I love visiting botanical gardens around the world probably just as much as I like to visit decent zoos. I've often found that many of these institutions house live displays of captive smaller animals such as inverts, reptiles, amphibians, fish and birds (sometimes free-ranging) within their glass houses / conservatories. Personally, I've always felt that seeing animals alongside botanical collections really makes a visit to one of these gardens extra special. Probably because it highlights both animal and plant life and gives a much more holistic view of life on earth. What botanical gardens you have visited keep live displays of animals and what species are kept ?
Thank you for your comment @HungarianBison ! I should have been a bit clearer with my question but I meant specifically botanical gardens that are apart from zoos but that still hold live captive specimens of animals.
There are quite a few zoos that are botanic gardens but fewer botanic gardens with interesting animals. Here in the USA one example is Brookgreen Gardens
Thank you for your comment @Zooplantman ! It is great to see that they keep both native species and that their policy is that these are mostly rescued animals or those that couldn't be rehabilitated into the wild.
Thanks for your comment @Ned ! I think aviaries can be really aesthetically beautiful additions to botanical gardens, what bird species are kept in these aviaries ?
Eden Project in Cornwall has a big flock of Roulroul in its ‘Biome’ greenhouse. Kew Gardens used to (and may still) have a sizeable collection of waterfowl on its lake, and had at least one long lived and I think famous Stanley Crane
They have flamingos and alligators among other things by the looks of it ! Looks interesting and I bet the flamingos are a top attraction given that their logo is this bird.
Thank you for your comment @DavidBrown ! Yes, this is one of the botanical gardens that I was thinking about when creating this post. I remember the aquarium at Kew below the palm house pretty well. From memory they had some marine reef fish like clown fish, some spotted garden fish, I think a freshwater puffer fish and a few other freshwater species too, terrapins and some hermit crabs. It was looking a bit shabby during the few times that I visited Kew and I have since heard that it has closed down which is quite a shame IMO. I also remember seeing Chinese water dragons and several poison dart frog species (cannot remember the species though) housed in a large terrarium in one of the other glass houses at Kew too. Does anyone know if these are still there?
Thanks for your comment @FBBird ! I visited the Eden Project years ago, it is a really fascinating place, loved it. I remember there being little birds in one of the bio domes which I believe were white-eyes and were used as pest control. Don't remember the roulroul so they must have come in the years after my visit but they are a really beautiful bird to have within those biomes and I bet they live excellent lives there too.
Botanical gardens in Liberec has a separate room with aquariums, not large, but very nicely done tanks and with interesting species. It also has an aviary with small birds (astrilds, doves) in their Australian outback section, large koi carps in Chinese section, caiman and turtles in American bromelias section etc. The whole botanical garden is very small, 1 hour to see it, but I can recommend a visit there and it´s not far from the zoo.
Thanks for your comment @Jana What species are within the aquariums at Liberec? I'd be really curious to check out some pictures of this botanical garden, will look for some on google. I'm sure those bird species make great additions to their Australian outback section. It is a pity that kookaburras wouldn't be viable though but I'm sure they would end up dive bombing the visitors or defecating on them. Caimans and turtles within the Bromeliad pools sound excellent too and I bet the visitors enjoy it and it gives a feel for the lushness and biodiversity of the neotropics and a bit of excitement too as they spot "crocodiles".
Some examples that I've seen that I thought I'd add (nothing exciting unless you include the wild species) : Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, Spain - There is a small endemic fish species kept in the foundations and waterlilly pools here which I believe is the calandino (Squalius alburnoides), you can see native bird species and of course the invasive monk parakeets in the trees too. El Invernadero de Atocha, Madrid, Spain- There are some koi carp, goldfish and numerous red eared and yellow bellied terrapins kept in the ponds here (should add that this isn't really a botanical garden as such but is a beautiful indoor garden with tropical and subtropical plants). El Jardín Botánico del IB-UNAM, Mexico city, Mexico - There are some koi carp and red eared and yellow bellied terrapins kept in the ponds here. It is possible to see some wild native species of birds here including hummingbirds and I've seen ground squirrels, several lizard species, the endemic pedregal tarantula and rattlesnakes here too. Jardim Botânico São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil - There are some goldfish and native terrapins here in the glasshouses. It is also possible to see many wild native species here including mammals like sloths, howler monkeys, invasive marmosets (callithrix pencillata and callithrix jacchus), tegu lizards, boa constrictors and many native bird species.
It seems like they have got quite a nice mix of Asian birds in those aviaries with monals, tragopans, laughing thrushes and mynahs and a few African species too like glossy starling and turacos. A macaw and cockatoos too, but some of the others are a little predictable like lovebirds and monk parakeets.
