This appears to be a decent exhibit with loads of climbing and swinging opportunities for the apes, but I much prefer the gibbon islands that are common at many zoos worldwide. In those enclosures both the gibbons and the human visitors have completely unobstructed views of each other.
@snowleopard: From the visitor's point of view, gibbon islands do appear more appealing. Yet for the brachiating locomotion of gibbons (especially at full speed), such cages are actually more useful-and don't involve the hidden danger of the animals drowning in a moat or escaping in the winter over the frozen moat.... In this regard, quite a nice exhibit.
@snowleopard: From the visitor's point of view, gibbon islands do appear more appealing. Yet for the brachiating locomotion of gibbons (especially at full speed), such cages are actually more useful-and don't involve the hidden danger of the animals drowning in a moat or escaping in the winter over the frozen moat.... In this regard, quite a nice exhibit.
Agree with this entirely. It's actually quite difficult to provide a lot of climbing opportunities in an island exhibit; with a cage liek this, the whole barrier is usuable space for the animals.
The other problem had when planning the gibbon enclosure, was the lack of suitable flat piece of land for an island exhibit, but to my mind this beats any island hands down, far more dimensional use of space.
