ApeLadyNZ
Well-Known Member
According to this article, orangutans are currently being viewed as the smartest non-human primate:
The 10 Smartest Animals in the World - Updated 2024 Rankings - A-Z Animals (a-z-animals.com)
Taronga Zoo Future of Taronga Zoo (Speculation / Fantasy)
- Thread starter Zoofan15
- Start date
According to this article, orangutans are currently being viewed as the smartest non-human primate:
The 10 Smartest Animals in the World - Updated 2024 Rankings - A-Z Animals (a-z-animals.com)
From what I have been told by ex keepers that's no surprise at all.
That’s correct. Most sources place either orangutans or chimpanzees as the most intelligent non-human species; with sources going back a few years favouring chimpanzees; and more recent sources favouring orangutans.
The intelligence of chimpanzees is more overt, demonstrated by their complex hierarchies within large social groupings; but the cognitive abilities of orangutans are apparently unmatched. The problem solving skills of both are fascinating.
My favourite story is of Taronga’s keepers spending weeks demonstrating tool use to the chimpanzees, cracking nuts in their presence and feeding them to them. One day, the keepers laid out a large number of nuts in the exhibit (as well as the tools needed to open them) and waited to see what the chimpanzees would do. The chimpanzees knew exactly what to do! They gathered up nuts by the handful and raced inside to give them to the keepers to open for them.
Unlike Chimps who wear their emotions more obviously, orangutans are far more calculating. With most animals, if chimps are annoyed at you they'll usually let you know in no uncertain terms. Orangutans don't usually do that. They're known to smolder and plan, making them very difficult to work with.
I've hard countless stories of Willow the Orangutan when she was back at Taronga. Perhaps my favourite is of her and the fire hoses. Willow used to enjoy decorating her indoor enclosure with a fire hose every morning. Keep in mind, these hoses were quite expensive so having to continuously buy new ones became very frustrating for keepers. They had no idea how she had managed to get to the hoses every time as they were rolled onto a bracket far from her reach. Eventually, keepers worked out how she had done it - she would collect a large stick from the outdoor part of her exhibit, poke it through the wire and knock the heavy nozzle off the bracket. She then used the stick and a strategically placed hessian sack to drag the hose within reach and it was then a matter of pulling it through it inside.
That wasn't the only instance where she was known for investigating things outside of her exhibit. On one occasion she decided she'd investigate one of the bar heaters placed on the wall of her indoor house with one of her special sticks. Not surprisingly, she managed to set the stick on fire one night and then set fire to her paper bedding. Before the fire brigade could turn up, Willow had fortunately managed to put the fire out herself using the hessian sacks she had. In the end, they had to install completely new mesh to stop Willow from poking sticks in places they shouldn't be!
I was told by a Keeper from Toronto zoo back in the late 90s that one of their Orangutans kept getting out after hours by opening a steel gate to her exhibit, This happened a number of times she even ended up on the roof of the building outside at least once. The keepers worked out that she must of picked the lock but after an extensive search high and low could not locate any object that she was using, So they decided one afternoon as they all left the zoo to go home that one keeper would stay buy would hide away to spy on this Orang, After all the staff had left she pulled out a paperclip that she carried under her top lip and proceeded to open the lock, so no wonder the keepers could never find what she was using!
ApeLadyNZ
Well-Known Member
Thank you for the accounts of Willow! She is certainly a very smart orangutan. She is the sister of our late beloved Wanita from Auckland Zoo and it makes me wonder if Wanita ever got up to anything like that at Taronga?
Orangutans have pulled some quite spectacular stunts at zoos - not only was there the notorious escape artist Ken Allen of San Diego Zoo, but other orangutans have also been notable for high-tailing it when they have the chance, such as Melbourne Zoo's Malu and Busch Gardens' Luna Bella. And the story of Auckland Zoo's very own Daya and the fire alarm actually made the news!
Cheeky orangutan sets off fire alarm at Auckland Zoo (1news.co.nz)
Account like this are an example of why it’s no surprise that orangutans are the escape artists of the zoo world. Nearly every zoo that’s held them has a story to tell to that effect:
At Auckland Zoo, Indra found a ladder in her exhibit left behind by workman and shinnied up it, carrying her then two year old son, Isim. She returned of her own accord, after being confronted by an army of keepers armed with nets and other tools of the trade. The best part of this story was that a 10 year boy casually snapped a photo of her on the central lawn, obvious her appearance was anything out of the ordinary.
At Perth Zoo, Sungai fell out of his exhibit; with Sekara replicating his actions to retrieve him. Like Indra, she was photographed by zoo visitors, some who wondered if the zoo had free-ranging apes.
At Adelaide Zoo, Karta short-circuited an electric fence and made her bid for freedom. Keepers speculated she’d been looking for her mate, who had recently died.
With Malu's first escape, he SOMEHOW managed to use a blanket to twist a hole into the roof of the meshed enclosure and escape through it. He did this all on his own too.
In regards to Ken Allen, he would apparently only escape to go on 'walks' around the zoo and seemed to do so simply for the fun of it. When keepers would tell him to return to his enclosure, he complied and headed straight back in!
It got to the point where keepers believed he taught some of the other orangutans his techniques too, and they begun escaping as well. The funniest part is perhaps the fact that the zoo spent tens of thousands of dollars on renovations on the enclosure over the years to put a stop to his escapades but he still somehow managed to get out whenever he wanted to!
ApeLadyNZ
Well-Known Member
That’s correct. Most sources place either orangutans or chimpanzees as the most intelligent non-human species; with sources going back a few years favouring chimpanzees; and more recent sources favouring orangutans.
The intelligence of chimpanzees is more overt, demonstrated by their complex hierarchies within large social groupings; but the cognitive abilities of orangutans are apparently unmatched. The problem solving skills of both are fascinating.
