ZOO Antwerpen - Monkey House (Owl-faced monkey)

The exhibit for Hamlyn\'s or owl-faced monkeys (Cercopithecus hamlyni) inside the Monkey House in ZOO Antwerpen. A very nice indoor rainforest exhibit but unfortunately there is no outdoor exhibit.

The Monkey House was opened in 1978 replacing an even older building on the same site. The 13 species of primates and 2 species of xenarthra inhabiting the house all have all-indoor exhibits.

ZOO Antwerpen, July 2011.

As lovely as it looks it is quite sad to read that these monkeys have no outdoor area.

@Onychorhynchus coronatus This exhibit no longer holds them actually, and they have been moved to a set of smaller exhibits (in total size the same, but each exhibit much lower and less deep). Still no outdoor exhibit. The problem currently present is that they have only 2 outdoor exhibits for the entire monkey house. One of them is used for their nice breeding group of spider monkeys, which I hope will move to the spectacled bear enclosure in time. The other is rotated between two groups of mandril. All the other species (2 species of lemur, the hamlyn's, a night monkey, colobus and 4 species callichytrids) don't have an outdoor exhibit. For the callichytrids I think a creative solution of an indoor exhibit with a roof that can open is usable, but of the 5 groups of larger monkeys at least 3 will have to go (and in my opinion unless they can combine two species even 4 due to the small outdoor enclosures).