Full Length of Chimpanzee Habitat

Is the floor concrete or is it just compact earth?

Is that ugly blob supposed to be some kind of fake termite mound? The enclosure appears to be an old aviary.

The floor looks like compacted earth to me. It doesn't look like a bad cage though, how many does it hold?

Blackduiker

The floor is not concrete but compacted earth, and that is supposedly a termite mound in the foreground. I counted 4 Chimps and actually I've seen a lot worse, there are plenty of structures for climbing and they were taking a lot of advantage of that.

from what I can see it doesn't look very large though it does seem to have a good theme about it. I'm not sure how to descirbe it though,

It seens like a very nice enclosure.

Not the natural type - everything hidden, natural baries and open roofed but still, quite naturlistic and very good for the animals.

Nice option for zoos that dont really want to go/dont have the money to do immersion

Blackduiker

CindelP said:

It seens like a very nice enclosure.

Not the natural type - everything hidden, natural baries and open roofed but still, quite naturlistic and very good for the animals.

Nice option for zoos that dont really want to go/dont have the money to do immersion

Click to expand...

It actually looked cozy for them and not cramped at all. The small troop seemed to be quite content.

I think it looks very nice (and i'm glad to hear the foor is not concrete)

Blackduiker said:

The floor is not concrete but compacted earth, and that is supposedly a termite mound in the foreground. I counted 4 Chimps and actually I've seen a lot worse, there are plenty of structures for climbing and they were taking a lot of advantage of that.

Click to expand...

My last check of ISIS gives the total number of Chimpanzees at Sacramento as 3.3.

This exhibit used to be two small grottoes that held gorillas and orangutans. A new orang exhibit was built in 1984 and the remaining gorilla (the female died) was sent to the LA Zoo.

In 1986 the wall was knocked out of the grottoes and the dome was built over the exhibit to retrofit it for chimps. The chimps had been in a 1940s era cage that was the most awful exhibit imaginable. It was a small box with no room for climbing. Seeing them move into an exhibit with real dirt and grass and where they could climb was a very moving experience.

The master plan for apes is to build a new orang exhibit in another part of the zoo and expand the chimp area to encompass the current orang space. The current orang exhibit is far better than the original but is not a modern orang exhibit with adequate climbing opportunities.