My favourite story is of Taronga’s keepers spending weeks demonstrating tool use to the chimpanzees, cracking nuts in their presence and feeding them to them. One day, the keepers laid out a large number of nuts in the exhibit (as well as the tools needed to open them) and waited to see what the chimpanzees would do. The chimpanzees knew exactly what to do! They gathered up nuts by the handful and raced inside to give them to the keepers to open for them.
Thanks for that story about the chimps! Fascinating and also hilarious. Great apes are amazing creatures!
Another interesting intelligence test I came across was one that pitted chimps against bonobos, and it seems that the bonobos came up tops in those tests, due to their more cooperative nature while the chimps postured for dominance!
Female bonobo wins 'cleverest monkey in the world' (today.com)
With Malu's first escape, he SOMEHOW managed to use a blanket to twist a hole into the roof of the meshed enclosure and escape through it. He did this all on his own too.
In regards to Ken Allen, he would apparently only escape to go on 'walks' around the zoo and seemed to do so simply for the fun of it. When keepers would tell him to return to his enclosure, he complied and headed straight back in!
It got to the point where keepers believed he taught some of the other orangutans his techniques too, and they begun escaping as well. The funniest part is perhaps the fact that the zoo spent tens of thousands of dollars on renovations on the enclosure over the years to put a stop to his escapades but he still somehow managed to get out whenever he wanted to!
When of the best security measures I’ve heard of is Taronga Zoo placing a banana each night inside the keeper quarters, adjacent to the chimpanzee house. The sight of the banana there each morning assures them no breech of the connecting door has occurred given it would prove irresistible and be the first thing they took should have the opportunity. By no means high-tech, but 100% foolproof!
I believe Monarto does the same thing! Simple but genius security measure.
Luka at Hamilton Zoo once escaped his exhibit and entered a service lane within the zoo in 2009, so it’s definitely something that can happen, despite the best safety measures in place. It’s fortunate we as a region have never had an serious incidents where it was necessary to shoot the ape to ensure public safety.
ApeLadyNZ
Well-Known Member
I remember hearing about Luka, and about the zoo being evacuated as a precaution, although I wasn't at Hamilton Zoo at the time. And someone told me that apparently Lucifer once pulled a similar stunt, and either wandered back of his own accord or was successfully coaxed back by keepers.
Although chimpanzees are often on the "shoot to kill in case of escape" list like bears and big cats (I know Wellington Zoo has this policy but as far as I know they've never had a chimp escape) I don't think Auckland has this police re orangutans, as evidenced by the attempt to recapture Indra and Isim you mentioned (is there a copy of that photo the boy took on the internet anywhere, by any chance? I had no idea we'd had such a daring ape escape at Auckland Zoo!)
When I was a child, I spoke to a keeper about the then recent incident at Wellington Zoo (2003), where an intruder climbed into the Sumatran tiger cage and was mauled by the male. The keepers had used a variety of tactics to distract the tiger (including bringing the female into an adjacent cage; and making noise with feed buckets and fire extinguishers). The Auckland Zoo keeper said it would have been Auckland’s policy to shoot the tiger at that point; but had no engagement occurred (i.e. the tiger was over the other side of the exhibit or ignoring the visitor, they wouldn’t have needlessly shot it).
With this in mind, it’s possible the same rationale was applied to Indra. Nobody’s safety was in in danger (she was minding her own business) and therefore shooting her would have been a tragic and needless overreaction. A chimpanzee (especially a male) would likely would have behaved very differently and necessitated a lethal dispatch of the animal (even as a precautionary measure).
The incident was covered in a spin-off series of The Zoo called This is Your Life, where an episode on Indra featured this story (and from memory interviewed the boy, now an adult). It’s been many years since I’ve seen it and sadly the photo isn’t online; but it offered a great insight into Indra’s life (and the keeping of the species at Auckland Zoo).
ApeLadyNZ
Well-Known Member
Thanks for this! It stands to reason that zoos will avoid shooting unless absolutely necessary. In the case of great apes, they'll often want to go back after having a little explore as was Ken Allen's usual habit. Coaxing them back with treats also seems to work, as was done with an early escape of Luna Bella's, although her more famous and headline-grabbing escape necessitated her being tranquilized after she got spooked by all the hubbub.
I'll have to look around and see if I can find any excerpts from that TV show that featured Indra!
Jumilah means beautiful so that's quite fitting.
On the topic of tigers and enclosures... long term, given that Taronga isn't holding people in the airplane against their will, do you perceive them changing this part of the enclosure for other uses?
Unfortunately I believe Taronga will keep this aspect as part of the complex as they like to promote it as a visitor experience. It ties in with educating the public etc. (even if the public would rather be entertained than educated). It’s good that there’s a bypass now (and commonsense).
It’s my opinion however (and always has been) that Taronga should have used this space for exhibits housing additional species. Auckland Zoo are a great example of a precinct showcasing the interactions of tigers and otters.
This is a photo I took of Zayana spying on the otters:
Attachments
Unless they extend it northwards (into the current Andean Condor, Giant Tortoise exhibits).
It would be nice if the Giant Tortoises got a new enclosure apart of the new Reptile/Amphibian building imo.
loganjmuir
Well-Known Member
I’d like to see that as well. There are by the looks of things 5 exhibits on the roof, probably for Rhinoceros Iguana, Komodo Dragon and larger species. I wouldn’t be surprised to see them move the Tortoises in there at some point.
Reptile and Amphibian Centre
I’m really excited for the reptile and amphibian centre. It’s great to see them working with Taronga’s hilly terrain by building a multi-storey facility. Philippine crocodile will be an exciting addition to the upper level.
More development at the Zoo! — Mosman Parks & Bushland Association
