Tropical World Review

Tropical World is a zoo steeped in a lot of memories for me. I made so many trips there as a kid and I was always so fascinated by how immersive it was. It offered a way of experiencing immersive tropical exhibits that just aren't possible in a traditional outdoor zoo in a temperate area, like the UK. It's the place that gave me a fascination with tropical houses, something that often seeps into my Zoo Tycoon and Planet Zoo builds (I actually tried recreating Tropical World on Zoo Tycoon many years ago).

Profile

Name: Tropical World
Location: Leeds, West Yorkshire (England)
Foundation: 1984

Memberships: BIAZA 

Website: https://tropicalworld.leeds.gov.uk/

Background

Tropical World is a complex of climate-controlled greenhouses in Roundhay Park, a 700-acre park on the outskirts of Leeds. It first opened in 1984 as part of an ambitious renovation of a conservatory that was originally built in 1911. It expanded in the nineties and early noughties, partly thanks to the generous donations of local philanthropists Arnold and Marjory Ziff. Since 2015, there's been a series of refurbishments and new developments, which I'll highlight in my review.

Tropical World from the outside — the cafe and pizza shed have replaced the small outdoor enclosures for lemurs.

Tropical World takes around 30 minutes to fully see but it's still one of the largest tropical house attractions in the country, with four interconnected greenhouses and multiple smaller sections inbetween. There's no outdoor enclosures or "big" animals but there's a good variety of smaller ones. You follow a single path circuit and it's mostly flat aside from a few gentle inclines. The paths can get a bit tight and congested in some areas. 

The standard entry fees are £9 per adult and £4.50 for kids, which I think is reasonable for what's on offer. It used to be half the price a decade ago but inflation took its toll I guess!

Tropical World is run by Leeds City Council (who sometimes market it as "Leeds Zoo") and it ranks as one of the most popular tourist attractions in the city.

Review

The entrance is in the main conservatory building, called Coronation House, and it boasts an expanded giftshop and a modern cafe. Just over a decade ago, it used to be a heavily-themed beach area that simulated your arrival on a tropical island. It's a shame this is now gone because it helped immerse you with a sense of adventure as you explored the rest of the site. The only remnants of it can be found in a small corridor: a wall of amphibian exhibits for the Argentine horned frog, golden mantella and blue poison dart frog. They're kept in three seperate tanks embedded in a wood-panelled wall, each landscaped naturalistically with lots of moist soil, plants and rocks. The blue poison dart frogs have the most space with an estimated 6 foot-long tank. As good as these exhibits are, the corridor itself is pretty bare and would benefit from some theming to help with immersion, sort of like the beach house used to.

The first exhibits you see belong to a trio of frogs.

Through a PVC curtain, you enter the Butterfly House (otherwise known as the Swamp House). A raised wooden walkway zig-zags through lush tropical plants and passes over pools teaming with koi and terrapins. This area is mostly known for its butterflies that fly freely around you. There's high quality signage explaining their life cycle and even a pupae cabinet to witness their transformation into butterflies.

Inside the Butterfly House where you can find free-flying butterflies, Morelet's crocodiles, terrapins and koi.

Nestled in a corner is an enclosure for Morelet's crocodiles. You view these relatively small crocodilians through a log wall with a few openings. Most of these openings are covered with netting, which can be a bit obtrusive, but there's also a small window for a clearer view. The enclosure itself has a semi-circle pool, a pebbled shore and a wooden pier (for keepers). Thanks to the hot and humid climate, there's lots of tropical plants to make it look green and naturalistic. It's also a good size but the pool could be a touch bigger.

The Morelet's crocodile enclosure is attractive and naturalistic but viewing could be better.

The next area you pass into is the Aquarium. It's heavily themed with faux rock and decorated with Aztec-inspired motifs. The first exhibit belongs to jungle nymph and it's packed to the brim with leaves and stems to highlight their impressive camoflauging ability. Nearby, there's a large square tank for red-bellied piranhas that's impressively aquascaped to look like part of a South American river. The lighting emphasises their pretty silver-flecked scales.

Entering the first half of the Aquarium section — the piranhas can be seen on the left.

The Aquarium is the lower part of an atrium, with the upper area yet to be seen. There's a few more exhibits to be seen first though: in the centre, there's a small, open-topped tank with swordtails that's got a small waterfall above it pouring from a minature Aztec temple. Around the side, there's a sizable exhibit for red-tailed racer, filled with branches and plants appropriate for an arboreal snake.

The centrepiece of this area is a mid-sized, half-submerged flooded forest tank, featuring humphead cichlids, Motoro stingrays, flagtail prochilodus, suckermouth catfish and giant gouramis. If you look up, you can see cotton-top tamarins living precariously on some branches above it. It would be better if all the fish were South American to make it more geographically consistent, but it's still a fun exhibit that combines terrestrial animals with aquatic ones.

The flooded forest tank is one of my favourite exhibits at this zoo — cotton-top tamarins live above it.

