About Theme Parks, Zoos & Tropical Design

Tropical Sustainable Landscapes - ASLA 2006 Annual Meeting & 43rd IFLA World Congress View .PDF

Successful Mosquito Control and IPM at a Zoological Theme Park View .PDF

The attendance of theme parks and zoos is a worldwide experience that millions of people seek every year. There may be an altruistic meaning behind the development of many facilities such as zoos and animal themed parks, but without the support and attendance of visitors (customers) the ongoing maintenance, development, and improvements needed for sustained success would not occur and these zoos and parks would end up under funded and relics of good intentions.

How can a balance be achieved between offering the customer a fun and pleasant experience, perhaps even educational, and earn the income needed to sustain the park? Attention to the detail that offers an experience not commonly accessible to the normal visitor will be a good start. Creating a tropical environment (or one that appears tropical) is a common theme. No where in the world, but in the tropics, is found such diversity of flora and fauna. The colors, forms, and bizarre organisms are fascinating to most people and when properly presented in a themed environment can become a popular visitor destination.

The website of Tropical Designs of Florida presents a tropical theme, and concepts and methods that are already part of successful parks and zoos. What is shown on this website and in this section in particular are parks that have utilized these concepts and the results from a functional point of view.

Tropical Designs of Florida can assist architects and designers to develop and create functional tropical exhibits and parks. Audits of existing facilities can be done to improve maintenance and housekeeping issues from Integrated Pest Management and vermin control to plant selection and horticulture development. Experience and a proven track record are fundamentals needed for success.

Photo Gallery

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Cultivated Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis in Tumon, Guam

There are approximately 144 species of Begonia in Mexico and Central America. This Begonia uniflora was photographed in El Parque Chipinque in Monterrey, Mexico.

These are the ripening female cones of the gymnosperm Ephedra ciliata. Some Ephedra species are found in rocky gorges and along wadis (seasonally dry riverbeds) in south Sinai, Egypt. The local Egyptian red clay is seen in the background.

The ant plants Dischidia rafflesiana and Myrmecodia tuberosa growing in the kerangas forest at Bako, Sarawak, Malaysia

Etlingera muluensis in sito from Borneo

An orange flowered Cannonball Tree, Couroupita guianensis from Northern South America.

The Hummingbird polleniated Heliconia mariae found growing near Volcan Arenal, Costa Rica.

The terrestrial orchid, Sobralia warscewiczii in bloom in the lava fields at the base of Volcan Arenal, Costa Rica.

The diminutive Nepenthes tentaculata in Kinabalu Park, Sabah, Malaysia

The bright inflorecence and fruit of Dieffenbachia aurantiaca a cloud forest species. Photographed near the crater of Volcan Mombacho, Nicaragua.