The Bronx Zoo's new Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit is the next evolution of zoo exhibitry and zoo horticulture. Many new designs and techniques are being tried.
Visitors can explore a tropical African forest consisting of hardy non-African plants.
A variety of animal species live in habitats similar to their African homes, joined seamlessly with the forest where visitors can view them. Okapi, who prefer dense brush areas but are often exhibited in open pastures at zoos, now live in a forest glade with bamboo and ferns. The landscape of the Congo Gorilla Forest has been ten years in the planning and has taken three years to plant. The landscape of Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit evokes the look and the feel of the lowland tropical rain forest of equatorial Africa while featuring the unique plants upon which gorillas, mandrills, okapi and other animals depend. Over 15,000 plants of nearly 400 species have been planted, many of which have never before been grown in the New York area.