The next area is the Waterfall House, so named because it's defining feature is a large tumbling waterfall. It's also themed on the forest floor habitat with a heavily planted slope that's slightly elevated to give you a better view. This is where you might notice free-roaming birds, like the Java sparrow, crested partridge, pied imperial pigeon, sunbittern, red-billed leiothrix and Nicobar pigeon. There's two free-standing exhibits along the path for emerald tree monitor and some elongated tortoise hatchlings, both of which are attractive, spacious and naturalistic. 

Entering the Forest Floor House where you can find more fish, reptiles and free-roaming birds.

The waterfall feeds into a large pool of redtail catfish, pacu and smaller fish like the banded leporinus. You can see these giant fish above and below the waterline thanks to an underwater viewing window. You can even stand behind the waterfall on a balcony in a faux rock cave. The walls of this cave are embedded with reptile exhibits: there's a tall one for spotted python, an elongated, waist-level one for adult elongated tortoises and a third one for Australian snake-necked turtle (under maintenance on my visit). Another smaller waterfall feeds into a small cherry shrimp tank with an underwater viewing window. Signage in this house focuses on the Amazon River and its conservation. Overall, it's a well-stocked area that's been greatly improved with the reptile exhibits, and I'll never miss a chance to stand behind the waterfall!

The centrepiece of the Rainforest Floor House is a large waterfall that you can stand behind.

After the Waterfall House, you've reached the upper level of the atrium, known as Creature Corner. It's basically a selection of reptile and invertebrate exhibits and it shares a lot of the Aztec-inspired theming as the Aquarium below. It begins with two free-standing exhibits: one empty on my visit, but the other for eastern collared lizard. Nearby, a faux rock wall is embedded with four small orb tanks, containing sun beetle, red-legged millipede, yellow-headed day gecko and Asian forest scorpion — the convexed glass gives you good views from nearly all angles. Larger exhibits can be found for Madagascar giant day gecko and Amazon milk frog, followed by a wall of small rectangular exhibits for isopods and aphids (blue cow isopod, giant orange isopod and a few others I couldn't get close enough to see). There's also an open-topped tank but I couldn't see what was inside it. Overall, the exhibits are well-stocked, attractively displayed and naturalistic in their design. It's mostly invertebrates, as the reptile collection is now dispersed throughout the site (which is a good change).

Showing part of the Creature Corner area, home to reptiles and invertebrates. This area got quite over-crowded, meaning I couldn't see everything on show.

From up here, you also get to see the cotton-top tamarins that live above the flooded forest tank. It's a good space that's filled with lots of climbing opportunities. 

The cotton-top tamarin enclosure above the flooded forest tank — it's always fun seeing land animals sharing an exhibit with fish.

Next up is the Rainforest Canopy area, the largest greenhouse, and one that's undergone a huge makeover since my last visit. Before, this area was appropriately landscaped with lots of tall plants and trees, as well as a few streams and ponds. These have now been reduced to make way for more mammal enclosures. The largest one belongs to Indian crested porcupines and it's surrounded by a low concrete wall, backed by a tall metal fence with an anti-climb overhang  — overkill for porcupines and a bit jarring to look at in such a naturalistic area. Beyond that, the enclosure is spacious and naturalistic, with lots of dirt, roots, plants and rocks. On the end of the path is another new addition: a large wooden exhibit for Argentine black and white tegu. They've got a lot of branches and logs, some greenery and a natural substrate, but could do with more ground space.

The enclosure for the largest animal at Tropical World, the Indian crested porcupine.

Across a rope bridge, there's a small shaded area with a few benches. These are sadly placed in front of an enclosure, meaning whenever people are sat on them, you can't get a good view of whatever's behind (in this case, some kind of callitrichid, possibly Emperor tamarins). To make matters worse, you have to contend with thick mesh covered in perspex to see them. From around here, you also get a balcony view of a lower section of the house, which you see later.

Free-roaming birds used to be a big part of this house and would have fit the "rainforest canopy" theme perfectly, but I don't believe they're part of it any more.

The Rainforest Canopy House has undergone a huge makeover, though I miss the birds.

Next is the Desert House, the smallest of the greenhouses but one that's every bit as interesting as the other ones. Immediately on your left is a small enclosure for pancake tortoises. It's slightly raised and surrounded by glass barriers to give you some great views. It's also attractive, with a faux rock backdrop, a natural substrate and some greenery.

The main attraction of the Desert House, and this zoo's most popular residents, is a mob of meerkats. They live in a large enclosure in the centre of the house that's surrounded on all sides by glass panels. It's got a natural substrate, as well as rocks and logs for the meerkats to look out from. With such great up-close views of such a large and active group, it's no wonder they're the most popular residents of this zoo!

Tropical World's most popular residents are its meerkats, which live in a large enclosure in the Desert House.

Even though the Desert House is themed on the desert, an infamously barren habitat, they've not used it as an excuse to sideline plants. You can find a good variety of cacti and succulents all around you. Free-flying birds, like the Von der Decken's hornbill, used to add to the experience, but I don't think they're part of it any more. 

