I think that he is being a bit harsh, but ex-zoo director David Hancocks (Woodland Park, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Werribee) had this to say about Gorilla Kingdom in the May/June 2012 issue of International Zoo News:
"...London Zoo's gorillas did not move into anything remotely resembling a rainforest. Instead they took up residence in what looks like a suburban recreation playground with big dead sticks and a concrete thing that vaguely resembles a giant tree stump designed by a kindergartner."
"...London Zoo's gorillas did not move into anything remotely resembling a rainforest. Instead they took up residence in what looks like a suburban recreation playground with big dead sticks and a concrete thing that vaguely resembles a giant tree stump designed by a kindergartner."
As you'll no doubt be aware there's a tendency for most Zoos nowadays to label new exhibits after the animals' natural habitats, however far removed they really are. For an even more extreme example have a look at photos of Colchester Zoo's 'Orangutan Forest' (or Mangabeys too).
I think there is an improvement here, it was just vertical dead tree trunks to start with, now they've been embellished with platforms and more ropes etc so there's more incentive for the apes to climb now. I always think planting bamboo etc actually in the enclosure helps give a 'lusher' feel too and without it this is still rather bare-looking.
The dreadful concrete tree was designed to somehow allow Colobus monkeys to access the enclosure too. It never happened but I don't think it has ever been removed( viz, its just showing on the far right of this photo?) They should move it really.
