A jungle first, then the parrots

Attraction gets lush plantings

By Elinor J. Brecher | [email protected]

If anyone can recognize a satisfied plant, it’s Jeff Shimonski, Parrot Jungle’s longtime horticulture director.

That 35-year-old sausage tree in the thick of a Watson Island construction zone?

“It came from Parrot Jungle,” he said, “and it’s never been happier.”

He knows this because it’s sporting a lush crown of dark-green leaves, nearly a year after it was scooped from the nature park’s former Pinecrest home and deposited in the sandy soil of its new location.

Eight months before Parrot Jungle and Gardens reopens on 18.6 acres of Watson Island — a formerly barren, windswept swath of fill dirt between Miami and South Beach — the attraction’s owner, Dr. Bern Levine, is starting to believe what he’s seeing.

“Getting it done is an amazing feat,” he said Friday as he prepared to give Miami Mayor Manny Diaz his first guided tour.

“We’ve brought in thousands of loads of dirt and compost from Pinecrest. It’s beginning to look like a jungle.”

The new Parrot Jungle owes much of its transformation to compost and mulch, which not only hold moisture, but also help fight bugs and disease.

Pungent piles of the stuff will be used as topsoil: about 1,200 tons brought over in 60 truckloads, 20 tons each.

Shimonski has banned manmade fertilizers and pesticides, even tolerating an invasion of tortoise beetles that denuded but didn’t kill the island’s geiger trees.

“My goal is to not use restricted chemicals,” he said.

All of the buildings, including the banquet hall and parking garage, will vanish behind foliage.

Peruvian Site

The park will feature a replica of Manu, a Peruvian rainforest site famous for its parrots, attached to the performing-parrot bowl.

Shimonski and crew began transplanting hundreds of trees and shrubs long before the old park closed Dec. 1. Snuggled under thick layers of mulch, some now look as if they were born on Watson Island — vast ficus trees with induced air roots; lacy royal poincianas; ceibas, with pointy bumps like rhino horns protecting their trunks.

In the coming months, the animals will follow — primates, flamingos, reptiles and the performing parrots that made the 66-year-old Pinecrest venue one of South Florida’s most durable tourist attractions.

In the interim, some creatures have been relocated to South Miami-Dade properties owned by Levine, who sold the Pinecrest site to that city for $12 million. It’s slated to become a park.

Misses Animals

Levine said he feels sad now at Pinecrest “because the animals are out. They are Parrot Jungle.”

Handlers brought several critters to greet Diaz, who unveiled signs for Parrot Jungle Trail, the main road into the attraction.

As Levine pointed out features of a model housed in the construction-site office, an infant gibbon named Watson leapt into the air, grabbing for Levine.

“You’re being upstaged,” Diaz joked.

Like thousands of South Florida families, the Diazes have photos of themselves festooned with birds at the Pinecrest park.

“My daughter [Elisa, 7] loves Parrot Jungle,” the mayor said.

Printed Continuation Labels

Opening: PLEASE SEE JUNGLE, 2B

Continuation headline: Before the parrots, the jungle takes root

Continuation marker: JUNGLE, FROM 1B