Given space concerns and safety concerns, often a covered exhibit is better. It allows the animals to be outdoors more without fears of escape, and gives the chimps much more area to climb/allows for more climbing features.
Anyways this exhibit is definitely subpar, yet their are plenty of great chimp exhibits that are not open air.
@nczoofan that’s a good point. I just find them to be more depressing-looking... The New San Francisco Zoo Chimpanzee expansion will have both open air and covered areas
@nczoofan
True but the exhibit is a bit of an eyesore and I think if they were to somehow convert the old muntjac exhibit to an outdoor chimp exhibit and have a crossing similar to SF's that connects to the old exhibit and have a complete remodel of the said older exhibit, then maybe it would be better. But since the zoo is on a hillside I doubt that would happen...
This looks like a really good habitat to me. When it comes to arboreal primates, I will always take a good sized cage over an open air enclosure because it gives the animals so many more climbing opportunities. I mean look at where the chimp in this photo is sitting. If you made this open air think about how much less space the animals would have.
Closed in enclosures also don't have to be ugly and depressing-looking, look at Berlin Zoo:
I agree with @ThylacineAlive here. This enclosure may not look the best, but it provides lots of climbing opportunities (at least, more than a traditional open-topped enclosure).
@ThylacineAlive@birdsandbats
Well I guess that's true but I would still like to see an upgrade even if it's going to be a topped exhibit. The orangutan exhibit looks fine but it looks a tad small (how many apes are in that exhibit?) but that could just be the camera angle or something.
