Rain Forest

This is the Tropical Zone at the Central Park Zoo, my second posting on this zoo (click here for the first posting, featuring the penguin habitat) It is located in the heart of Manhattan and sees 4 million visitors annually. As I wrote in the previous posting, the trend in zoos (and botanic gardens such as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden) is towards habitats and such is also the case with the Central Park Zoo which underwent a complete rehab in 1988. The zoo is divided into three climactic zones: a Polar Zone, a Temperate Territory and a Tropical Zone (interestingly, the Tropical Zone is referred to as the Rain Forest on their official map). The tropical habitat houses a variety of animals in a jungle environment - there are numerous birds, monkeys, snakes, frogs, lizards and toads. In the photo collage, starting upper right going clockwise, we have a Toucanet, Emerald Tree Boa, Colobus Monkey, Tamarin, Scarlet Ibis and a Fairy Bluebird. One of the outstanding aspects of the tropics is the fantastic, bright colors of the native birds. The spectacular plumage is a draw for observers, photographers and I imagine for those who purchase these birds as pets ...