Orang-utan jungle - Main indoor enclosure

Orang-utan jungle was the new exhibit for 2007. This exhibit is inhabited by a breeding group of sumatran orangutans which share their home with small-clawed otters. It is composed of :
- a big house which contains two indoor enclosures,
- a huge outdoor enclosure.
All the enclosures offer a lot of climbing opportunities and enrichments.
Next to this exhibit there is a siamang exhibit.
The best orangutan exhibit I seen in Europe, together with Apenheul and Chester.

First of all, thank you for your detailed comments on your photos! You certainly are a huge fan of this orangutan exhibit, and are the small ropes going into the water for the apes if they happen to fall in? The orangs would then be able to haul themselves out and avoid drowning, but with the numerous deaths over the years of great apes in zoo moats I'm a little surprised that there is even water there at all. Also, is that a layer of dirt as the natural substrate in this indoor enclosure?

snowleopard said:

You certainly are a huge fan of this orangutan exhibit

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I am not a fan but there are not a lot of good orangutan exhibits in european zoos so it was important to say that this one was one of them.
But, of course, it's not a nice exhibit for me.

snowleopard said:

and are the small ropes going into the water for the apes if they happen to fall in? I'm a little surprised that there is even water there at all.

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I think there are two reasons for this choice :
- it's more natural than another fences,
- it's a good fence for orangutan, better than all the others.

You must know there is a water moat in the outdoor enclosure too.

snowleopard said:

Also, is that a layer of dirt as the natural substrate in this indoor enclosure?

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I don't konw exactly but I suppose this is just some earth.

Antoine said:

I am not a fan but there are not a lot of good orangutan exhibits in european zoos so it was important to say that this one was one of them.
But, of course, it's not a nice exhibit for me.

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Antonie - why are you not a fan of this exhibit? I would say it was amongst the very best in Europe, with lots of space, good viewing, and the added dimension of the otters being in with the orangs. Certainly, it's a much better place to see orangs than, say, Chester or Colchester, each of whose exhibits I would suspect cost rather more to build than this essentially very simple one.

As I said before sooty mangabey I think it's a good exhibit but it's not really nice and natural. I suppose Leipzig's orangutan indoor and outdoor exhibit is more beautiful than this one for example.

Chester enclosure (which I saw this summer) is better in my opinion because it offers more possibilities for the orangutans : it was a pleasure to see the red apes climbing high in their enclosures.

About the price : Amneville exhibit cost 5 millions euros when Chester exhibit cost 5 or 6 millions pounds : there is not a big difference and Chester exhibit is much important than Amneville's one !

Thank you for this Antoine... very interesting!

I think the viewing in Amneville is much better than at Chester, where, indoors, one is always feeling squashed in on narrow paths - and where the view of the back of the enclosure is very utilitarian. I also very much like the fact that the upstairs viewing at Amneville is open, so the feeling of connection between ape and human is all-the-greater. Seeing the orangs swing across the ceiling at Amneville is spectacular, too.

I appreicate that part of this - from my point of view! - may be that things always seem better when they are unfamiliar. Having visited Chester many times, its orang exhibit shows me its shortcomings rather than its excellences; having visited Amneville for the first time in a while this past week, I am struck only by how good it looked.

sooty mangabey said:

I appreicate that part of this - from my point of view! - may be that things always seem better when they are unfamiliar. Having visited Chester many times, its orang exhibit shows me its shortcomings rather than its excellences; having visited Amneville for the first time in a while this past week, I am struck only by how good it looked.

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Familiarity breeds contempt.