July 19-Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium

Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is nationally renowned for its leadership in animal conservation and research.

Established in 1894 as the Riverview Park Zoo, today the zoo includes the largest cat complex in North America.

 

 

 

The Lied Jungle, opened in 1992 at a cost of $15 million dollars, is one of the world’s largest indoor rainforests. 

 

 

 

It occupies an 80-foot tall building that spans 1.5 acres. The exhibit allows visitors to look out from behind a 50-foot tall waterfall. 

 

There is a trail on the floor of the jungles, as well as a walkway around and above the animals.  

Some of the animals calling the jungle home are the Blue Monkey, Black Howler Monkey, Otters, Pygmy Hippopotamus and Bats.

 

 

 

 

 

The Desert Dome, opened in 2002 at a cost of $31.5 million dollars, is the world’s largest indoor desert.

The dome has features from deserts around the world: Namib Desert of southern Africa, Red Center of Australia, and the Sonoran Desert of the southwest United States.

Some of the animals on exhibit are the Central Bearded Dragon, Desert Cottontail, Wallaby, Meerkat, and Ocelot.

 

 

In addition to being one of the world’s largest indoor deserts, the Desert Dome’s geodesic dome is also the world’s largest in the world.

The dome is 137 feet above the main level and 230 feet in diameter.

Located below the dome is Kingdoms of the Night, the world’s largest nocturnal exhibit and indoor swamp featuring a wet cave, deep aquarium, a canyon, an African diorama, a eucalyptus forest, a dry batcave, and a swamp.

 

 

Some of the animals found in the kingdom include Aardvark, Bats, American Alligators, Beavers and Porcupine.

 

The Hubbard Gorilla Valley exhibit opened in 2004 at a cost of $14 million dollars.

This guy did something I didn't expect 

He came up to where I was sitting and planted a kiss on the window.

The Hubbard Orangutan Forest includes a outdoor habitat and an indoor habitat.

Opened in 1977, the Cat Complex has 11 indoor enclosures and 10 outdoor enclosures with capacity up to 100 cats.  

The Butterfly and insect Pavilion is a 14,000-square foot total-immersion exhibit.

To enter the exhibit, visitors walk through a set of doors to a antechamber.  After the first set of doors are closed, a second set of doors allows entry.  The same procedure is done upon exiting the exhibit to ensure there are no hitchhikers on your clothing.

Opened in 1998, the Garden of the Senses is filled with plants, fountains, birds and a giant sundial.

Expedition Madagascar is home to lemurs, straw-colored fruit bats and giant rats.

 

 

The $73 million Dollar African Grasslands exhibit houses giraffes, rhinos and other native species including six African elephants.

We watched a bunch of young cheetah playing and sleeping.

 

 At a cost of $16 million dollars, the Walter and Suzanne Scott Kingdoms of the Seas Aquarium opened in 1995.  The building has 71,000 square feet containing a total of 1,200,000 gallons of water.

Displays include habitats from polar regions, temperate oceans, the flooded Amazon rainforest, and coral reefs. 

 

 

 

Featured in the shark tunnel are sharks, stingrays, sea turtles, and coral reef fish.
My favorite was the tanks housing jellyfish.

 

 

 

Some other zoo exhibits include the Owen Sea Lion Pavilion, a petting zoo and Lozier Imax theater.

In addition to being a wonderful way for human beings to get a close up look at how so many different species of animals live in their native habitats, zoos are essential as a shelter and home to animals that could not survive in the wild either due to lack of habitat or injury. 

 

Many zoos have Species Survival Plans which coordinate breeding and population management programs for threatened and endangered animals.