Thanks for all of the photos of this brand-new exhibit. Is the Moroccan Garden section of Planckendael an existing area or was it recently built? The decision to theme this part of the zoo is an interesting one and the macaque enclosure looks to be of a high quality.
The Barbary macaque area was just a piece of unused (in terms of exhibit and visitor space) forest until just a few months ago. They constructed this project pretty rapidly actually. Some of the original forest remains in the outdoor exhibit for the macaques, the trees that had to felled were used in the outdoor exhibit for climbing structures and decoration (and possibly in other exhibits as well).
I personally wasn't really expecting the level of theming they did with Moroccan garden and pavilion actually. A surprising and interesting choice for sure and also surprising that they realized it in such a short period of time.
That said, the theming in this area and the exhibit itself are certainly of pretty high quality, I agree with you on that, but in my opinion without the theming becoming excessive or tacky. With the Moroccan garden and pavilion they created an 'exotic' atmosphere without distracting from the animals in my opinion.
The tour guide whom we had for the preview of the new bonobo house (I posted those pictures as well) also said that this type and level of theming and immersive experience is something that Planckendael will also be going for in future projects. If it can be done to the same standards of quality and taste in future projects you can sign me up for that for sure.
