The orangutan exhibit opened in August of 2009 and with three of the apes is perhaps the largest orang enclosure that I’ve ever seen. It is of a curious shape, as it is almost perfectly round like a donut, and to describe it one must imagine that the center of the donut is off limits to the shaggy red apes. That section is lush and full of trees, but the mesh surrounds the entire area and the orangs have the large outer rim to explore. There are plenty of ropes and poles, but also lots of ground space and I’m not sold on the quality of the new habitat. It is certainly enormous in size, and there is a fantastic elevated boardwalk that surrounds the entire enclosure, but there still seems to be far more bare ground surface than is necessary. The huge viewing windows are great, as is the nearby crashing waterfall and “temple ruins” statues, but size might not count for everything in this case. There is a lot of potential with this exhibit...
