Do Gorillas and other Animals need visual separation and shade?

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Ape enclosures are usually see-through. But rainforest is so thick that it is impossible to see for more than few meters.

Forest animals usually cannot see the sky or other group members. Friends reported 'visiting' mountain gorillas in Uganda that were feeding 2-3 meters away, but they saw only few bits of fur and lots of noises.

In zoos, many animals unusually often tease or punish other members of the group.

Zoo world understands that 1-2 hiding places are good, but there should be more. And animals should hide not just from visitors, but mostly from each other. Some zoos casually solved this by giving gorillas several exhibits, so they spread out of each others view.

I wonder if gorillas, other apes and forest animals could be made happier by much more visual barriers. Far, far more than now. So that animal in no point of exhibit can see more than a small bit of it. Naturally, apes destroy plants, so there could be rows of branches or poles, vertical sheets of plastic or metal painted into leaf pattern, or outside, patches of bamboo or thick bush protected by a wire etc. Naturally, one should arrange them perpendicular to viewing areas, so visitors can see animals!

Anybody thinks the same?
 
Why do you think gorilla exhibits have to be "see through." The best ones I've seen are lush and very rainforest like. The one I am most familiar with has so many hiding spots that the troupe can be hard to find at times.
 
The majority of gorilla exhibits are open, grassy meadow-type enclosures or indoor only exhibits, or islands with not much planting. So many exhibits could be considered see-through. That doesn't mean all of them are, however. There are also many excellent gorilla habitats which do allow them to hide from visitors and each other.
I do think many animals could have many more hiding places, especially primates. In dense tropical forests, primates usually do not see each other and communicate by sound. Now, besides the obvious examples (ruffed lemurs, howlers, titi monkeys, gibbons, small new world monkeys) how often do you hear calls from forest primates in zoos? For example, colobus monkeys, in the wild, call frequently to mark territories and keep in contact with other monkeys, but I have heard them vocalize a total of twice, both at the same zoo. I don't know about other animals but if a species of primate is vocal in the wild but not in a zoo then something isn't right with its exhibit, probably a lack of hiding opportunities, not just for visitors but from other group members as well. If all the primates in the group keep in contact just by site alone then that is not a complete recreation of their wild habitat.
 
This has been talked about a lot. My time spent on this forum has led me to believe that gorillas prefer to have a roof over their head - hence generally spending most their time indoors if they can. I wonder if there any proper studies on this.

I've said this before- but I've always wondered if it'd work. Could they not make 'canopies' out of layered nets covered in climbing plants? Some climbing plants are really fast growing and I think could withstand huge amounts of punishment providing they were allowed to establish in the first place. I don't really mean Japanese Knotweed, but something similarly fast growing!

This will soon turn into an argument about Howlett's gorilla pens, I think.
 
^Chris^ said:
I don't really mean Japanese Knotweed, but something similarly fast growing!
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Actually Japanese Knotweed is one of the most natural looking plants I think you could have in a Gorilla display- its at least equal to Bamboo. Its tough, quick growing and tropical looking. It used (maybe it still does) to grow densely on Longleat's Gorilla Island which looked extremely natural to me as a result. It may grow on Paignton's too, which has areas of very dense(natural) plant growth where the Gorillas can look obscured by the vegetation almost as they do in the wild. A combination of Knotweed interspersed with Bamboo would be really effective! Trouble is a lot of zoos would probably shy away from planting it deliberately, just because of its name/reputation.

I think its almost indisputable that Gorillas prefer overhead cover, at least for most of the time. Shunning the open outside and staying indoors for long periods(when they can) is an almost universal habit for zoo Gorillas everywhere.

I like the idea of netting(or canvas) canopies to counteract this habit. I feel sure it would result in at least some increased usage of outdoor habitats. The thicker the planting the better too- to give those sightbarriers mentioned above. With sufficient heavy/dense planting the Gorillas' rate of destruction falls away and eventually the vegetation will win, as can be seen in some of the very best Gorilla exhibits.
 
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Pertinax said:
Actually Japanese Knotweed is one of the most natural looking plants I think you could have in a Gorilla display- its at least equal to Bamboo. Its tough, quick growing and tropical looking. It used (maybe it still does) to grow densely on Longleat's Gorilla Island which looked extremely natural to me as a result. It may grow on Paignton's too, which has areas of very dense(natural) plant growth where the Gorillas can look obscured by the vegetation almost as they do in the wild. A combination of Knotweed interspersed with Bamboo would be really effective! Trouble is a lot of zoos would probably shy away from planting it deliberately, just because of its name/reputation.
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It is not certain that the plant isn't toxic. Much of its family is.
 
Zooplantman said:
It is not certain that the plant isn't toxic. Much of its family is.
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According to Wikipedia :), it can be eaten as a vegetable.

I also hope that fast growing trees like poplar, willow and birch are planted more often. They can form a canopy in a few years.
 
Zooplantman said:
It is not certain that the plant isn't toxic. Much of its family is.
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Longleat's Gorillas haven't suffered from living with it. I don't know if they ever eat it though. But if its not palatable to them then its even better as a cover for them.
 
Jurek7 said:
According to Wikipedia :), it can be eaten as a vegetable.

I also hope that fast growing trees like poplar, willow and birch are planted more often. They can form a canopy in a few years.
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I would never landscape an animal exhibit based on information from Wikipedia! :eek:

In any case, parts of the plant are edible. Parts are used herbally and that is where my concern comes from
 
Sorry zooplantman! I used smiley - I know better than trust wikipedia. Anyway, nobody knows properties of each plant by heart.
 
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