(Parrot) Jungle Island

(Parrot) Jungle Island
02-12-2008

Jungle Island is a small animal park located on a man-made island in Miami's Biscayne Bay. Originally located in Pinecrest, a village south of Miami FL, for several decades. The original facility was located on a landlocked property and its inability to expand led to a decision to relocate the facility. Over a few short years, Parrot Jungle transferred several of its prized flora specimens including a banyan tree and a sausage tree. And in 2003, Parrot Jungle Island opened to the public. The new location, Watson Island (why would they relocate to an island if they wanted to expand in the first place...talk about landlocked) is near downtown Miami, its port, and South Beach. And Parrot Jungle has been in major debt since it opened. The park has been bailed out with millions of dollars by the City of Miami and its name changed to Jungle Island to attract more visitors (too many people thought it was just a place with parrots). Jungle Island has added several attractions since it opened including a Liger exhibit, a 20 foot Saltwater Crocodile, Black-footed Penguins, and numerous high priced interactive exhibits with various animals.

Jungle Island: Family Fun | Outdoor Events | South Florida

02-12-2008

Last week I visited Jungle Island for the first time. It is well landscaped and has numerous trails that it is easy to get lost and really immerses you into the forest. However, it can also be seen as a poster for the pet trade/industry. The park is filled with numerous small aviaries with a large variety of macaws, cockatoos, amazons, and other parrots...many that I have never seen before.

Upon entering the park you can take one of two trails that winds through the park and leads to more trails, passed waterfalls, and over small streams. The park has three shows in different locations. The bird show is entertaining and shows the skills and behaviors of many various birds...including the only trained cassowary! They even asked for a volunteer to unknowingly feed the large lethal bird. There is also a reptile/mammal show and a tiger/liger show.

The first major exhibit included a replication of the clay cliffs in Manu National Park (Peru) - the exhibits lacked much needed vegetaion and there was little areas of the cliffs to allow birds to perch. But it was walk-through (supervised), have a good diversity of macaws/amazons and had squirrel monkeys.

Other exhibits included:
*Everglades Habitat (alligators, native fish & waterfowl/wading birds)
*Primate exhibits (Lar Gibbon, Capuchin, Orangutans)
*Liger
*Flamingo Lake (best exhibit in park and beautifully landscaped)
*Serpentarium (the few & poor reptile exhibits and crocodilian underwater viewing are in the basement of this show arena)
*Crocosaurus (Hank, the 20-foot Saltwater Crocodile - I swear his tail was as thick as a man!)
*Petting Farm

02-12-2008

How long was your visit? Would you recommend it or is it too "touristy"? The cassowary is intriguing...

02-12-2008

My visit was about 3 hrs long. The price is $30 per adult, very expensive. I would recommend visiting, it is a nice place and very lush...great landscaping. But dont visit expecting a world class zoo, this is merely one of Florida's many animal attractions and ment to attract guests from the nearby cruise ship terminal.

02-12-2008

that sounds...envigorating
Anyone remember the hawk that got the little boy during a flying display a few months ago in Canada (I think)? lol

02-12-2008

@Chlidonias: It was at the Greater Vancouver Zoo, and you've brought up a good point. Feeding a cassowary...wow.