I wouldn't like to say. I think it closed due to structural reasons, as the Palm House is very old and very much overdue a refurbishment. But, as the iconic glasshouse at Kew, closing it for such a long time has been a major consideration (for reference, I think the Temperate House was closed for 4 years).
Ah I see, well it makes sense if it is due to structural reasons as they are very old buildings. However, I do hope that the aquarium is reopened as it was a brilliant educational and aesthetic feature of the palm house.
The Barbican conservatory, England - This city botanical / indoor garden apparently has two ponds, one with fish like koi carp, rudd and roach and the other with many terrapins that have been rescued over the years from London's parks (nothing spectacular but worth mentioning).
I do not have the list of exhibited animals. They were primarily reptilian. But I posted a lot of photos on the facebook page ZooAnlagen - onlyExhibits
I've just found an interesting live animal exhibit at a botanical garden. The Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden in South Africa has recently created a display for threatened freshwater fish endemic to the Berg and Breede Rivers of the Cape Floristic Region. The 1.2 metre long aquarium houses three species - the Berg-Breede whitefish Pseudobarbus andrewi (Endangered), the Breede River redfin Pseudobarbus sp. burchelli breede (Critically Endangered) and the Cape kurper Sandelia capensis (Data Deficient). More information can be found in this link: Awareness for threatened fish
Thanks for your comment @DesertRhino150 ! That is a really interesting example and a refreshing one too as I really think that small freshwater fish are very neglected by conservation and often sorely need ex-situ insurance populations. I think the same that has been done with amphibians at Atlanta Botanical Gardens in the USA could be done with freshwater fish as it is in Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. Ultimately these gardens often have aquariums anyway so why not utilize them for a constructive conservation purpose rather than just have ornamental fish ? Incidentally, I'm not at all knowledgeable about fresh water fish species and I really didn't know about the existence of these species before reading your comment but I'm glad the Berg-Breede whitefish, Breede River redfin and Cape kurper are being kept by that botanical garden.
I don't have facebook so kind of hard to access that page and see them, is there no way you could post them in this thread ?
Just went today, it’s quite a nice place, but I could only see budgies and cockatiels, they were kept in a lovely old aviary
Ah I see, well these seem to be the standard ABC aviary birds kept in public / botanical gardens, but good to hear you had a great time.
In New Zealand some botanical gardens have tuataras, and they have reproduced there. Also, in Japan the only public display of the Southeast Asian giant freshwater stingray is in a botanical garden.
Thank you for your comment @RatioTile ! I think tuataras in botanical gardens is an amazing idea ! Which botanical garden in Japan holds the stingray ?
Some pictures of what I think is the most inspiring and useful display of live animals in a botanical garden at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens in the USA. Photo credit to @ThylacineAlive and @geomorph .
Yes, it was really quite a shame that he was the last of his kind and the species went extinct after his death. But I feel that his many years spent in the Atlanta botanical garden served as a living reminder of extinction and that was really very important in educational terms for the general public.
On the subject of animals in botanical gardens I kept trying to design a garden but I kept adding animal exhibits to the point that it just became a well landscaped zoo!
The wilhelma is both a zoo and a botanical garden and there is a second greenhouse that is home to bali mynahs and crowned pigeons and many other birds.
Most botanical gardens and arboretums have koi ponds, at least in the US. There are also many wild animals around botanical gardens, they can be some of the best places for wildlife watching.
