SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – Yesterday, I walked through a USDA Biocontainment facility in San Francisco. I even took my kids!
When most people picture a high-security government lab when they hear that phrase. In reality, any U.S. site that imports living organisms capable of harming agriculture or ecosystems must meet strict U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA/APHIS) containment rules–basically, they need lots of movie-like tech to keep those critters inside the facility so they don’t go out and mess with native species.
And here in San Francisco at the California Academy of Sciences, our city happens to have the one of the most dramatic and accessible ones in the world: the Osher Rainforest.
Inside Golden Gate Park’s California Academy of Sciences, a 90-foot-tall glass sphere keeps temperatures near 85 °F and humidity above 70 percent, mimicking Borneo, Madagascar, and Costa Rica all at once.
1,600 animals—250 free-flying birds, hundreds of butterflies, reptiles, amphibians, and even a 100,000-gallon Amazon Flooded Forest tank—call the dome home…