There are several zoos that have extensive gardens and botanical displays. The Los Angeles Zoo has become a fully accredited botanical garden by the plant equivalent of the AZA. Where are the botanical gardens in the world that have some kind of animal exhibits? I remember at Kew Gardens in England they had a small aquarium with fish species found in mangrove forests. Some gardens have seasonal butterfly exhibits. Has anybody here ever visited a botanical garden and come across an unexpected animal exhibit that struck you as cool?
Atlanta Botanical Garden While I have never visited, Atlanta Botanical Garden is famous amongst hardcore zoo nerds for currently having the last Rabb's Fringe-limbed treefrog on the planet. It is quite likely the final specimen in the world and once it dies the species will be extinct. For that reason alone several ZooChatters have seen the animal alive (behind the scenes) and also toured the frogPOD in the gardens. Atlanta Botanical Garden frogPOD | Atlanta Botanical Garden
The Botanical Gardens in Sydney don't have exhibits, but they do have a colony of grey-headed flying foxes. Hix
Botanical gardens.... Kew Gardens used to have decent waterfowl collection, and even cranes many years ago. Abbotsbury Sub-tropical Gardens near here, has an aviary of Kookaburras & free-ranging golden Pheasants. Hong Kong Botanical Gardens still has a zoo section I believe.
Birmingham (UK) botanical gardens contains some aviaries, as well as a summer butterfly house. Nong Nooch botanical gardens, in Pattaya, Thailand, also has a zoo section.
When I visited a year ago, I was disappointed to learn the colony had been "forcibly relocated" to parts unknown. Have they returned?
http://news.co.cr/costa-rica-will-transform-two-zoos-into-botanical-gardens/2381/ How about this one?
A directory search on zootierliste shows a number of botanical gardens in Germany, as well as the conservatory & botanical gardens in Geneva. I think the focus is mostly on domestic animals though.
There are a few gardens in New Zealand, usually regional city gardens, that have freely viewable animal (often bird) exhibits, including Whanganui, Palmerston North, Dunedin and New Plymouth (which has a small zoo).
Callaway Gardens near Pine Mountain, Georgia, USA has a nice insect exhibit, including a butterfly area with a few birds. They also have a free-flight bird show which is the only place I've seen anyone fly a bald eagle. I only went down to see the animals, so I can't speak to the quality of their gardens. Callaway Gardens The Online Zoo - Callaway Gardens
In various green-houses, Kew has free-roaming roul roul partridges, geckos and green water dragons, all to keep down insects that might eat the plants, I believe. The gardens have peacocks and golden pheasants as well as some exotic waterfowl. Some years ago, there was a small enclosure of wallabies, but they've gone now, I think. In the 18th century, George III and his family kept kangaroos, zebras and quaggas there, amongst others!
Botanical gardens... Re the Roulrouls at Kew; I imagine they are stunning in that setting. The Eden Project used to have Zosterops and I believe geckos; don't know if they still do.