Supposedly the largest chimpanzee exhibit on the planet, and how many apes are in there as of right now? I read somewhere that the enclosure could possibly hold up to 40 chimps.
I have not seen this exhibit with my own eyes, but it looks splendid. There is no attempt towards a fake African rainforest (which are always for the visitors only) and the apes and their enrichment needs have absolute priority. Plenty of poles and ropes to climb in. If I see it with my own eyes one day, it might even replace Taronga Zoo's one as my favourite Chimpanzee exhibit.
Supposedly the largest chimpanzee exhibit on the planet, and how many apes are in there as of right now? I read somewhere that the enclosure could possibly hold up to 40 chimps.
There are currently 11 Chimps. Edinburgh's website has a breakdown of their names, ages, history etc. BUT on 18th March, 11 more adults are arriving from Holland. These(6.5 or 5.6) are all DNA tested as West African Chimps. The two groups will hopefully all be merged into one but I think only the pure West African chimps will be allowed to breed in future.
Pertinax mentioned it two posts above yours - keep up!
@ zooman - as far as I'm aware the chimps are allowed out every day unless there's really extreme weather (which even in Scotland is nothing like as often as it would be at similar latitudes in North America or Eastern Asia - good ol' Gulf Stream!).
How much they use it on a day to day basis I'll have to leave for a more regular visitor to answer!
Zooman, they use it variably and in varying numbers. In fact once the new 11 are fully integrated the whole enclosure will go back to fully open, all three indoor area, the outdoor area and the off show area, unless keepers are working in a specific part of the enclosure! All of the indoor area have different substrates, lighting, temperatues and humidity. In the outdoor area there are many seasonal fruits, some vegetable and herbs planter which encourages the chimps to spend different lengths of time at different times of the year. It really is a remarkable enclosure that encourages the chimps to make choices about where to be and who to be with! I was hearing today that the keepers from Beekse Bergen have commented on the enclosure!
