page_title: Denver Zoo
section_title: Tropical Discovery
hierarchical_section_title: Denver Zoo / Exhibits / Tropical Discovery
caption_attribution_description: English: Young Lake Titicaca frogs in Denver Zoo's Tropical Discovery
context_page_description: The Denver Zoo is an 80-acre zoological garden located in City Park of Denver, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1896, it is owned by the City and County of Denver and funded in part by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District. It is the most popular paid attraction in the Denver metropolitan area.
  The Denver Zoo was started with the donation of an orphaned American black bear. With the construction of Bear Mountain, it became the first zoo in the United States to use naturalistic zoo enclosures rather than cages with bars. It expanded on this concept with Primate Panorama, featuring huge mesh tents and open areas for apes and monkeys, and with Predator Ridge, which has three separate areas through which animals are rotated so that their overlapping scents provide environmental enrichment. Toyota Elephant Passage, which opened on June 1, 2012, is divided into five areas for rotating the various species.
  The Denver Zoo is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums and is also a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.
context_section_description: Tropical Discovery was opened in 1993 as the zoo's herpetarium and aquarium. The building explores several tropical environments and displays mammals, reptiles, fish, amphibians and insects from these areas. The trip begins with a view into a South American river with different species of river fishes then continues to a cave featuring several bat species including the short-tailed bat, Jamaican fruit bat and vampire bat, as well as blind cave fish. A snake exhibit hidden inside a Mayan temple features several venomous species from around the world including the snouted cobra, eyelash viper and neotropical rattlesnakes. Animals seen in the Rainforest area include the capybara, black howler monkey, green anaconda, archerfish and an array of poison dart frogs such as blue poison dart frogs. Further on, visitors are immersed in a coral reef with false percula clownfish, lionfish, queen angelfish, spotted garden eels and more. Around the corner, a gallery of North American snakes is located across from other North American reptiles and fish in a large pool, which also has an alligator snapping turtle. Further on, the Siamese crocodile also enjoys a large pool near the Matamata turtle and the Discovery Room, which features other small species like the frilled lizard.
  Dragons of Komodo was the largest Komodo dragon exhibit of its kind since it opened in 1999 and is still one of the largest Komodo dragon exhibits in the country. As well as housing Komodo dragons, Dragons of Komodo is also home to other island reptiles like rhinoceros iguanas and giant New Caledonia geckos.
caption: Lake Titicaca frogs in Tropical Discovery.
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