A beloved rainforest exhibit at San Francisco's Academy of Sciences is finally open again after a three-month closure for maintenance and cleaning, the museum said.
The Osher Rainforest exhibit opened in 2008, and its 1,600 tropical animals are contained by a glass dome that stands four stories tall and 90 feet across.
The three-month closure was needed to clean the exhibit and make repairs to the dome. It required all of the animals—except for the tropical fish—to be temporarily relocated.
The hot, humid conditions inside the dome, which remain a constant 82-85 degrees, with humidity at 75% or above, put a strain on the dome itself and necessitated the repairs, which included fixing water leaks and deep cleaning the dome's glass, according to a museum blog post announcing the reopening.
“Roughly 90% of the rainforest’s exhibits were hollowed out, bleached, sanitized, and given new substrate,” said Kelsey Paulling, an Academy biologist. “I’m so happy to see Osher Rainforest come back to life, and to get to put the animals back in their homes.
Tropical fauna including Panamanian golden frogs, blue-morpho butterflies, and blue-and-yellow macaws call the exhibit home.
The exhibit reopened Saturday, and is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m., Sunday: 11 a.m.-4:45 p.m. The exhibit is also open Thursday evenings from 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. to visitors 21 years or older with a valid ID as part of its "Nightlife" hours for adult visitors.
Tickets are available online at www.calacademy.org