The opening of the rainforest has been pushed back one day to the 30th at noon. According to zoo workers there is only 1 species of titi monkey present. Apparently the pictures of the Coppery Titi are just pictures from the web designers and not actually there. No Squirrel Monkeys either, but Pied Tamarins are there. The Green Anaconda will be in the rainforest. The zoo has a Von Decken's Hornbill as an ambassador animal. The tree kangaroos may be expecting. The Northern Snake-necked Turtle Chelodina oblonga "siebenrocki" is back on exhibit again after being behind the scenes for years.
There is a list of animals for rainforest on the zoo website. Don't know if it is complete or not but it adds to the list we have
Well I am back from the rainforest grand opening, and I am very happy with it. Minor quibble with lack of scientific names. Exhibits are nicely done and several animals were exceptionally close. There are 36 species in the rainforest building and associated exhibits outside of the building proper of which I was able to see 30 of today. Here is the rundown. Giant Otter Giant Anteater Southern Tamandua Red-rumped Agouti Black-and-gold Howler Monkey Pied Tamarin Golden Lion Tamarin White-faced Saki Bolivian Gray Titi Linne's Two-toed Sloth Prehensile-tailed Porcupine Sunbittern Hyacinth Macaw Northern Helmeted Curassow Ringed Teal White-faced Whistling Duck Crested Oropendola Yellow-rumped Cacique Elegant Crested Tinamou Chilean Flamingo Keel-billed Toucan Guira Cuckoo "Blue-crowned" Motomt Venezuelan Troupial Yellow-banded Poison Dart Frog Dyeing Poison Dart Frog Green Anaconda Emerald Tree Boa Casque-headed Iguana Corytophanes cristatus aka Smooth Helmeted Iguana Red-footed Tortoise Rummy-nose Tetra Neon Tetra Freshwater Angelfish Bleeding-heart Tetra Black-spot Piranha Pygocentrus cariba Metallic Pink-toe Tarantula
Not any good ones today. Issues with my lense fogging up after coming in from the cold. Thylacine Alive may have some as he was there also. It was nice meeting my first zoochatter today.
Funnily enough we first saw each other when I was standing on the other side of a small hill but my head just poked over the top with the foliage all gone for the winter @Neil chace I took photos are the exhibit which I will post tonight/tomorrow. As for my thoughts on the exhibit I think it's a welcome addition to a very solid zoo but I think the director oversold it a bit by describing it as a world-class exhibit. It's very good but it's not very big, and the actual placement of the building puts a lot of previously on-exhibit land off-exhibit now. As @Birdlover mentioned none of the signage give scientific names. The otter enclosure came out very good, I think, and the walk-through bit is very tall and gives the animals plenty of space to roam around and get away from the public if they choose while also getting very close if they choose. There are various ropes hanging above the paths to allow the monkeys to run right above people which is always neat. Species-wise it's pretty solid, though personally I'd have preferred some more herps/inverts and I think the Jamaican Fruit Bats would have still fit fine into the general walk-through. I think it'd also have benefited by the inclusion of Ocelot/Jaguarundi and the King Vultures in outdoor enclosures (which there is space for) but no matter. I think there were also Yellow-Rumped Caciques in the building iirc. The building does have one very obvious and kind of hilarious flaw to it, though. The building has automatic doors instead of regular ones and as such the zoo needs to have a keeper stationed at the entrance and exit at all times to stop the animals from simply walking out. Throughout our visit the curassow pair had to be continuously shooed away from the exit. ~Thylo
Actually the zoo did a great deal with a rather modest budget. I am sure they wished to do more but could not accomplish everything within their budget.
I don't disagree, and it is a good exhibit and a great addition to the zoo. The biggest criticism I have (aside from the lack of scientific names) is that the placement of the exhibit blocks off previously on-exhibit space and thus removes the possibility for more to be added in the future. ~Thylo
Judging from all of the photos that you have uploaded, the new building is a bit underwhelming. It's about half the size of the rainforest building that opened at Buffalo Zoo a decade ago, and the indoor and outdoor primate exhibits don't even seem finished. I do like the idea of having vines and ropes going over the visitor pathway but the whole thing seems a bit on the small side. However, adding 35+ species to the zoo is sure to be a success in terms of visitor numbers. Questions: Is the Giant Otter exhibit larger than it looks in photos? Do the otters have an all-indoor exhibit? Is the Giant Anteater exhibit the same one that opened many years ago?
Actually they have Cardinal Tetras not Neons that was my mistake. I had a nice talk with someone from the zoo and he said the lack of scientific names was based on zoo surveys of what people wanted on the sign, but it was something they struggled with. While I disagree with their decision, most zoo goers are not like us on this forum. Unfortunately we are the minority. Yes the anteater is in the same place. The howlers monkeys had a baby last week. I you spend some time in the building you will see 99% of everything in there. I went yesterday and again today (great being 5-10 minutes away) . Here is what I didn't see yesterday Agouti Tarantula Titi monkey Saki monkey Yellow-banded Poison Dart Frog Guira Cuckoo Today I found out the agouti just had a baby and is bts, the titis are still getting used to there home and are a bit shy, the sakis were just put in today, the cuckoos arrived late and should be out in a week. In today's visit other than the above I saw everything including the frog I missed yesterday, except for the tarantula , lion tamarins, tortoise and the giant anteater (but I didn't go to his exhibit). All the birds except the flamingos and toucans are free-ranging as are the tortoise, both tamarins species and the sloths. I have had several incredibly close encounters with several of the species in the past 2 days.
The otter exhibit takes up most of the back wall of the building, the pictures make it look smaller than it is. I have only seen them also at Philadelphia and while I think they are given more space at Phillie I like Roger Williams exhibit better, and yes it is completely inside.
I agree, but again I think it's good. For the record, the exhibit didn't add 35+ species, most of the birds and some of the mammals were already present in the old house. They're in a much nicer exhibit now, though. I would agree that the otter enclosure is better than the one Philadelphia had until they opened their new complex (which I've not seen yet). I think it's good for two otters, any more might be pushing it a bit. ~Thylo
According to this link, the excellent Buffalo Zoo rainforest project cost $16 million: Rainforest Falls Opens at Buffalo Zoo According to the link below, the new rainforest project at Roger Williams Park Zoo (which looks mediocre at best in my opinion and almost half the size of the Buffalo 'jungle') cost $14 million. Where is the innovation amidst the cement floors and poorly-conceived exhibits? That all-indoor otter exhibit is surely the smallest of its kind for the species and the toucan/agouti/porcupine enclosure has a lot of cement and very little naturalism. The indoor primate enclosure looks as if it was built 30 years ago! I know this sounds harsh, but I was expecting so much more from a little zoo that I like. Providence's Roger Williams Park Zoo opens its showcase rainforest exhibit Friday | video
