In 2015, Islands opened to the public. A £40 million project, 60,000 square meters, orangutans, tigers, crocodiles and countless unique plants, it was designed to be our first geographically themed immersive environment, taking visitors on a journey across six South East Asian islands.

With Monsoon Forest at the heart, the jewel in the crown, and also the UK’s largest indoor zoo habitat, this immersive habitat was an exercise in what progressive zoos should strive for.

But at the end of 2018, Monsoon Forest fell victim to a fire, causing a lot of damage to this amazing exhibition. What followed has been to a two-year long project to re-imagine the space, re-telling the stories that first captivated our visitors’ imaginations.