This chimpanzee exhibit has two metal poles that have a few ropes hanging off of them (as seen in this photo), the metal/steel roof with wire covering any possible ape exit strategies, a fake termite mound, a sandy floor with zero grass, and the enclosure is far too small for 6 chimpanzees. Maryland Zoo has a large metal cage that is a hundred times better as there is grass, more climbing opportunities and a much larger area for the troop to roam over.
In regards to the "hunting lodge", it is advertised as a natural history musem in every possible magazine, local newspaper and in all tourist brochures in the Tucson area. The Smithsonian natural history museum in Washington, D.C., also collected most of its "trophies" from big game hunters.
This chimpanzee exhibit has two metal poles that have a few ropes hanging off of them (as seen in this photo), the metal/steel roof with wire covering any possible ape exit strategies, a fake termite mound, a sandy floor with zero grass, and the enclosure is far too small for 6 chimpanzees. Maryland Zoo has a large metal cage that is a hundred times better as there is grass, more climbing opportunities and a much larger area for the troop to roam over.
Snowleopard is my favorite zoo critic, but I really think this critique is somewhat misguided and seems to be based on aesthetics rather than whether it is an adequate space for the chimps.
The dome is not aesthetically current, but it does provide a lot of good climbing habitat that the animals do use. Unless you want chimps free roaming through the zoo then preventing "ape exit strategies" is exactly what it (and every chimp exhibit in every zoo in the world) is designed to do.
I dispute that the Maryland exhibit is 100 times better. This exhibit is not any worse than the chimp exhibit at Oakland Zoo which curiously Snowleopard found adequate.
The exhibit IS too small. Hopefully the plan to build a new orang exhibit and expand the chimp area will actually happen and a modern chimp exhibit will materialize that makes everyone happy, chimps and zoo critics alike.
