It is nice to see someone uploading photos from this zoo besides myself, and it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful gorillas look in a naturalistic environment. Foraging through the tall grass at the back of the exhibit, or perched alongside the glass near human visitors, either way this 30 year-old habitat is a joy to see.
It is nice to see someone uploading photos from this zoo besides myself, and it never ceases to amaze me how wonderful gorillas look in a naturalistic environment. Foraging through the tall grass at the back of the exhibit, or perched alongside the glass near human visitors, either way this 30 year-old habitat is a joy to see.
I completely agree with your sentiments, but one minor clarification: this exhibit, the smaller of two for gorillas in Seattle, was actually significantly expanded and improved in 1992 in tandem with the opening of the Tropical Rain Forest Building. In its original incarnation as a gorilla exhibit (1977?) it was simply an old bear grotto heavily planted, but viewed over the original moat. The new design added close up viewing through glass and expanded the ground and climbing areas for the gorillas
@reduakari: no wonder the Tropical Rain Forest exhibit won the AZA Best Exhibit of the year in 1992, as the main tropical building and walk-through aviary were only part of the project. The gorilla, red ruffed lemur and DeBrazza guenon (now red-flanked duiker) habitats were all significantly upgraded. In a recent interview with Bruce Bohmke, deputy director of the Woodland Park Zoo (on the website "americaszooscoop.com"), he stated that the zoo originally planned to open a jaguar exhibit in 1992 along with the rain forest building. However, due to the rising cost and the fact that a superb exhibit could not be built (only an average one) the zoo decided to squash those plans. Of course the brilliant Jaguar Cove has since opened (2003) and is arguably one of the best jaguar zoo habitats on the planet.
