Nocturnal house

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Animal in the nocturnal house at the Calgary Zoo.

A nocturnal house, sometimes called a nocturama,

nocturnal animals are kept and viewable by the public. The unique feature of buildings of this type is that the lighting within is isolated from the outside and reversed; i.e. it is dark during the day and lit at night
. This is to enable visitors and researchers to more conveniently study nocturnal animals during daylight hours.

Internally, a building usually consists of several glass-walled enclosures containing a replica of the animals' normal environments. In the case of burrowing animals, often their tunnels are 'half-glassed' so the animals can be observed while underground.

Notable nocturnal houses

Current

USA

Mexico

United Kingdom

Europe

Australasia

India

Former

USA

References

  1. ^ The Rotarian - Jan 1977 - Page 19 "Although ours is a private zoological organization, we still manage to operate an aquarium, a dolphinarium, a planetarium, a nocturama, a botanical garden, a museum of natural history, a public library, a natural reserve of some 100 hectares ..."

External links