This is yet another orangutan exhibit that is all indoors, and it now competes with Erie, Pittsburgh, Brookfield, Cleveland and Fort Wayne as possibly one of America's worst orang enclosures. Even outdoor exhibits such as the ones found at Kansas City, Phoenix and Columbus are either too small, ugly as hell or lacking climbing opportunities. San Diego has orangs with siamangs but there are some ZooChatters who dislike the look of the metal "laundry washing lines" that the apes swing from. Then there are orangutan exhibits that are far too open (National Zoo, Philadelphia) where there are wide, neatly mowed lawns but not too many climbing areas for such an arboreal mammal.
Where are all the great orangutan exhibits in the United States? Are there any? I've always maintained that there are countless average ones (Memphis, Audubon, Oklahoma City, Fort Worth, Cheyenne Mountain, Omaha (lots of height!), Gladys Porter, Denver, etc) that are okay but nothing to write home about. The best my be the award-winning exhibit at Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, while Zoo Atlanta has around a dozen orangutans in two different enclosures. Sedgwick County and Toledo also have above average orangutan exhibits that are packed with lots of brachiation opportunities, so that makes 4 American zoos that impress me with their orangutan habitats. Perhaps orangs are truly one of the most difficult animals to design an exhibit for...
Very badly designed furniture-wise. The 'fake' trees serve virtually no purpose, because they are far too thick for the Orangutans to grasp or swing from. They can only sit on them in some places. Yet they almost fill the exhibit. A proper network of thinner poles and ropes/plastic vines would give the animals far more freedom of movement.
I've visited 18 zoos and aquariums in Australia, and Adelaide has a decent but unspectacular orangutan exhibit. In fact, Melbourne's is the best that Australia has to offer in terms of orang enclosures.
The very best exhibits are those that really offer good specialist climbing/swinging facilities for the Orangutans. In Europe I would say(from photos) that Leipzig, Frankfurt and Apenheul are among the best in that respect(Chester is okay too).
Melbourne looks to have the best facility in Australia?
These pictures look very good indeed. Are there outdoor exhibits at ZOOM as well? Seeing a full-grown male 40 feet high in the trees at Leipzig is still my favorite zoo orang experience--even better than Woodland Park or Melbourne (which are both quite good).
