Randers Regnskov (Tropical Zoo)

Randers Regnskov, or "Tropical Zoo", is an unusual Danish zoological park built entirely around several large interconnected glass domes, each recreating the climate and vegetation of a different tropical continent: Asia, Africa and South America. Opened in 1990 in the town of Randers, in Jutland, it was designed as an alternative to traditional zoos, placing visitors right inside reconstructed rainforests, where birds, monkeys, reptiles and fish live in relative freedom amid dense vegetation. The concept, still rare in Northern Europe at the time it was created, made the site one of the major tourist attractions of central Jutland. The glass domes, heated and kept at high humidity, deliberately contrast with the Danish climate outside, offering a transporting experience in both summer and winter. Randers Regnskov continues to be regularly cited as an early example of a zoo built entirely under glass around a single theme, alongside later establishments such as Zurich's Masoala.