I agree wholeheartedly. There is talk of an outdoor addition to the orangutan exhibit, but both the Toronto and Oregon zoos have held these great apes inside for decades. Brutal.
At least Oregon's is due to open by next year, while in Toronto it might take at least 5 years before the zoo even starts to plan the new outdoor exhibit.
Well, this photo was taken a year and a half ago and this terribly disappointing orangutan exhibit is still in use. Supposedly within the next 5 years it will be overhauled and brought up to date, as I wonder if it was erected in the 1970's when the zoo opened? (Torontonians can help out with that question) The Oregon Zoo's "Red Ape Reserve" is 2 years behind schedule but due to open by the summer of 2010 at the latest.
Yes, snowleopard I do agree with you, this is the worst exhibit at the zoo, it still is planned to get overhauled hopefully soon but who knows! The exhibit did open when the zoo opened. It has remained unchanged (structure wise) they have added grass and enrichment. Basically it was just the bars and moat.
Toronto Zoo seems to be strong in most other fields than that of exhibiting apes. The facilities seen here for orang-utans, and in the previous photo for gibbons, are all but outstanding. However, I have every confidence in the zoo's ability to correct this, given its many strong fields and great new exhibits, including that for the polar bears.
@snowleopard: Has anything improved (or is on the horizon for improvement) for the orangs since this photo was taken in 2008?
Can you direct me to your Toronto Zoo review? Considering that this photo looks more like an elementary school playground than a rain forest I'm guessing that your review of it wasn't pretty.
