Fresno Chaffee Zoo to close Tropical Rainforest Aviary July 5
Fresno Chaffee Zoo’s Tropical Rainforest Aviary will close July 5 after 38 years, with birds moved elsewhere and the space reborn as a non-animal experience.
The Tropical Rainforest Aviary at Fresno Chaffee Zoo will close July 5, ending a 38-year run that made the walk-through bird habitat one of the zoo’s signature stops for Fresno families.
Zoo officials say the aviary has become outdated and no longer supports proper care, a shift that reflects how modern zoos are weighing habitat quality and animal welfare against the kind of immersive visitor experience the exhibit was built to deliver. All of the birds will either be relocated elsewhere within Fresno Chaffee Zoo or transferred to another facility where their needs can be met more effectively.
The aviary opened May 14, 1988, after the South American rain forest exhibit project was completed in the fall of 1987, according to Darden Architects. Fresno Chaffee Zoo describes Tropical Rainforest as an open-air, walk-through bird paradise and a celebration of flight, with birds gliding through the trees above visitors’ heads. For years, guests also associated the exhibit with the sounds of waterfalls and birds swimming in the pools of the naturalistic habitat.
What disappears is not just an enclosure, but a familiar piece of the zoo’s identity. The site has long been part of the draw at the 39-acre, AZA-accredited zoo in Roeding Park, which says it is home to more than 200 species and welcomes more than 800,000 visitors. The closure lands at a time when Fresno Chaffee Zoo is reshaping how it uses major spaces, moving away from older animal exhibits and toward newer formats that can better match current care standards.
The zoo says the area will eventually reopen as a non-animal experience, signaling that the footprint will remain part of the property even as its purpose changes. The announcement does not include any change in admission pricing or membership terms during the transition.
The aviary’s recent history also shows the pressure on such exhibits. Fresno Chaffee Zoo temporarily closed both Tropical Rainforest and Australasian aviaries in 2024 as a precaution during avian influenza concerns. Now, after nearly four decades, the zoo is choosing to retire the animal habitat itself and rebuild the space around a different visitor experience.
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