Ranking the Great Ape Exhibits

[GraysonDP]

I've decided to post my rankings of all the great ape exhibits in the U.S. and Canada, as well as when possible the date in which they opened. For all the apes, the primary factors for evaluation are immersion/naturalism, size, family dynamics/number of animals on display (especially for gorillas), climbing opportunities(height is really important for judging orang exhibits), enrichments, number of yards, detail, quality of indoor areas and overall animal welfare.

* means I have seen it

Gorilla
1. Bronx Zoo- 1999*
2. Disney's Animal Kingdom- 1998*
3. Houston Zoo- 2015*
4. Kansas City Zoo- 1995
5. Woodland Park Zoo- 1979 (Renovation/Expansion in 1992)
6. Dallas Zoo- 1990 (Renovation in 2006)*
7. Sedgwick County Zoo- 2004
8. Denver Zoo- 1996
9. San Diego Zoo- 1991*
10. Zoo Atlanta- 1988*
11. Busch Gardens- 1992*
12. Saint Louis Zoo- 1986 (Renovation in 2005)
13. Lincoln Park Zoo- 2004*
14. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo- 2004
15. Louisville Zoo- 2002
16. Detroit Zoo- 1989* (would be higher if it had more gorillas and had better indoor areas)
17. North Carolina Zoo- 1989 (renovation in 2015)*
18. Oklahoma City Zoo- 1993
19. Como Park Zoo- 2013
20. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo- 1991
21. Los Angeles Zoo- 2007
22. Riverbanks Zoo- 2002
23. San Diego Safari Park- 1972* (Helped immensely by the size of the group)
24. Knoxville Zoo- 1993
25. Fort Worth Zoo- 1992*
26. Toledo Zoo- 1993 (Space helps this one out big time)
27. Columbus Zoo- 1998*
28. Toronto Zoo- 2001 (Awesome indoor area, outside not so great)*
29. San Francisco Zoo- 1980
30. Calgary Zoo- 2003
31. Hogle Zoo- 1991
32. Zoo Miami- 1981
33. Cincinnati Zoo- 1978 (renovation and expansion opening in 2017)
34. Philadelphia Zoo- 1999*
35. Little Rock Zoo- 1988
36. Gladys Porter Zoo- 1971
37. Santa Barbara Zoo- 1996
38. National Zoo- 1981*
39. Jacksonville Zoo- 1998*
40. Memphis Zoo- 1995*
41. Audubon Zoo- 1980*
42. Rio Grande Zoo (Does anyone know when it was built?)
43. Pittsburgh Zoo- 1991*
44. Milwaukee County Zoo- 1992*
45. Franklin Park Zoo- 1989 (Renovation in 2007)*
46. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo- 1978 (Renovation around 1994)*
47. Topeka Zoo- 1985
48. Brookfield Zoo- 1982*
49. Buffalo Zoo- 1981

Bonobo

1. Columbus Zoo- 1998*
2. San Diego Zoo- 1993*
3. Cincinnati Zoo- 1993*
4. Fort Worth Zoo- 1992*
5. Jacksonville Zoo- 1998*
6. Memphis Zoo- 2003*
7. Milwaukee County Zoo- 1992*

 

[GraysonDP]

Chimpanzee


1. Kansas City Zoo- 1995

2. North Carolina Zoo- 1982 (Renovated and Expanded in 2001)*

3. Dallas Zoo- 1997*

4. Saint Louis Zoo- 2005

5. Houston Zoo- 2010*

6. Detroit Zoo- 1989*

7. Busch Gardens- 1992*

8. Los Angeles Zoo- 1998*

9. Lincoln Park Zoo- 2004

10. Honolulu Zoo- 1992

11. Oklahoma City Zoo- 1993

12. John Ball Zoo- 2001

13. Knoxville Zoo- 1993*

14. Jackson Zoo- 1995

15. Zoo Miami- 1982*

16. Sedgwick County Zoo- 1996

17. Tulsa Zoo- 1991

18. Southwicks Zoo

19. Chattanooga Zoo- 2001

20. Lion Country Safari*

21. Little Rock Zoo- 1988

22. Lowry Park Zoo- 1988*

23. Montgomery Zoo- 1992

24. Maryland Zoo- 1995*

25. Rio Grande Zoo- 2004

26. Sacramento Zoo- 1988

27. Oregon Zoo- 1959 (Renovation in 1980)

28. Gladys Porter Zoo- 1971

29. Sunset Zoo

30. Oakland Zoo- 1988

31. Potawatomi Zoo- 1995

32. Rolling Hills Zoo- 1999

33. Riverside Discovery Center

34. San Francisco Zoo- 1960s

 

