While it may look stark, I personally didn't have any problem with either tree kangaroo exhibit. Size wise they are on par with others that I have seen. To give you an idea of size look at the bottom left of the exhibit and you will see a full sized doorway. As for more climbing structures and a paint job, those are mostly aesthetics. In fact these were some of the most active tree kangaroos I have yet seen (i.e. actually moving). I get the impression that this used to be a koala exhibit. Would you say anything different if it were the equally active koala? As for being all indoors, I kept hearing in my hear those ZooChatters saying "where's their out door exhibit." Of course there I remind you that at least I am typing this from a comfortable, air conditioned, indoor apartment. It is where I prefer to be most of the time. I can't vouch for your own personal situation, but I would venture to guess most of you are indoor as well.
there is obviously a bit of an illusion with this photo which, in the absence of an actual inhabitant to give it scale, makes it look very small (I guess its to do with the apparent size of the horizontal beam in the foreground). A similar situation was with the RSCC puma cage (to-wit: here it looks very small http://www.zoochat.com/1030/puma-clouded-leopard-enclosure-72743/ but in this later photo http://www.zoochat.com/1030/clouded-leopard-puma-enclosure-rscc-august-169284/, in which the puma is in the shot, you can see the cage is a lot bigger than it appears otherwise). However, climbing structures for an arboreal animal such as a tree kangaroo are not of "mostly aesthetic" value and in my opinion this exhibit does not cater to the needs of the species at all. I would also point out that tree kangaroos are largely nocturnal (or at best crepuscular) so to say that this is a good enclosure because the animals are more active than elsewhere is a rather moot point. Its rather like saying that the enclosure for porcupines at Zoo A is better than that at Zoo B because at the first the porcupines were moving around during the day but at the latter they were at slumber.
You're right, this photo is quite misleading. It is really only showing the top half of the exhibit. The bottom half is below the hand rail which you can see in the bottom of the photo. There are more climbing structures in the lower part.
OK, I can see the door and, using that as a scale, I can see this enclosure is quite a bit larger than I first thought, and the occupoants have considerably more room than I first imagined.
