Why are orangutans always on the ground in zoos? They brachiate for something like 85% of their lives in the wild, and in every damn zoo I visit they are frequently resting on the ground. In this enclosure the ground is cement, with large, fake, rainbow-coloured mounds popping out of the concrete. The one good thing about the indoor area is that it is quite large.
orangutans if not taught to climb and some have to be more persuaded to will live on the ground. Predators and poisonous snakes get them off the ground. Take away those predators and it is more energy efficient to be on the ground then to burn calories climbing.
One of the great pleasures of Chester's RotRA is seeing orangs so high on the climbing poles.
(Oddly enough I can't locate a single photo on Zoochat that illustrates it!!!)
Well nobody can say they don't have the opportunity to climb - it may not be a forest but it's a cheaper way of replicating the effect [obviously not aesthetically, but it's still good climbing opps].
Unconventional and a bit strange as it seems that maybe they've escaped a while back and made a home for themselves in the zoos entrance building or gift shop, but I like it in terms of providing space and decent climbing
One of the great pleasures of Chester's RotRA is seeing orangs so high on the climbing poles.
(Oddly enough I can't locate a single photo on Zoochat that illustrates it!!!)
There are only poles in the open-air enclosures in RotRA, used by the Sumatran orangs. Here is Javan Rhino's photo of Puluh on one of them.
The netted enclosures for Borneans and the indoor areas for the Sumatrans have a central fake tree and many webbing straps, with a fairly narrow earth covered ledge at the back. The orangs use all the height in these enclosures and they are sometimes scatter fed on the wire roofing them.
These are my photos, but there are others of course.
