Editing Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (section)

=== The RainForest ===
The RainForest, opened in 1992, is one of the most popular exhibits at the CMZ. It is contained in a large, two-story building with over {{convert|2|acre|m2}} of floor space, making it one of the largest indoor tropical environments in the world. The RainForest boasts more than 10,000 plants, and over 600 animals, from the tropical regions of Australasia, Africa, and the Americas.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.clemetzoo.com/tour/area.asp?area_id=1 |title=Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Virtual Tour |access-date=2013-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921030350/http://www.clemetzoo.com/tour/area.asp?area_id=1 |archive-date=2013-09-21 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The opening of the RainForest also introduced the Metroparks Zoo's first permanent reptile collection since the flooding in 1959. The RainForest's [[herpetology|herpetile]] collection includes [[Amazon milk frog]]s and [[Amazon tree boa|tree boa]]s, [[Philodryas baroni|Baron's green racer]]s, [[Burmese python]]s, [[Rentapia hosii|climbing toads]], [[dwarf crocodile]]s, [[Fiji banded iguana]]s, [[Dendrobates auratus|green-and-black]], [[Dendrobates azureus|blue-and-black]] and [[Phyllobates terribilis|'Mint Terribilis']] poison dart frogs, [[green tree monitor]]s and [[green tree python|python]]s, [[Atelopus limosus|harlequin frog]]s, [[Indian gharial]], [[Indochinese box turtle]]s, Madagascar [[Uroplatus|leaf-tailed geckos]], [[magnificent tree frog]]s, [[spider tortoise]], [[Panamanian golden frog]]s, [[prehensile-tailed skink]]s, the aquatic [[tentacled snake]], [[Spilotes pullatus|tiger ratsnakes]], [[tomato frog]]s and [[Yemen]]i [[veiled chameleon]]s.<ref name="Zoo_history"/>
[[File:CleveMetroParksZOORainforest.gif|300px|thumb|''Tropical Rain Storm'' exhibit located in the RainForest]]
The RainForest is housed in a large glass and [[granite]] building, just outside the main entrance to the Zoo. The structure is divided into an outer ring—featuring an assortment of tropical plants, exhibits containing small mammals, a cafeteria, and a gift shop—and an inner area that contains the principal animal exhibits. Animal habitats are located on both floors of the RainForest. The exhibits contained on the ground floor are collectively known as the "Lower Forest", and those on the second floor are known as the "Upper Forest".
[[File:The RainForest.jpg|thumb|150px|left|RainForest building exterior]]
Upon entering the RainForest, visitors are immediately greeted by a cascading, {{convert|25|ft|m|adj=on}} waterfall and a rush of hot, humid air, as the entire complex is heated year-round to an ambient 80&nbsp;°F (27&nbsp;°C). All around the waterfall is a lush, tropical garden of [[epiphyte]] and [[lithophyte]] plants, growing vertically, rooted to the different trees and rock wall; botanical species here include various types of [[Bromeliaceae|bromeliads]], [[Araceae|aroids]], and [[Orchidaceae|orchids]]. The entire garden display grows steadily towards the sun, soaring upwards of two stories. The walls behind the waterfall resemble Ancient [[Maya civilization|Mayan]] temple ruins; as visitors walk around the water feature, exhibited creatively within the walls are a series of (geographically appropriate) diminutive New World monkeys, including the [[pied tamarin]], [[Geoffroy's tamarin]], [[white-headed marmoset]] and the endangered [[golden lion tamarin]].<ref name="clemetzoo.com">The RainForest, {{cite web |url=http://www.clemetzoo.com/tour/area.asp?name=The+RainForest |title=Cleveland Metroparks Zoo - Virtual Tour |access-date=2013-07-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130807073117/http://www.clemetzoo.com/tour/area.asp?name=The+RainForest |archive-date=2013-08-07 }}</ref>

The outer ring of The RainForest is home to a wide variety of tropical plants including [[lancepod]]s, [[ficus]], [[dracaena (plant)|dracaena]], [[philodendron]], [[Marantaceae|prayer plants]], [[clusia]] (or balsam apple), [[Indian-almond]], [[Bixa orellana|bixa/achiote]] (or lipstick trees), numerous varieties of orchids, a <!--NOTE:Please don't link 'KAPOK', unless there's a source with the actual species: then link to that.[Note ENDS]-->kapok tree ([[Malvaceae]] family), and the annual-blooming [[titan arum]] (corpse flower). The central "Tropical Rain Storm" exhibit is a life-like recreation of a [[rainforest]] "island", with a large tree in the center, surrounded almost entirely by a moat stocked with [[tinfoil barb]] and [[Pangasius pangasius|pangasius catfish]]. The island itself is inhabited by several [[Cape porcupine]]. Several times daily (seasonally-dependent), a simulated tropical thunderstorm occurs; darkened ambience, flashing "lightning" and rumbling thunder sound effects signal the several-minutes-long event's commencement. Above the moat and encircling the island, a vertical "wall" of water provides visitors a glimpse of a tropical downpour, with water streaming down into the river below. After the "storm" passes, a sense of tranquility is created as fog fills the entire exhibit.

The core animals of The Rainforest are the [[Bornean orangutan]]s, of which the zoo has five: males Tiram and Zaki, and females Kera Wak, Kayla, and Merah.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2017/10/cleveland_metroparks_zoo_celeb_2.html|title=Cleveland Metroparks Zoo celebrates young orangutan's 3rd birthday (photos, video)|last=Ewinger|first=James|date=2017-10-05|website=cleveland.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-24}}</ref> Zaki is the most recent [[orangutan]] baby at the zoo, born in 2021 to Tiram and Kera Wak.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO ANNOUNCES BIRTH OF BORNEAN ORANGUTAN |url=https://www.clevelandmetroparks.com/news-press/2021/may-2021/cleveland-metroparks-zoo-announces-birth-of-bornea}}</ref>

Animals contained in the RainForest include the [[binturong]], [[red-rumped agouti]], a large group of free-flying [[straw-coloured fruit bat]]s and [[Rodrigues flying fox]]es, the [[giant anteater]], a group of [[capybara]], [[scarlet ibis]], the prehensile-tailed [[Brazilian porcupine]], [[white-faced whistling duck]]s, [[green aracari]], [[Prevost's squirrel]], [[leafcutter ant]]s, [[ocelot]], [[clouded leopard]], [[Luzon bleeding-heart]] pigeons, [[roseate spoonbill]], [[yellow-spotted river turtle]]s, [[Asian small-clawed otter]], [[François' langur]], and [[fishing cat]]s. Additionally, visitors will encounter numerous smaller, "discovery"-type exhibits featuring tropical invertebrates, [[Australian rainbowfish]], [[Synodontis angelicus|upside-down catfish]], [[jewel cichlid]]s, [[red-bellied piranha]], small mammals, and many reptiles and amphibians.

In 2024, CMZ announced that it will permanently close the RainForest on September 9, 2024.  The area will be remodeled and expanded to create a new, 140,000 square foot "Primate Forest" that will serve as a multi-story habitat for gorillas and orangutans.  The new Primate Forest, which zoo officials described as a "world-class indoor destination," is scheduled to open in 2026.<ref name="x412">{{cite web | last=Bona | first=Marc | title=Cleveland Metroparks Zoo announces shutdown date for RainForest | website=cleveland.com | date=2024-08-15 | url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2024/08/cleveland-metroparks-zoo-announces-shutdown-date-for-rainforest.html | access-date=2024-08-15}}</ref>