Today we had a great tour of the rainforest and aquarium parts of the Arhnem zoo. I was at first a little sad to only really have a tour of the rainforest and aquarium because, as a typical vet student, I really would like to have spent time in each of the parts of this zoo. In the end though, I appreciated focusing on these two parts of the zoo that are most often a bit over looked compared to the lions, the tigers, and the bears.
First of all, the construction of the rainforest building was very interesting. It was made so that there was as little visible structural support on the inside as possible. The sweeping modern day buttresses on the outside reminded me of the gothic style cathedral in Cologne at the beginning of the trip.
Secondly, it was interesting that, although the ceiling looked higher than what was really necessary for the animals in the exhibit, it was actually too short for the native rainforest trees that lived there. After pointing out an elaborate humidity and heat trapping system in the ceiling (very important for the harsh winters in the Netherlands) our guide then began to point out some of the more interesting plants in the exhibit.
At first I thought that pointing out the plants to a bunch of veterinary students is really an odd way to introduce any exhibit, but after reconsidering our intense plant toxicology course this spring I guess in the end really vets should learn about plants too. So after preparing to open my mind, I was fortunate enough to learn quite a few things about the PLANTS (again super strange for a veterinary student!) in the rainforest.
First of all, I guess I always knew that many of our “common” herbs and spices came from exotic places, but it was really cool to get to see a vanilla and cinnamon tree in real life! Not to mention my very favorite, the cacao tree! We also got to see a huge, rather ugly, and very smelly white flower that is entirely pollinated by flies!
Our group then went to the aquarium. Honestly, I have to say that my knowledge about fish is about the same as the school children running around with us. I know that the large guys are sharks and don’t play nice with most other fish, I can find the eels, and of course I can spot Dory and Nemo! What I was surprised about was to have learned a little bit about the Coral.
So we actually had a few lectures covering Coral this year. During these lectures, all I could think about was “coral? Really? When in the world am I going to use this information?!” Therefore as our guide is telling us about which fish can and can’t live with coral, the problems with too little sunlight, and in general the difficulty of coral growing, I am struggling to remember anything about those lectures which could never have been actually important! In the end all I could remember was something about purple spots, meaning that I am now determined to go back and look at my notes in order to prepare for my next coral encounter!
So since traveling to Europe is really about learning and opening my mind, I have to say mission accomplished especially with our not entirely animal based zoo tour!
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