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The Montreal Biodôme in Canada was originally built for the 1976 Olympic Games as a velodrome (cycling stadium). In 1989 renovations began, and it is now an indoor zoo/aquarium/museum that invites you visit four ecosystems, each found in the Americas.
Throughout the facility, temperatures moderate throughout the day to mimic the real thing for the benefit of the animal and plants within, as does the length of “daylight.”
The Tropical Rainforest ecosystem is kept at a balmy 80 degrees and 70-80% humidity, quite a bit of a change from the December weather outside!
Almost immediately upon entry we saw large scarlet and blue-and-yellow macaws.
The sloth, golden lion tamarin, and Goeldi’s marmoset were harder to spot in the habitat (never mind photograph with a phone camera), but we were able to find all of the creatures eventually.
The Laurentian Maple Forest ecosystems mimicked the outside state of affairs for the tree leaves. I was hoping for some bright colors, but the trees were bare and drab.
The Biodôme does modify the natural cycle by keeping winter shorter and fall and spring longer, but our timing wasn’t right.
One area housed some beautiful lynx that were fun to see, another housed otters (we apparently came during nap time), and another area included raccoons, which made us laugh –– did we pay to see chubby trash pandas? Ha!
The Gulf of St. Lawrence ecosystems highlights aquatic life, including starfish, anemones, striped bass, and more. The Gulf of St. Lawrence is located off eastern Canada near Prince Edward Island.
The final ecosystem was the Sub-Polar Regions, mimicking the islands to the east of the tip of South America. Here we found four species of penguins and auks, along with temperatures under 40 degrees and some distinctly “fishy” odors!
The cover photo is a Giant South American river turtle.
