Source: Times Online
London Zoo's indoor rainforest is Britain's fullest re-creation of an Amazonian ecosystemOut of the steamy jungle canopy leapt a small South American monkey, which paused for a moment before darting off in the direction of Euston Road.
The monkey is one of the inhabitants of London Zoo’s indoor rainforest, the country’s fullest re-creation of an Amazonian ecosystem.
From Saturday, thousands of visitors will join the monkeys in the “bio-dome” where humans and primates interact freely, with no bars or glass in the way — a model for the rest of the zoo’s exhibits.
The monkey, dashing between our legs, did not seem too concerned. “As you can see, the Golden Headed Lion Tamarins are really not bothered by crowds,” said Tony Dobbs, senior keeper of mammals.
Rain-making machines filled the air with a sticky mist and elsewhere among the trees Red Titi Monkeys and Fu Manchu-moustached Emperor Tamarins leapt from branch to branch. Grey-winged trumpeter birds patrolled the forest floor. A two-toed sloth remained imperiously asleep in the tree canopy.
The zoo is hoping that the animals will start to breed in the artificial jungle, which is kept at about 27C (81F) and 80 per cent humidity, to mimic the conditions of the Amazon rainforest.
“We want people to be immersed in the jungle as soon as they come get off the bus,” said Mr Dobbs. “We are actually letting the animals come out and get close to the public. We think they will be happy running around when the public are in here.”
Although the zoo’s rainforest is much smaller than other indoor jungles such as at the Eden Project in Cornwall, David Field, the zoological director, said that London had one crucial advantage: “animals, animals, animals!”.
Mr Field is evangelical about tearing down the bars and letting the animals roam free.
“You get the animals running around among us, feeling that they will interact with us on their own terms, as another animal in the exhibit,” he said. “The humans are just another animal here — and probably one of the more dangerous ones.”
With rainforests disappearing around the world, Mr Field wants the Rainforest Life area to spur people into action to help stop the habitat loss, which has left most of the monkeys in the exhibit on the endangered list.
“It’s about inspiration. The rainforests are treasures that are fundamental to human wellbeing, but they are being lost,” he said. “We want to make people go ‘wow’, then think ‘I care, what can I do to help?’.”
But free-running monkeys could be just the start. “We can go farther with shared environments, and I think we can get more dramatic,” Mr Field told The Times. “The primates could get bigger and better.”
He is cagey about which animals will be let loose next, but said: “I would like to see people going on an expedition when they come into the zoo. Not just coming round the corner to another enclosure, but being in the forest or the desert, and having to scout for the animals, and feel they are in the field themselves.”
But surely he is not going be letting the tigers stroll freely among visiting school parties? “When you get to predators that might be slightly more difficult,” Mr Field said.
“There are some, like wolves and cheetahs, but there are limits to what we can do with that because of legislation.”
In the rainforest, it is the monkeys who might be in danger. But Mr Dobbs is relaxed. “We keep a close eye on the animals. There is always a risk, but these monkeys will certainly let us know if they are grabbed. They are quite loud when they want to be.”
The animals will not be in any danger from each other, because the predatory big cats have been banished. But Brazilian Salmon Pink Bird Eating Spiders and glow-in-the-dark scorpions remain.