[GraysonDP]

Orangutan

1. Woodland Park Zoo- 1996

2. Saint Louis Zoo- 2005

3. Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo- 2005

4. Denver Zoo- 1996

5. Cincinnati Zoo- 1993*

6. Oklahoma City Zoo- 1993

7. Sedgwick County Zoo- 1996

8. Zoo Atlanta- early 1990s*

9. Indianapolis Zoo- 2014 (It gets a fat F in immersion but is fairly stimulating for the orangs and they have tons of opportunities to climb)

10. San Diego Zoo- 1983 (Renovated in 2003)*

11. Virginia Zoo- 2011

12. Kansas City Zoo- 2015

13. Toledo Zoo- 1993*

14. Oregon Zoo- 2010

15. Busch Gardens- 2008

16. Los Angeles Zoo- 2000*

17. Louisville Zoo- 1995

18. Audubon Zoo- 2015*

19. El Paso Zoo- 1995

20. Phoenix Zoo- 2011

21. Houston Zoo- 1993*

22. Fresno Chaffee Zoo- 2001

23. Cameron Park Zoo- 2009

24. Lowry Park Zoo- 1988*

25. Honolulu Zoo- 2006

26. Fort Worth Zoo- 1993*

27. Philadelphia Zoo- 1999*

28. National Zoo- 1981/1995 (O-Line boosts its ranking a lot)

29. Zoo Miami- 1981*

30. Columbus Zoo- 2003*

31. Little Rock Zoo- 1988

32. Sacramento Zoo- 1984

33. Memphis Zoo- 1995*

34. Hogle Zoo- 1991

35. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo- 1991

36. Gladys Porter Zoo- 1971

37. Henry Vilas Zoo- 1995

38. Rio Grande Zoo

39. Como Park Zoo

40. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo- 1992*

41. Greenville Zoo

42. Topeka Zoo- 1981

43. Rolling Hills Zoo- 1999

44. Toronto Zoo- 1974*

45. Erie Zoo- 2002

46. Brookfield Zoo- 1982*

47. Chahinkapa Zoo- 2000

48. Milwaukee County Zoo- 1961*

49. Seneca Park Zoo

50. Fort Wayne Children’s Zoo- 1995

51. Pittsburgh Zoo- 1991*

52. Racine Zoo

53. Birmingham Zoo

 

[snowleopard]

Some interesting, purely subjective, lists there! A few comments:

- there are still a few obscure zoos with chimpanzees like DeYoung Family Zoo in Wisonsin, West Coast Game Park Safari in Oregon and the G W Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

- there are only perhaps a dozen pretty good chimp exhibits in the USA...with many subpar enclosures still in existence.

- gorillas are in perhaps 25 excellent exhibits and are also the most common and arguably most popular great ape.

 

[GraysonDP]

Some interesting, purely subjective, lists there! A few comments:

- there are still a few obscure zoos with chimpanzees like DeYoung Family Zoo in Wisonsin, West Coast Game Park Safari in Oregon and the G W Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma.

- there are only perhaps a dozen pretty good chimp exhibits in the USA...with many subpar enclosures still in existence.

- gorillas are in perhaps 25 excellent exhibits and are also the most common and arguably most popular great ape.

I concur about there being many substandard chimp exhibits in the nation and relatively many gorilla ones. When you say these tanking are purely subjective, are you implying you disagree with them? Aren't all rankings subjective?

 

[snowleopard]

I concur about there being many substandard chimp exhibits in the nation and relatively many gorilla ones. When you say these tanking are purely subjective, are you implying you disagree with them? Aren't all rankings subjective?

Since I have agreed with you on just about all of your zoo reviews it should come as no surprise that I also like your ranking of great ape exhibits and I think that for the most part you are accurate.

I will point out that not all rankings are subjective. For example: a ranking of the 10 tallest mountains in the world, the 10 deepest lakes, the 5 longest rivers on the planet, the 20 largest nations, etc.

If I were to rank the 10 biggest box office hits of 2016 then that would be a list based purely on numbers. If I were to rank the 10 greatest living male actors then that would be a list created by a movie buff such as myself and it would all be subjective. Just for the hell of it...that list would look something like this: Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington, Jeff Bridges, Harvey Keitel, Dustin Hoffman, Sean Penn and Robert Duvall.

Ranking zoos or zoo exhibits is a bit like my actor list. One could cite Academy Award nominations or accolades but at the end of the day my actor list is subjective and the same goes for any "best zoo" list. Keep your lists coming though as they make for great reading!