Welcome to the Jungle

Christina Mitchell

Parrot Jungle Island is now officially Jungle Island. The 71-year-old South Florida institution renamed itself last Thursday in honor of its recently expanded animal collection and fourth birthday on the MacArthur Causeway. Parrot Jungle opened in 1936 in PInecrest and moved to its current location just off Miami Beach in 2003.So, what’s in a name?

• 600 birds
• 18 acres of lush landscaping
• Three baby red kangaroos
• Vulcan, a 900-lb liger
• Mama Cass, the world’s only trained cassowary (the most lethal bird on Earth)
• Hank, a 20-foot-long, 2,000-pound crocosaurus
• Peanut and Pumpkin, rare orangutan twins
• A 168-foot Hippo slide
• Winged Wonders, Reptiles of the Jungle & Tale of the Tiger entertainment shows

What's your favorite Jungle Island animal? Anyone remember Pinky, the bike-riding cockatiel?

Photo Gallery

See the four-legged friends who came out to party for the renaming of Jungle Island.

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Pharoah gets a bird's eye view of the Jungle Island celebration atop his trainer's head.

Christina Mitchell