If this were Planet Of The Apes...

[Slothie]

I've had an idea for a fun little game (well, fun for me).
Imagine we live on Planet Of The Apes, and humans were a bit "thicker" than they are now. Still physically, socially and mating wise the same but to a more "primitive" extent, and we were kept in the zoo for the other apes to watch, what would you say would be a good/ideal enclosure to put people in?
What would it look like, how big (realistically), how much climbing equipment if any, family set-ups? etc etc
Also, what do you think the visitor area would look like? If anything stands out, this being a topsy turvy world.

Indoors
I would imagine, rather than it being narrow and high like current ape houses, it would have a wider floor area and lower platforms, about 5-10 wide platforms. They would be connected by ladders, slopes and maybe a net, but nothing too arboreal or rounded to accomodate stiff bipedal feet. There would be woodwool and blankets for bedding, and if we never built beds, we would probably sleep in ground nests like gorillas do, but in artificial mini caves for sub groups and lovers to build their nests in. So while there would be high hammocks for day resting, there will be ample opportunity to build a ground nest in the little caves/kennels. There may be a dead climbing tree like realm of the red ape in Chester, but it would be much shorter and have more branches coming off it or a ladder to accomodate terristrial preferrence. It would most likely be used by children who are lighter on their feet.
Equipment for gathering behaviour would be set up, with frequent tools provided for enrichment. Assuming in this reality, we have a tool using ability of an orangutan (pretty nifty), we may be given long objects for the scraping of peanut putter out of rock-like mounds. Things like that. Feeding would be done both indoors and out, with meat provided outdoors. We would most likely be given whole large joints like carnivores in zoos get now. Whole legs of lamb or horse or something, and the family would share it out (with probably the willingness to share something more like a chimp, not quite bonobo levels I don't think.)
There would be high glass wall to the ceiling, and viewing platforms for the visitors to stand on, it would have multiple stories, maybe 2. As this is planet of the apes, much of their architecture I imagine would be quite elevated.

Outdoors:
Ideally, the size of the bonobo habitat in Vallee Des Singe, but realistically, knowing the limited space available in Britain. It would be like chester zoo or in a really good zoo, Monkey World. (Haha imagine that, Alison Cronin as a chimp presenting Monkey Life, Jeremy as an orangutan doing some routine stuff with Amy the human.) Like the inside, the outside would resemble sparsely wooded savannahs. With shrubs and bushes for gathering, food hidden in them, maybe some berry bushes or something too. There would be the odd climbing frame with podiums to promote excercise, but nothing too tricky. Climbing frames most likely used by children. The elevated platforms would be about 15 metres maximum, but many of them spread out, connected by rope bridges (with wooden boards because no hand-feet) and fireman poles/slides. It would be closed off by sloped walls, no moats as people can swim very well and we wouldn't want any apes with their faces ripped off now would we? There would be a swimming pool in the middle of the habitat, probably quite artificial looking with blue water and heated, but still sufficient for this water loving creature to bathe. Bathing and washing opportunities need to be provided, lack of fur means not much need for grooming (apart from scalp hair) so bathing is probably their preferred method of self care.

Social construct:
Groups of up to 20-25, with equal man to woman ratio to facilitate pair bonding. Most single, promiscuous peope would be on contraception, but monogamous pairs would be allowed to breed to avoid surplus. I think pair bonded families may want to live seperately but I'm not 100% sure about that, so for now I'm going to stick with chimplike large communities with monogamous couples living amongst them. Quarantine and introduction period for new comers would be 6-8 weeks, with introductions to each member of the group ranging from the kindest, to the lowest ranking and all the way up to the boss (who is most likely male, because these humans would probably not have the self-doubt to start becoming feminists.) Young adults will be transferred at around age 14, both genders similar because neither boys nor girls get on too well with their same sex parent as they reach adolescence. And I doubt this reality's humans are all that subtle about it. (Think missing fingers.)


