On Friday, I got a first look + behind-the-scenes tour of the newly expanded Jaguar Jungle (featuring a nocturnal bat house) at the Audubon Zoo.
Via the press release:
Inside the “Criaturas de la Noche’’ (Creatures of the Night) Bat House, guests will get a glimpse of a jungle teeming with life after nightfall as they gaze into a 42-foot, transparent flyway filled with more than 200 Seba’s short-tailed bats and get a close-up look at other animals that thrive in the dark.
The nocturnal house roster also includes vampire bats, ringtail cats, red-eyed tree frogs, giant cave roaches, Anthony’s poison arrow frogs, Costa Rican zebra tarantulas and engaging douroucouli – also known as Nancy Ma’s night owl monkeys.
Outside the Bat House, a herd of five female Alpaca, a domesticated South American species similar to llamas, will roam inside another new exhibit next to a spacious Maya Village plaza where guests can relax.
The goal of the $3.23 million Jaguar Jungle expansion remains unchanged from the first phase – to immerse visitors in historical and ceremonial aspects of ancient Maya culture, including the highly advanced civilization’s contributions to art and agriculture. Guests learned about Maya cities such as Tikal, Copan and Chichen Itza.
Other new features include the addition of Maya artifacts, a new children’s play area featuring a climbing structure, space for education and cultural presentations and new restrooms.
The new exhibit is so cool! Check out (and swipe) a few photos of what to expect (especially vampire bats drinking blood. cray!).
In honor of the new exhibit, I’m giving away passes to the Zoo! Enter here to cop yours! Special thanks to the Audubon Zoo for having me!