If you’re thinking the Auckland climate isn’t quite hot and steamy enough, then a trip to Auckland Zoo’s newest experience might be just the ticket.
Opening this weekend, the Indonesian swamp forest - the last piece of the puzzle in the South East Asia Jungle Track - is a lush tropical experience with a climate-controlled dome.
“It’s a fully-immersive South East Asian experience,” said Richard Gibson, head of animal care and conservation at Auckland Zoo. “It’s hot, it’s humid, it rains on you, you can hear the sounds of the forest, you can smell the forest.
“You are surrounded by a biodiversity of plants, and fish, and these amazing South East Asian Sunda gharial crocodiles, which are the icing on the cake.”
The swamp forest links with the lowlands habitat for Sumatran tigers and Asian small-clawed otters and to the high canopy habitat, across a boardwalk over the Zoo’s lake and wetlands, where orangutans and siamangs swing across 22-metre-high aerial pathways.
A visit to Auckland Zoo is like a zoological trip around the world, with areas dedicated to the Australian bush, South American rainforest, African savannah, the Te Wao Nui Aotearoa native environments, and now the completed South East Asian jungle.
“It’s been a five-year project in the making,” said Gibson. “Three years of construction, and Covid’s had an impact, but what an experience we’ve built.”
With thousands of plants and dozens of fish species, the jungle is a richly biodiverse environment that really brings to life the steamy, humid conditions of a tropical rainforest. The tropical fish are a real treat for visitors.
“We have tinfoil barbs, Sumatra barbs, some clown loaches; maybe some gouramies grazing on the surfaces,” Gibson said.
“And then in the centre of the dome, we have an exquisite pool which is populated by one of South East Asia’s most incredible fishes, the Asian arowana or dragonfish: I can see them cruising now along the surface. Every now and then a tiger perch shows itself. Some really amazing aquatic landscapes for people to enjoy.”
The South East Asia Jungle Track exhibit opens at the Auckland Zoo on Saturday, 22 October, and is part of the general admission.