Outdoor visitor's area
A bridge over looking the outdoor enclosure and also space by the ground on one side of the grass. The other sides provide some privacy. Bridge would be similar to the bonobo habitat in San Diego.
I imagine this enclosure would be part of a grasslands theme if this zoo had themes, and they may even share the enclosure with wild dogs because people and canines work together in the wild and live as a unit. But no medium sized herbivores should be kept in with humans as they will probably kill them and eat them. It has been recorded that a family of ducks once landed in the human pond and they never made it out alive.

So folks, let your imaginations run wild!! xD

 

[Chlidonias]

...Assuming in this reality, we have a tool using ability of an orangutan (pretty nifty),...

if humans only had intelligence at that level they wouldn't be able to survive in the British climate - they would all have frozen to death before even the first winter was over because they wouldn't have the capability of making effective clothing. Therefore they would be restricted to tropical climates in the wild, and if kept in zoos outside that region (say, in the British Isles) they would need to be kept inside for most of the year.

 

[Slothie]

You're right! True that, maybe the "outdoor" bit should be totally enclosed with underfloor heating. Like a green house.

 

[Chlidonias]

Groups of up to 20-25, with equal man to woman ratio to facilitate pair bonding. Most single, promiscuous peope would be on contraception, but monogamous pairs would be allowed to breed to avoid surplus. I think pair bonded families may want to live seperately but I'm not 100% sure about that, so for now I'm going to stick with chimplike large communities with monogamous couples living amongst them. Quarantine and introduction period for new comers would be 6-8 weeks, with introductions to each member of the group ranging from the kindest, to the lowest ranking and all the way up to the boss (who is most likely male, because these humans would probably not have the self-doubt to start becoming feminists.)

thinking about this, if the humans were of limited intelligence they would probably not be forming monogamous pair-bonds as a normal course of affairs. Based on morphology humans should be polygynous: male humans are typically much larger than females, considerably more muscular, much hairier (this makes them seem larger to rivals), and naturally more aggressive. These are all signs of polygynous species (i.e. one male with multiple mates); monogamous species tend to have sexes of similar build and appearance.

If you did find monogamous pairs establishing within the group (which you probably would, all things being considered), you probably wouldn't be able to leave that pair in with the group whether the other males were castrated or not because there would be endless battles over access to that female.

Introducing females to an established harem would be relatively easy - the newcomer would be picked on by the resident females, which could be eased by gradual introductions over time, but she would be easily accepted and more-or-less protected by the male. Introducing a strange male to an established group would almost certainly result in that male's death or crippling (or that of the alpha male if the new male was stronger) because the newcomer would rightly be seen as being a rival for the females.

There would be situations where you could create bachelor groups, and situations where you could leave male infants with the group right through adulthood (although this would probably also result in certain problems, it would be a lot easier than trying to group already-adult males together with females).

I doubt a primitive human situation would be analogous to introducing male chimps or bonobos to an established group of those species. You would have to look more at gorillas I should think.

 

[wensleydale]

I would actually build a hospitality village, do something radically different than what zoos right now have. The apes could visit a human house, sleep over in a hotel, attend human festivals, etc. Agriculture would be going on, as well as hunting. There would be about a hundred people in the village, and it would be a sort of neolithic place, except there would definitely be contraception (modern methods like the IUD and hormonal methods). I would try and keep the male to female ratio as even as possible. There would definitely be private bedrooms, and they would have to ask permission in order to enter a dwelling, that is to say the doors would have locks on them, and there would be scheduled off days, but otherwise it would be an immersive experience.

 

[LaughingDove]

How primitive do you mean. Stone age? Bronze age? Or way further back when humans were just evolving in east africa? If it were bronze age or stone age it would probably be something similar to the 'human zoos' that once existed. If it was at tne stage when humans had just evolved in east africa I would expect something like a very large baboon exhibit because the needs of very early man and baboons would be quite similar.

 

[Batto]

How primitive do you mean?

Ever watched the original Planet of the Apes movie of 1968 with Charlton Heston? That primitive.