Shame the new exhibit has been pushed back even further. It used to be 2029. It's so bizarre that the zoo sees fit to renovate the already-excellent Pantanal and Panterra exhibits before these dire ape enclosures...
@Kalaw I 100% agree with you. Although Panthera is an amazing enclosure complex and the Pantanal Aviary will probably be amazing as well, both the old big cat exhibits and the Pantanal exhibit were already fine before renovation. Meanwhile the ape exhibits have been outdated since at least the 2000s and certainly drag my otherwise favourite zoo considerably down animals husbandry wise…
@Kalaw@Cichlid
Of course, it's a bit old-fashioned and there's definitely room for improvement. But from an animal welfare perspective, the facility isn't that problematic.
I would have preferred to build Congo before Pantanal. But Panthera was much cheaper and less complex. So I understand why they did that first.
@Cyathea how isn't it problematic? If you have some knowledge about how it caters for their welfare I'll be interested to hear it, because I don't know much about gorilla husbandry. But I do know that this enclosure is absolutely tiny, and these are animals with complex social structures that would benefit from some space to get away from one another - not much in the way of privacy either and gorillas are known to be quite shy.
It should be improved, but it's not that problematic.
The space is undeniably too small. But space is not the main aspect for animal welfare (The EAZA best practice guideline does not even include a recommendation for the minimum amount of space required.).
It has lots of climbing opportunities, natural substrate and some protection from the weather (walls, shade). The outdoor area does not offer any places to retreat, but in combination with the indoor facilities it does.
I don't remember the layout exactly. But in the ape house, three species—gorillas, orangutans, and gibbons—live in a series of outdoor and indoor enclosures. They gave up some species a long time ago to create more space. So I assume that the gorillas also have more than just this enclosure.
@Cyathea interesting to hear that there are no space guidelines. The natural substrate provision was the thing that impressed me the most; I thought the amount of straw for foraging indoors was really nice and more than what most zoos do. There is a decent amount of climbing on offer, but it's still minimal compared to most modern zoos with gorillas. I doubt the trees are sturdy enough to support a gorilla climbing, so really it's just those bare branches and the ropes attached.
My main problem really is just how exposed it is. I'm not sure if any research has been done into how sensitive gorillas are to humans, but both indoors and outdoors, their gallery-like enclosures are completely surrounded by glass which makes privacy scarce. There is barely anywhere to go for them to evade one another or the sightlines of visitors.
But in general, though this enclosure isn't good, it isn't terrible, and neither is the gibbon enclosure. The orangutan enclosure, however, I find indefensible, and I'd be interested to hear if you share my thoughts there.
@Kalaw I don’t know, I agree about the Gibbon exhibit being quite fine, however the gorilla exhibit is definitely terrible and possibly the worst I have seen anywhere. I’m sure there are more horrendous exhibits, but even most exhibits for this species I have seen in zoos in Asia, a continent with far lower average habitat quality than Europe, have been much better than the one in Zurich.
@Kalaw
I must admit that I don't really remember the orangutan enclosure. The gorilla enclosure stuck in my memory as a positive example of what can be done with such old enclosures.
I've probably forgotten the rest of the house because it wasn't worth remembering. Since the house is not one of the zoo's many highlights, I haven't visited it in years.
@Cyathea you are just about the first person I've seen who left this house with a positive impression, even just of the gorilla enclosure! That of course does not mean your impression is wrong though, and I find your arguments in favour of the enclosure very interesting.
@Cichlid like I say, I think it's subpar and would definitely label it as 'problemamtic,' but I do think the gorilla enclosure at least has redeeming qualities like the really impressive amount of substrate for foraging. There is a lot of suggestion that providing foraging opportunities is the best way to encourage activity and happiness among gorillas. I'm sure there are some Asian zoos with better enclosures, but a lot of the photographs I've seen of the primate exhibit standard over there suggests that things as a whole are a lot worse than in Zürich. I actually have seen one worse enclosure myself, that being Chessington in England which was unforgivable.
