gonna happen in close future.

Can you help me, please?
 
The Tropical House at Chester Zoo is significantly better than the exhibit you refer to at ZSL London Zoo :) as is the Monsoon House there.
 
I agree the the Eden Project is a pretty amazing place. But it's of course MUCH more about plants than about animals.

In terms of zoo tropical halls, I really like Randers Regnskov tropical zoo in Denmark- three pretty large halls for three continents (Africa, Asia and South America). South america is the biggest, and I would go there just for the Manatees alone -but there are lots of other animals too.

Randers Regnskov - Tropical Zoo: regnskoven.dk

And in a different way, I also enjoyed the old tropical houses at Artis in Amsterdan (Apenhuis and Vogelhius), with free roaming reptiles, bats and small monkeys- it less packed with animals perhaps than some more modern houses, so it took a while to discover them, which kind of made it more fun.
 
Some more, in a somewhat random order:

-Burgers' bush (Burgers' zoo, Arnhem). One of the biggest tropical halls around, with probably one of the best collections around. Roof consists entirely of Texlon air-cushions, making it so there is no need for supports to hold up the roof. An incredible array of free-flying species (Highlights being African darter, screaming piha, Gray's piping-guan, Chaco chachalaca, golden-fronted leafbird, etc.) but with some exhibits for otters, aardvarks, manatees and caimans. Important to note is that the first ever captive green iguanas were born here, and very recently the first ever second-generation screaming pihas.

-Masoalahalle (Zürich zoologischer garten). Honestly, this one just speaks for itself. Possibly the best representation of a real-life rainforest in a western zoo, and certainly the best representation of a Malagasy rainforest in a western zoo. An ecosystem that functions almost just like it would in real life, with predators, prey, and a very nice amount of rare species; Goodmann's mouse lemur, Geoffroy's dwarf lemur, red-fronted lemur, crested drongo, Madagascar magpie-robin, pitta-like ground-roller, crested coua...

-Crocodile house (Tierpark Friedrichsfelde, Berlin). A small, yet wonderful tropical hall. Split up in two halves, you walk through this hall on a boardwalk. First, you enter an area keeping an incredible amount of turtle species, and quite a wonderful collection of birds; Andean cocks-of-the-rock, red-legged honeycreepers and other rarities roam freely here, and have access to an outdoor aviary. The second area keeps American alligators, Chinese alligators, dwarf crocodiles, false gharials and blue-tailed monitors.

-Freiflughalle (Zoo Wuppertal). Attached to the bird house keeping an already extremely interesting line-up of rarities is this relatively small, entirely South-American based tropical hall for birds. With Andean cocks-of-the-rock, spangled cotinga and purple-throated fruitcrow it has a very nice collection of cotingas, but also in this hall are Pacific horneros, a male white-tailed trogon, 3 tanager species, purple honeycreepers, and so on. Very small, but very impressive.

-Tropical Zoo (Zoo Copenhagen). A set of three tropical halls, some indoor exhibits and an outdoor aviary that tries to capture the biodiversity of our planet's jungles... And does so well. The first area focuses mainly on birds, with white woodpeckers, black crakes and spangled cotingas being the highlights in a wonderfully constructed rainforest. There are exhibits in this area for tomato frogs, three-banded armadillos (one of the best places for photographing them I've found, as they are active in decent light levels), red-footed tortoises, a green anaconda, and mangrove monitors. After this you enter a building with exhibits for many invertebrates, herptiles and small primates/birds from across the world. The second hall has an exhibit for West-African crocodiles, and has free-flying butterflies and grassquits.

-Rimbula (Wildlands, Emmen). In my opinion, a good example of what a tropical hall shouldn't be, but since it's the biggest in Europe it requires a notable mention. A very large indoor exhibit for Asian elephants, islands for spider monkeys and gibbons, and a walkthrough area for lory's are the only exhibits, and limited to only very 'standard' species when it comes to free-flying taxa.

-Many, many more... Tropical halls are, gladly, still very popular in zoos, and it'd be impossible to list them all!

About the rarities in Gondwanaland; On my visit I saw the Hartlaub's turaco pair in a tree in the village you enter in, I saw the blue-throated piping-guan on the railing of the restaurant overlooking the area, and the Vietnamese flying foxes could be found relatively easily throughout the dome as long as one pays attention (Plus, the taxon can be found much more easily in the bird house in the same zoo; another wonderful tropical hall!). The eastern pygmy marmosets have an exhibit, but apparently escaped all the time so were allowed to roam the hall freely; they're usually seen in the area to the right of the boat tour entrance, when looking at it from the village (but are incredibly difficult to find, as I believe there are only 2 remaining). Good luck!
I wasn't able to find any of the reptiles and amphibians present, but wasn't really expecting to either.

