Chimpanzees and Bonobos in Major American Zoos

snowleopard

snowleopard

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The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 25 out of the 80 zoos that currently display chimpanzees and 7 zoos that have bonobos.

The 9 weekly lists that I've done so far:

71 out of the 80 zoos have giraffes
61 out of the 80 zoos have rhinos
54 out of the 80 zoos have elephants
48 out of the 80 zoos have penguins (plus 16 out of 20 aquariums)
47 out of the 80 zoos have orangutans
45 out of the 80 zoos have gorillas
35 out of the 80 zoos have pinnipeds (plus 12 out of 20 aquariums)
25 out of the 80 zoos have chimpanzees (plus 7 zoos have bonobos)
22 out of the 80 zoos have common hippos (plus 12 have pygmy hippos)

There aren’t any major American zoos that have invested in chimpanzees in recent years, with chimps being showcased approximately 50% less than either gorillas or orangutans. The most recent chimpanzee exhibits include Houston (2010) and Oregon (2021), although in the case of Oregon it’s more of a renovation of an older exhibit. Why the lack of interest in chimps? In Terry Maple’s new book, Atlanta’s Iconic Ape: The Life of Willie B. (2021), he says that “compared to their close relatives, gorillas and orangs, chimpanzees do not suffer captivity gladly. For this reason, many zoos no longer exhibit them, preferring to offer quieter, calmer species to the public. Chimpanzees also invite criticism as people perceive them as unhappy, even angry. Another issue is the fact that chimpanzees in groups have fatally injured each other, and this too calls attention to the deficiencies of their situation.”

The 25 zoos (in the book) that have chimpanzees:

ABQ BioPark
Busch Gardens
Dallas
Detroit
Gladys Porter
Honolulu
Houston
John Ball
Kansas City
Knoxville
Lincoln Park
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Maryland
Miami
Montgomery
North Carolina
Oakland
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Sacramento
Saint Louis
San Francisco
Sedgwick County
Tulsa

My 10 favourite chimpanzee exhibits in American zoos (alphabetical ranking):

Busch Gardens
Dallas
Detroit
Houston
Kansas City – arguably the best exhibit for the species
Knoxville
Lincoln Park
Los Angeles
North Carolina
Saint Louis

The 7 zoos that have bonobos:

Cincinnati
Columbus – arguably the best exhibit for the species
Fort Worth
Jacksonville
Memphis
Milwaukee County
San Diego
 
As is discussed in the Zoo Tampa thread, they gave up their chimp troop (sent to San Francisco) to replace them with bonobos, but in the end abandoned the project for now(ever?). The habitat has been empty for over two years at this point.

I have only seen Liconcoln Park, Busch and North Carolina out of the list of the favorites, and to me, both Busch and North Carolina are superb. I am not sure I could choose between the two.
 
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Of all the years I’ve visited Omaha I’m still surprised they haven’t had either of these species in my lifetime. A perfect opportunity would have been in the early 2000’s when Hubbard Gorilla Valley was initially built/revamped from the original configuration.

Now I only feel this way as the much smaller Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff (formerly Riverside Zoo) is the only place that has chimpanzees in the state of Nebraska. The infamous Zoo Nebraska had one as their main attraction during their short lived experience, but Omaha has seemingly never been interested. So it is odd to me that Nebraska’s flagship zoo isn’t invested in either of these species considering there are zoos in close proximity that has them.

However, I understand the challenges of keeping these species, especially the sinister nature of chimpanzees and how awesome to me it was to watch them in Saint Louis seemingly secretly plot to attack the guests.

I will agree that Kansas City’s exhibit is fantastic, and is also great when looking out and seeing the troop up in the trees which surprises a lot of people that didn’t know to look there.
 
MGolka said:
Of all the years I’ve visited Omaha I’m still surprised they haven’t had either of these species in my lifetime. A perfect opportunity would have been in the early 2000’s when Hubbard Gorilla Valley was initially built/revamped from the original configuration.

Now I only feel this way as the much smaller Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff (formerly Riverside Zoo) is the only place that has chimpanzees in the state of Nebraska. The infamous Zoo Nebraska had one as their main attraction during their short lived experience, but Omaha has seemingly never been interested. So it is odd to me that Nebraska’s flagship zoo isn’t invested in either of these species considering there are zoos in close proximity that has them.

However, I understand the challenges of keeping these species, especially the sinister nature of chimpanzees and how awesome to me it was to watch them in Saint Louis seemingly secretly plot to attack the guests.

I will agree that Kansas City’s exhibit is fantastic, and is also great when looking out and seeing the troop up in the trees which surprises a lot of people that didn’t know to look there.
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Hey! I don’t know how long it’s been since your been to Riverside Discovery Center (RDC) but they just did a $100,000 remodel to their chimpanzee habitat and about to invest more money into more climbing structures for their troop (which is 5). I know RDC is small but they have done some amazing renovations thanks to the new director (who worked at Omaha for many years) and about to do another huge renovation.
 
Alexandra said:
Hey! I don’t know how long it’s been since your been to Riverside Discovery Center (RDC) but they just did a $100,000 remodel to their chimpanzee habitat and about to invest more money into more climbing structures for their troop (which is 5). I know RDC is small but they have done some amazing renovations thanks to the new director (who worked at Omaha for many years) and about to do another huge renovation.
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I will be there next weekend so I will check it out!
 
MGolka said:
I will be there next weekend so I will check it out!
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Awesome! Let me know when and I’ll be happy to take you around. Some new features that they have added and about to add…added features children's pop up museum (hands on fun learning of animal topics) inside the heritage barn new bear exhibit…in July the splash pad is getting a much needed resurfaced and expansion. Starting August (getting materials and contractors together now)- Aviary is getting redone (thanks to a grant), Fox/Raccoon and bobcat are getting expanded (thanks to anonymous donor), Discovery is getting gutted and redone (thanks to a grant), bathrooms expanded (grant), puma cub exhibit is getting expanded after our black leopard passed (she was 22), getting rid of the outdated raptor corn ribs and that is to just name a few. I’m super proud of what RDC was (just falling apart) and where it is today (thriving and showing improvement)
We also had a baby zebra born May 13, 2022.
 
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