This is it. Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I assume that this is the site of the old house/enclosure. The orangs moved to Chester while the new house was built. The house itself is fine, but this enclosure would appear to be the original one, maybe with more climbing equipment. There's a moat which must be the same one in which my namesake's son, Beau, met his death in 2007.
Yes, this is the original outdoor enclosure of Blackpool's Ape House. When I visited soon after the zoo opened, it was completely bare with a substrate of dusty, pale grey gravel and I think the moat was dry - I took some very bad photos of 2 juvenile gorillas and 2 juvenile orangs playing there with a keeper. Subsequently a new gorilla outdoor enclosure was built and then extended to include the former chamois/markhor island.
I think that the basic plan of this exhibit is unchanged, but it is now much better furnished, although it is still an eyesore. I don't know if the moat ever contained more water; I suspect it would have done when the male drowned, but now I suppose that it just acts to keep the orangs away from the glass.
Actually this photo makes it seem smaller than it really is. The scale is shown by the orang sitting in the bottom right hand 'tube', which I think is the younger female.
and I think the moat was dry - I took some very bad photos of 2 juvenile gorillas and 2 juvenile orangs playing there with a keeper. Subsequently a new gorilla outdoor enclosure was built and then extended to include the former chamois/markhor island.
They initially had pairs of young Orangs/Gorillas/Chimps, this was the only outdoor area- shared by all three species and then in rotation as they grew, with their tiny indoor rooms behind the wall.
They then later added the new much larger and more suitable indoor Gorilla wing(even by modern standards it is still pretty spacious) and the outdoor areas as you describe.
I cannot remember if this enclosure ever had a full water moat- probably, but I believe Beau drowned in only shallow water- obviously its been dry since.
I cannot remember if this enclosure ever had a full water moat- probably, but I believe Beau drowned in only shallow water- obviously its been dry since.
As others have said, this is not quite as bad as it appears in the photo. In fact, I'd argue it's only the third worst outdoor Orang enclosure in the UK -Dudley's is, unarguably, far worse and Twycross, in my opinion, is also worse.
That's not to say Blackpool's is good, just not as bad as some -the biggest frustration for me is the massive amount of the enclosure's footprint lost to the disproportionately large moat. It always seems they could improve the area significantly by raising the viewing windows height which would then enable them to further increase climbing apparatus over some of the then-former moat area.
Personally, I find it a little sad that almost half of the UK's Orang enclosures are in such poor enclosures.
Having just completed a Grand Tour of UK Orangutans, I find it hard to rate the outdoor enclosures. Chester is, of course, at the top and Dudley at the bottom. Paignton and Monkeyworld compete for 2nd and 3rd, while the others are much of a muchness - there was little climbing going on in any of those.
In fact, I'd argue it's only the third worst outdoor Orang enclosure in the UK -Dudley's is, unarguably, far worse and Twycross, in my opinion, is also worse.
Personally, I find it a little sad that almost half of the UK's Orang enclosures are in such poor enclosures.
The problem with all these antiquated Orang enclosures( Blackpool outdoors is included here) is that to provide climbing facilities they can't destroy, it ends up as a combination of strong poles, dead trees and nets and firehoses- all combine to give an ugly cluttered feel in addition to the concrete. And still the Orangs mostly just sit on the ground.
I slight correction to my comment above: the first occupants of this enclosure were three young gorillas and one orang.
My photos were not quite as bad as I remembered and I have just posted one in this Gallery
