Tropical Rain-Forest on Danish Plains: Randers Regnskov

Even though I canceled both my vacations this year and decided to work through corona times and wait for some corona free era for traveling outside of Denmark, we decided that we would like to see places during weekends. So last Friday we went to see Randers Regnskov.

Randers Regnskov is a tropical zoo in the small city, Randers that lies in north east Jutland. My girlfriend really sold it to me: "It is amazing, you just must see it, they have created a rain-forest!"

I must say that I was skeptical. Rain-forest in Denmark? It sounds impossible... ok not impossible but it will obviously have to be in some type of the building and if it will have to be in some type of the building, just how large can it be? That was my thought process as we were driving there and to be honest, I was preparing myself to be disappointed... but then I was surprised!

Randers Regnskov is essentially a zoo. What makes it special is that it has 3 completely enclosed domes that were turned into 3 tropical habitats: South American rain-forest, African rain forest and Asian rain-forest. In addition to that Randers Regnskov has water flow that runs through all three domes and it forms artificial lakes, ponds, waterfalls, tiny rivers and big aquariums with animal life in all of them. All this adds to the unique experience of the place. To continue, like a classical zoo, Randers Regnskov also has outside animal habitats where you can see big cats and hyenas.

The domes

When you enter any one of the domes with tropical habitats, you are in for a surprise. Entry doors are a bit dislocated from the habitat, so you need to walk a bit after you enter before you see the animals. Hmm... see the animals is a bit unfair description because when you reach the real thing, it isn't just the animals it is everything. Every dome was designed as a wholesome habitat in which different animal species share the same space and can move around freely within the range of a dome. All of the animals that roam free are of course not dangerous to people, but allegedly, couple of years ago, one visitor got malaria during a visit to Randers Regnskov. Second surprising thing inside each dome is the micro-climate. So, they created tropical forests from Asia, Africa and South America and the micro-climate in each is fitting. It is hot and moist! Temperature in each of the domes is around 30 and moisture is at 100%. After roaming around the domes for two hours it gets a bit tough. I started looking forward to a rainy Danish summer day. The water bottle I had on me was completely wet on the outside after just 10 minutes of walking inside one of the domes. Also, when we were walking under some nets, we could feel on our skin how the water is dripping from above. A very curious experience, it felt like rain but it couldn't have been. All the domes are Cris-crossed with a stony path that are completely blended into the habitats and in the bushes, just couple of meters away, you can see the animals hiding and going about their business while not being too afraid of people. Parrots flying around and "bitching" out loud, bats were just hanging with apples sticking out of their snouts and monkey jumping freely between the trees. All of this is happening while you are walking under waterfalls and over the hanging bridges.

Aquariums

Aquariums were also stunning in their own way. The way they designed them makes you think. There were three types of aquariums there. Let's call them natural, destroyed and mixed. One aquarium had real live corals. Across that aquarium, there was an aquarium with dead corals and trash and the mixed ones were designed as the combination of the two above mentioned types. These corals stand as a stark reminder of the natural beauty as is untouched by humans and at the same time as a display of human destructiveness of natural habitats.

Cats

Big cats are kept outside in decently big habitats that are, just like the aquariums, decorated in a way that displays human destructive power. There are oil barrels spread around together with deforestation equipment. Unfortunately we didn't see the hyenas.

Conclusion

I went in Randers Regnskov ready to be unimpressed but went out stunned. Randers Regnskov is the minimum of what the zoo's should look like, especially habitats in the domes where animals can roam freely at least in the constraints of the domes. It is still a cage but it feels more natural and a bit bigger.

Randers Regnskov did an amazing job by motivating people to reflect on humanity and our influence on the nature especially with the aquariums and the cats habitats. One gets a great approximation of what the nature would look like if we just stayed away and at the same time how we influence it in reality. By either destroying natural habitats for our own needs or by just being careless with our trash and our CO2 emissions. If we continue to act the way we do, soon there will be no more natural habitats for the animals to live in but a lucky few will be able to live in places like Randers Regnskov.