Jungle !NEW!

The jungle is the richest habitat on Earth. Over the intervals of time, different parts of tropical areas have provided a variety of flora and fauna, together with newer species discovered annually. Tropical jungles have been the home to indigenous peoples, who have shaped traditional cultures and civilizations based on the environment.

jungle

One of the most common meanings of jungle is land overgrown with tangled vegetation at ground level, especially in the tropics. Typically such vegetation is sufficiently dense to hinder movement by humans, requiring that travellers cut their way through.[6][7][8] This definition draws a distinction between rainforest and jungle, since the understorey of rainforests is typically open of vegetation due to a lack of sunlight, and hence relatively easy to traverse.[9][10] Jungles may exist within, or at the borders of, tropical forests in areas where the woodland has been opened through natural disturbance such as hurricanes, or through human activity such as logging.[6][11][12] The successional vegetation that springs up following such disturbance, is dense and tangled and is a "typical" jungle. Jungle also typically forms along rainforest margins such as stream banks, once again due to the greater available light at ground level.[9]

Monsoon forests and mangroves are commonly referred to as jungles of this type. Having a more open canopy than rainforests, monsoon forests typically have dense understoreys with numerous lianas and shrubs making movement difficult,[6][13][14] while the prop roots and low canopies of mangroves produce similar difficulties.[15][16]

Because European explorers initially travelled through tropical forests largely by river, the dense tangled vegetation lining the stream banks gave a misleading impression that such jungle conditions existed throughout the entire forest. As a result, it was wrongly assumed that the entire forest was impenetrable jungle.[17][18] This in turn appears to have given rise to the second popular usage of jungle as virtually any humid tropical forest.[19] Jungle in this context is particularly associated with tropical rain forest,[8][20] but may extend to cloud forest, temperate rainforest, and mangroves[19][21] with no reference to the vegetation structure or the ease of travel.

The terms "tropical forest" and "rainforest" have largely replaced "jungle" as the descriptor of humid tropical forests, a linguistic transition that has occurred since the 1970s. "Rainforest" itself did not appear in English dictionaries prior to the 1970s.[22] The word "jungle" accounted for over 80% of the terms used to refer to tropical forests in print media prior to the 1970s; since then it has been steadily replaced by "rainforest",[23] although "jungle" still remains in common use when referring to tropical rainforests.[22]

As a metaphor, jungle often refers to situations that are unruly or lawless, or where the only law is perceived to be "survival of the fittest". This reflects the view of "city people" that forests are such places. Upton Sinclair gave the title The Jungle (1906) to his famous book about the life of workers at the Chicago Stockyards, portraying the workers as being mercilessly exploited with no legal or other lawful recourse.[24]

The word "jungle" carries connotations of untamed and uncontrollable nature and isolation from civilisation, along with the emotions that evokes: threat, confusion, powerlessness, disorientation and immobilisation.[23][25][26] The change from "jungle" to "rainforest" as the preferred term for describing tropical forests has been a response to an increasing perception of these forests as fragile and spiritual places, a viewpoint not in keeping with the darker connotations of "jungle".[23][27][28]

Cultural scholars, especially post-colonial critics, often analyse the jungle within the concept of hierarchical domination and the demand western cultures often places on other cultures to conform to their standards of civilisation. For example: Edward Said notes that the Tarzan depicted by Johnny Weissmuller was a resident of the jungle representing the savage, untamed and wild, yet still a white master of it;[29] and in his essay "An Image of Africa" about Heart of Darkness Nigerian novelist and theorist Chinua Achebe notes how the jungle and Africa become the source of temptation for white European characters like Marlowe and Kurtz.[30]

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak compared Israel to "a villa in the jungle", a comparison which had been often quoted in Israeli political debates. Barak's critics on the left side of Israeli politics strongly criticised the comparison.[31][32][33]

Palms are monocots, which means that their seeds have one seed leaf, called a cotyledon. Palms do not have secondary thickening and are the largest monocotyledons found in most tropical forests. Most palms in the Jungle are shade-loving. Some of the species found in the Jungle Garden are Caryota urens, Howea forsteriana, Archontophoenix cunninghamiana, and more. Understory jungle palms, especially Chamaedorea spp., native to tropical America--the Bamboo Palm (C. seifrizii) and Parlor Palm (C. elegans)--are popular houseplants. The palms in the Jungle Garden are from more tropical areas and are less sun tolerant compared with those in the Palm Garden.

Your magical Jungle Bubble experience begins at sunset, as you step inside your custom-designed, private jungle observatory for an immersive natural experience.Enjoy the cool comfort of air-conditioning in your spacious bedroom and living space, complete with a king bed and seating area under a transparent roof, with your enclosed, nontransparent en-suite bathroom on hand. Additional touches include fluffy bathrobes and slippers, crisp white bed linen and exquisite bathroom amenities.Spend an unforgettable night, from dusk till dawn, completely ensconced in nature, with access to a delectable dinner basket, 24-hour in-room dining service and tea- and coffee-making facilities.Jungle Bubble

During the week, we welcome mom groups, preschools, girl and boy scout troops, summer camps, and more through our doors for fantastic fun in the jungle. We have group packages to make snacks and lunch a breeze. To learn more, visit our Groups and Fundraisers page.

The California primary is a free-for-all. Voters can pick any candidate, regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with University of Southern California associate professor Christian Grose about the state's "jungle primary" system.

Now, we're going to delve further into California's top-two primary system that Domenico just talked about, sometimes referred to as the jungle primary. University of Southern California political scientist Christian Grose is working on a book about this top-two primary system, and I asked him how the system came about.

Voiced by Idris Elba, Shere Khan bears the scars of man, which fuel his hatred of humans. Convinced that Mowgli poses a threat, the bengal tiger is determined to rid the jungle of the man-cub. "Shere Khan reigns with fear," says Elba. "He terrorizes everyone he encounters because he comes from a place of fear." 041b061a72