EDIT: And to add on to what annebn said, Artis' monkey house has the only Northern sugar gliders in Europe, though they are only rarely seen. Other interesting species freeroaming in this house are New Guinea ground cuscus and grey-bellied night monkeys.
 
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Wroclaw Zoo's Afrykarium is worth a mention, and has free-flying birds in both the Hippo area with various savanna birds as well as the Congo area with rainforest birds (African species, of course).

I would also suggest that the Black Crake in Gondwanaland at Leipzig is most easily seen when doing the boat ride, that is how I saw one, and I know others have seen Black Crake from the boat ride as well. Apparently there are also now King Vultures in Gondwanaland which I think would be interesting to see.
 
In Emmen you also have the Butterfly-house with some nice aquariums, some reptiles ( in enclosures ) and loads of Butterflies.
In Germany a little, but even so very nice - Tropical hall can be found at Tierpark Gettorf with a lot of birds.
 
Moody Gardens has a pretty awesome tropical rainforest area. There are free-roaming birds, butterflies, monkeys and more.

Houston Museum of Natural Science has a fantastic indoor butterfly garden.

Houston Zoo has a small, but neat, tropical bird hall.
 
Eden project is well worth a visit, but as mentioned by previous posters it isn't really about animals. Regardless, I do find it interesting that they call it the "World's largest indoor rainforest". According to their own page it is 15590 m2 (=3,85 acres). Compared to the world's two largest rainforest halls in zoos that's marginally larger than Burgers', but slightly smaller than the 16500 m2 (=4,1 acres) Gondwanaland in Leipzig.

Here's a thread about rainforest halls in U.S. zoos (from 2008-2009, but still useful as I don't think any massive rainforest halls have been built there since):
http://www.zoochat.com/22/north-american-rain-forest-buildings-18365/

I've seen a fair number of rainforest halls worldwide, including the largest in Europe and USA, but still consider Zurich's 10000 m2 (2½ acres) Masoalahalle the best. In terms of birds Walsrode's Indonesia hall c. 2000-2002 hasn't been surpassed. It's still very nice, but if you have a time machine I do recommend a visit to that earlier period :p

EDIT: Somehow I completely missed this place in Emmen's newly opened zoo:

Vision said:
Rimbula (Wildlands, Emmen)... it's the biggest in Europe
Click to expand...

Largest in Europe = largest in the world (all rainforest halls in zoos of other continents are quite a bit smaller than the very largest in Europe). Apparently 18000 m² (4,45 acres), which edges it ahead of Leipzig's Gondwanaland. However, if Rimbula essentially is an elephant house+rainforest hall some might argue that it belongs in a different category. Do the gibbons have their own netted exhibits? If not, they're well-documented bird catchers and the zoo would be wise to stay away from rarer free-flying bird species.
 
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There´s another good Tropical hall, "Amazonica" at Blijdorp Zoo Rotterdam.

It´s a large rainforest which houses lots of different butterflies, accompanied by some closed enclosures for Anacondas and Iguanas and a large Pond with different fishes like Pacu and Arapaima (and also some turtles)
 
Zooplantman said:
Although this is not a zoo exhibit (and has almost no animals) the very best tropical hall anywhere, for creating an experience of walking in a tropical forest, is the Eden Project in Cornwall, in the UK Rainforest Biome, world's largest indoor rainforest - Eden Project, Cornwall

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.3...81eEDpxMfpjHK7tlrRfg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
Click to expand...

This is an intriguing comment I wholly disagree with. Not only are Eden's domes a major distraction, but the signage, visitor route, shifting geographical focus, and lack of a canopy all contribute to the impression of being in an exhibit. By contrast, and as noted by previous posters, the Masoala Hall feels like a patch of lowland tropical rainforest. The animals certainly add to its authenticity, but even having visited Woodland Park and the Bronx, it's the only genuinely immersive exhibit I've ever experienced. The Eden Project, whilst great, has never given me that. Would you mind elaborating on why you (presumably) disagree?


My own ranking of “the big three”:
1) Masoala Rainforest Hall
2) Burgers’ Bush
3) Gondwanaland
 
Giant Panda said:
This is an intriguing comment I wholly disagree with. Not only are Eden's domes a major distraction, but the signage, visitor route, shifting geographical focus, and lack of a canopy all contribute to the impression of being in an exhibit.
Click to expand...