As the path curves to a lower level, you reach the entrance to the darkened Creature Cavern. This is basically a nocturnal house and it's gone through a lot of changes since my last visit. Its name might suggest it's themed like a cave but it's nothing more than a darkened breeze block hallway.

The first enclosure is actually fully lit and belongs to the Mexican beaded lizard. This fairly rare European zoo inhabitant is given a large enclosure, with two big viewing windows looking onto a sandy and rocky substrate. Opposite them is a small terrarium for an arachnid (I forgot the species, sorry!). The passage then leads to a wall of more invertebrate displays, featuring the hissing cockroach, Mexican redknee tarantula, Death's head cockroach and Chilean redknee tarantula. These are furnished well, with normal lighting for the cockroaches and red lighting for the tarantulas. Opposite them is a large square window looking into an exhibit for black beauty stick insects. It's fully lit, packed with leaves and stems, and has an attractive rocky backdrop. The only mammalian enclosure belongs to the lesser hedgehod tenrec. There's a lot of these in UK zoos but they're rarer in other parts of Europe. They've got a small enclosure that's illuminated in red and decorated with rocks and deadwood. Overall, I can't help but feel this area has been downgraded. In the past, there used to be Egyptian fruit bats, douroucoulis, armadillos and pygmy slow loris, with all of their enclosures darkened to make it a more immersive experience (and more like a nocturnal house).

The Mexican beaded lizard enclosure in Creature Cavern, a nocturnal area where most of the enclosures are actually fully lit.

Leaving Creature Cavern, you start your journey back to the entrance and pass through some areas we saw previously, starting with the Rainforest Canopy house. Now at the lower level, you pass an enclosure for pygmy marmosets. It's built the same way as the earlier tamarin enclosure, with mesh covered in perspex, but at least you get to see it up-close. It's spacious and furnished well with lots of natural climbing furniture. The viewing area is also decorated with wooden logs, rope and a canopy. Opposite here, you can also get a ground-level view of the porcupines but, again, the thick green mesh fence is a bit obtrusive. 

A lot of investment has gone into theming, as seen here at the pygmy marmoset enclosure.

Through a rope curtain, you enter a long, bare corridor containing a singular glass-fronted enclosure for more Argentine black-and-white tegu. It's hard to ignore how out of place this corridor feels after leaving the lush Rainforest Canopy house. Its only purpose seems to be leading you to the next area, the second half of the Aquarium.

The tanks in this area are encased in faux rock, with the viewing areas dimmed to help emphasise them. There's a tank for hermit crabs, a slightly bow-fronted, half-submerged one for banded archerfish, a mixed one for red line torpedo barbs, clown loach and red rainbowfish, one for Lake Kutubu rainbowfish and another for lemon cichlids. An orb tank for blue tangs and clownfish was empty on my visit (cue jokes about Finding Nemo!) and another tank that's been converted into an exhibit about plastic pollution. All the tanks were well maintained, beautifully aquascaped and well stocked, and I liked the creativity behind the plastic pollution exhibit. The archerfish tank was obviously half-submerged to accomodate their unique water squirting ability, which must be amazing to see!

On your way to the exit, you see more of the Aquarium section.

After a brief return to the Butterfly House, passing a terrapin pond, you end your journey at the gift shop. As I mentioned before, it's been expanded to fill the entire Coronation House. There's a wide variety of merchandise available, including a lot of Tropical World-branded items. A door nearby leads to the cafe, which is clean and serves decent fare.

Inside the expanded giftshop that replaced an earlier Beach House.

There's a strong conservation message throughout Tropical World, mainly due to all the high quality signage, but from what I know there's no keeper talks (unless you're in a school group) and no keeper experiences.

The zoo takes part in two European Endangered Species Breeding Programmes (EEPs), for the pygmy marmoset and Emperor tamarin. These aren't bred on-site but the individuals are made available in case they're needed for breeding elsewhere. The zoo also applied to take part in the elongated tortoise breeding programme that's currently being set up.

I've always enjoyed my visits to Tropical World and this one was no exception. My personal highlights have to be the Waterfall House, with its tumbling waterfall and pool of river giants, and the Swamp House for how immersive it is. My criticism for its fencing aside, I also like the new porcupine enclosure. My least favourite areas are the Creature Cavern, which I feel has been downgraded with the loss of its mammals, and the Emperor tamarin enclosure that's obstructed by benches.

Part of the Rainforest Floor House

There was a time when Tropical World looked very run down and in desperate need of investment and I'm so glad it eventually came. The new developments have given it a new lease of life, with new species, upgraded enclosures and reinforced theming, making it an immersive and adventurous experience that brings you up-close with a diverse array of animals. If you're in the North of England, it's definitely worth seeing, and if you've been before, it's definitely worth revisiting to see all the changes. Definitely go at a quieter time to avoid all the crowds!

Given it remains one of Leeds' top visitor attractions, I'm hopeful it'll keep getting investment and remain one of the finest tropical butterfly house attractions in the country.