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Tropical House

In order to ensure we continue to keep our birds as safe as possible, we are asking people to use foot baths and sanitise their hands when entering this area.

This innovative and sustainable exhibit marks the second phase of a £17m investment programme over the next eight-ten years, creating improved habitats for animals and more immersive experiences for our guests.

Spanning two levels with fantastic vantage points, guests can experience face-to-face encounters with a diversity of wildlife and exotic plants in a tropical climate, while learning about the flow of energy through life.

Listen to the calls of the yellow-throated frogs below a cascading waterfall, admire the Linné’s two-toed sloth in the lush forest canopy and spot birds darting over the exhibit’s impressive 70,000-litre aquarium, which is home to more than 2,500 fish.

Tropical free-flying birds include crested wood partridge, Sclater’s crowned pigeon, white-naped pheasant pigeon, Nicobar pigeon, Brazilian tanager, Asian glossy starlings, and Fischer’s turaco.

Meanwhile the bustling forest floor is home to Burmese mountain tortoises and insects such as lesser goliath beetles. The Tropical House is also home to a crocodile monitor lizard and a colony of leaf-cutter ants.

Supported by a £1.5million Local Growth Fund (LGF) investment by Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the £8m exhibit will help us achieve our goal of becoming carbon-neutral by 2022.

Leading the way in sustainability, we realised a significant untapped energy resource in some of our 700 tonnes of animal waste (dung, soiled bedding and leftover hay) that could be used for renewable energy within the zoo.

The groundbreaking project features a woodchip boiler that will be supplemented by a specialist boiler capable of burning straw-based animal manure.

This will provide heating for buildings across the zoo and enable us to reduce our carbon footprint and dependency on fossil fuels.

The contemporary curved roof is built using the latest ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) technology. This insulating roof canopy allows natural light to shine through, creating ideal conditions for 650 individual plants from 65 different species to flourish and form a lush habitat for the animals. Meanwhile, rainwater from the roof is harvested in two 50,000-litre tanks to provide water inside for the aquaria and plant watering, making the building totally self-sufficient.

This unique combination of visitor experience and sustainability creates a compelling interpretation story and educational opportunities for ‘Energy for Life’ Tropical House.

Through the Tropical House experience, we hope to encourage interest and understanding of the flow of energy through life, raise awareness of how the energy we need to power our modern lifestyles is generated and the consequences for the global environment. The exhibit highlights our changing climate, the measures we are taking to reduce carbon emissions and how our guests can make a difference.

Fishers Turaco Tauraco Fischeri Marwell Zoo Jason Brown Tropical House Jason Brown Photography 2 Jason Brown Photography credit Marwell Zoo Energy for Life Tropical House

Turquoise Tanager Tangara Mexicana Jason Brown Marwell Zoo Tropical House

What's nearby?
Outdoor picnic areas
Adventure playgrounds
Ice creams

Disappointed

Very disappointed as lots of empty cages and last time we came there was a herd …

Emma – 1 week ago

Fantastic!

Fantastic visit once again

Katie – 2 weeks ago

Great day out

Great day out , lots of toilets didn’t have to queue for very long anywhere wh…

Trusted customer – 2 weeks ago

Very pleasant all round Thamkyou

All set out well easy to walk round. Lovely and clean Staff very good really hel…

Clive – 2 weeks ago

Great day out and sunny

Excellent day out quieter in the autumn can get too see the animals, birds etc e…

Paul – 2 weeks ago

Very well laid out zoo with lots of interesting animals that you can get close t…

Trusted customer – 2 weeks ago

Always a brilliant zoo, variety of animals’, always looked after and cared for. …

Joshua – 1 month ago

Definitely worth a visit, great value for money. Animals well cared for

Had a delightful time with my 2 year old granddaughter! Will definitely be going…

Catherine – 1 month ago

Great day out

Great visit, I took my mother, as she hasn’t been to the zoo in a long time! We …

Dee – 1 month ago

A great visit, our first time back for a number of years

Lovely day out at the zoo, our first visit back there in years – now with grown …

Trusted customer – 1 month ago

We have loved coming to visit Marvell Zoo for many years. Always an enjoyable da…

Barbara – 1 month ago

Fantastic zoo, great walks plenty of different animals to see.. Main food hall …

Leonard – 1 month ago

Great selection of animals. The park has really positively developed since my la…

Trusted customer – 1 month ago

Great day out but a map to carry would be helpful.

Great day out. Staff in the restaurant were helpful, I was with my gran daughter…

Trusted customer – 1 month ago

A small, family friendly zoo

Mar well is a lovely place to go, particularly with smaller children. We visited…

Jo-Anne – 1 month ago

Fantastic family day out

A fantastic day out seeing some beautiful animals. Our little boy loved the Gira…

Daniel – 1 month ago

Thorouly enjoyed day. Not crowded as weekday and not school holidays so time to …

Susan – 1 month ago

Our First Visit to Marwell Zoo

This happened to be our first experience coming here. But I was well pre…

Teresa Lloyd – 1 month ago

Great day out with lots to see, a large variety of animals. The staff are appro…

Trusted customer – 1 month ago