Perhaps this is either a matter of different tastes or perhaps you visited years earlier than I did (before the canopy grew in). The scale of the tropical dome allows trees and palms to reach unprecedented size indoors, the general wildness of the plantings, the switchback trails climbing the old quarry side, the species richness all work for me. The ETFE dome itself was not at all a distraction to me once inside, and when you climb to the observation platform my eyes went down, not up.

I was there just as work on their canopy walk was beginning. I imagine that changed things.

The Mediterranean dome is a different matter.
 
Planckendael (Mechelen, Belgium) got a pretty descent Asian themed tropical hall with lar, prevost squirrel, slender loris, Luzon northen clouded rat, toepaja, black rat, tiger python, greater argus and Sunda wrinkled hornbill. Free roaming birds include bali mynah, luzon bleeding-heart, pheasant pigeon, mangrove egret, palawan peacockpheasant, collared kingfisher, Java sparrow, Bank myna, red junglefowl, white-shouledered starling, Brahminy starling, pied imperial pigeon, nicobarpigeon, chestnut munia, red-whiskered bulbul, crested partridge, Salvadori's pheasant, chestnut-backed thrush, white-rumped shama, etc. A separate section is -sadly - transformed into a lori-landing.

Most mammals are kept in a nocturnal section, in and under an old temple ruin. Vegetation is full grown.

Adjadent to the hall are enclosures for Asian lions, lar, Celebes black macaques, asian small-claw otter and an aviary with demoiselle crane amongst others.
 
I love tropical houses but I don't get the disapproval of lory aviaries?

Though globally these halls have a bad reputation for failing to breed birds. But to this day exhibits feature nest predators such as oropendolas (in the USA) often, which is inexcusable. Shier species of bird become dominated by others or are disturbed by visitors. The concept is thus marred by a poor choice of species.
 
2 tropical halls that come to mind are those of Pairi Daiza and Pakawi Park.
The one at Pakawi Park is about 2,793 m2 (4,330 in2) in size and has enclosures for white-fronted lemurs, African spurred tortoises, civets, hornbills and blue-winged kookaburras among others and it is also home free-ranging animals such as scarlet ibises, aquatic turtles (some actually have no exhibit), masked lapwings and more. There is also a nice Reptile House that includes green iguanas, Philippine crocodiles, Frill-necked lizard and also some mammals like egyptian fruit bats, Four-toed hedgehogs and more.
There are also outdoor aviaries for Azara's agoutis, macaws and seriemas, among others.
It is a very nice, natural looking greenhouse with even a small desert section and a large waterfall.
The one at Pairi Daiza is called Oasis and is located in the Spanish Gardens of the abbey where Pairi Daiza is in located. The hall is about 7,770 m2 (1,200 in2) in size. The Oasis greenhouse is actually quite large and has a retractable roof. An indoor playground and a restaurant can also be found here. Here live some rare animals such as bear cuscuses, hummingbirds, white-faced lemurs (with outdoor enclosure) and cloud rats. There are also lesser flamingos and some other monkeys that you can find here, as well as free-living species and some desert species such as meerkats, armadillos and turtles. The greenhouse will become a desert greenhouse i the future when Pairi Daiza opens its largest tropical greenhouse in the world in a few years, with jaguars, crocodiles, howler monkeys, sharks, manatees and more.
 
Nashville Zoo has Unseen New World which has an aviary, sadly it was closed on the time of my visit this June (which was before I even had a zoochat account). Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo has the Lied Jungle, and even though I have not been there, I have heard many good things about it. Brookfield Zoo has Tropic World, though it is not doing too well (species wise) as of right now. There is also this thread What is your Favorite Indoor rainforest?
 
The last time I went to Chester Zoo in 2010, I remember they had a really good tropical house and a walktrhough butterfly house, though my memory of both is a bit hazy now. I'm planning another visit some time next year. I saw a video on YouTube about the Lied Jungle at Omaha's Henry Doorley Zoo, and thought the place looked fantastic. I'd really love to go there some day.
 
There's also Amazonia at the Smithsonian National Zoo and the Upland Tropical Rainforest at the National Aquarium in Baltimore, both somewhat on the smaller scale compared to some of the giant exhibits mentioned elsewhere. On the other hand, the low stocking densities and lack of larger animals really lets the vegetation get established and grow in nicely.
 
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