Orangutans in Major American Zoos

snowleopard

snowleopard

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The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 47 out of the 80 zoos that currently display orangutans.

The lists that I've done so far:

71 out of the 80 zoos have giraffes
61 out of the 80 zoos have rhinos
54 out of the 80 zoos have elephants
48 out of the 80 zoos have penguins (plus 16 out of 20 aquariums)
47 out of the 80 zoos have orangutans
45 out of the 80 zoos have gorillas
35 out of the 80 zoos have pinnipeds (plus 12 out of 20 aquariums)
22 out of the 80 zoos have common hippos (plus 12 have pygmy hippos)

New orangutan exhibits that have been built in the past decade include only Indianapolis and Kansas City. Although, just before that there was Busch Gardens (2008), Cameron Park (2009), Oregon (2010), Phoenix (2011) and Virginia (2011). Many more zoos are overdue to build new, modern orangutan exhibits and I list a dozen offenders below.

The 47 zoos that have orangutans:

ABQ BioPark
Atlanta
Audubon
Birmingham
Brookfield
Busch Gardens
Cameron Park
Cheyenne Mountain
Cincinnati
Cleveland
Columbus
Como Park
Denver
El Paso
Fort Wayne
Fort Worth
Fresno Chaffee
Gladys Porter
Henry Vilas
Honolulu
Houston
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Little Rock
Los Angeles
Louisville
Memphis
Miami
Milwaukee County
Oklahoma City
Omaha
Oregon
Philadelphia
Phoenix
Pittsburgh
Sacramento
Saint Louis
San Diego
San Francisco
Sedgwick County
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Tampa
Toledo
Topeka
Utah’s Hogle
Virginia
Woodland Park

There are far more fantastic gorilla exhibits than there are superior orangutan exhibits, which goes to show just how difficult it is for designers and architects to create a stimulating, natural-looking enclosure for the red apes. It was a bit tricky coming up with 10 half-decent orangutan exhibits.

My 10 favourite orangutan exhibits in American zoos (alphabetical ranking):

Atlanta
Cincinnati
Denver
El Paso
Omaha
Saint Louis
San Diego
Sedgwick County
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
Woodland Park

There are a lot of very poor orangutan exhibits in American zoos and I easily came up with a dozen examples of what I consider substandard, boring enclosures. Also of note, is that American zoos do not like to mix orangutans with other species. On my 2019 road trip through Europe, I saw a half-dozen zoos with orangutan exhibits that also included Malayan tapirs, binturongs, northern white-cheeked gibbons, Hanuman langurs or small-clawed otters. Those mixed-species habitats were all terrific to see as it led to a much more active environment for both the animals and visitors.

The 12 worst orangutan exhibits in American zoos (alphabetical ranking):

ABQ BioPark
Birmingham – all indoors
Brookfield – all indoors
Cleveland – all indoors
Columbus
Como Park
Fort Wayne – all indoors
Fort Worth
Gladys Porter
Pittsburgh – all indoors
Milwaukee County
San Francisco
 
I wonder why American zoos are so much less inclined than European zoos to put great apes in mixed species exhibits, both in the case of orangutans and gorillas.
 
Thankfully Como, Fort Worth, ABQ Biopark, and Birmingham all have plans for new orangutan exhibits in the coming years.
 
It is interesting, @ZooElephantsMan, to see so many orangutan and gorilla exhibits in European zoos with a wide variety of other species, and yet North American zoos avoid those mixed-species habitats. I've never found a decent reason for it, because it's wonderful to see tapirs with orangutans or mangabeys with gorillas and it appears that there are many benefits.

Yes, @nczoofan, there will hopefully be some new orangutan exhibits in the near future, but I do know that Birmingham was contemplating a new enclosure for orangs when I visited in 2010, naming rights were announced in 2015, and we are almost into 2022 with no construction having started. Eventually the zoo will get there, along with the others you mentioned. Thanks for the list, as I didn't know about Como.

Yes, @Neil chace, zoos with great apes entirely indoors are (in my opinion) creating a substandard environment. I think that Brookfield and Buffalo are the final two zoos with gorillas kept indoors 24/7 in the U.S., and Brookfield, Birmingham, Cleveland, Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh make it 5 zoos with orangutans indoors 24/7. I know that Brookfield has been talking about building outdoor enclosures for its great apes for decades, but instead the zoo recently unveiled an almost 5,000 pound gorilla statue instead!

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snowleopard said:
Yes, @Neil chace, zoos with great apes entirely indoors are (in my opinion) creating a substandard environment. I think that Brookfield and Buffalo are the final two zoos with gorillas kept indoors 24/7 in the U.S., and Brookfield, Birmingham, Cleveland, Fort Wayne and Pittsburgh make it 5 zoos with orangutans indoors 24/7. I know that Brookfield has been talking about building outdoor enclosures for its great apes for decades, but instead the zoo recently unveiled an almost 5,000 pound gorilla statue instead!
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I can understand why you believe this, but personally I'm okay with a high quality indoor-only exhibit as long as it includes proper enrichment opportunities and enough space. Cleveland's orangutan exhibit is the only one that I've seen in which I think is up to standard. As for gorillas, Franklin Park still keeps there's all indoors for a few more months :)
 
Coelacanth18 said:
The Racine Zoo also keeps orangutans exclusively indoors IIRC.
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Yes, that is true. I'm genuinely shocked that keeping orangutans indoors 24/7 is legal, but then again there are U.S. states where it has been relatively easy for people to keep chimps as pets!

Here is my photo (from 2014) of the all-indoor, disgracefully small orangutan exhibit at Racine Zoo in Wisconsin:

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savetherhino said:
what's your thoughts on Indianapolis' exhibit?
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My first thought, when it opened a few years ago, was that it was dreadful because I prefer naturalistic zoo habitats. Also, I know that visitors have experienced loads of problems with the ride breaking down and the glare on the indoor enclosure. However, I have not seen it in the flesh and if the zoo is able to get all of its orangutans off the ground then that alone would be a success.
 
Tampa could really use an update. While not bad, it certainly could be larger and more varied. I would love to see them move the lemurs to the old chimp habitat and combine that space with the current orangutan.
 
In my personal experience (based on a hundred US zoo visits as well as photos on ZooChat), there is not one single good orangutan exhibit in the entire United States.
 
Arizona Docent said:
In my personal experience (based on a hundred US zoo visits as well as photos on ZooChat), there is not one single good orangutan exhibit in the entire United States.
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Really? Saint Louis comes to mind:

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Indianapolis, too, though I understand some don't like the ascetic it's great for the animals.
 
I don't think the Indianapolis exhibit was there when I visited (whcih I think was in 2000). This looks better than most, but still not spectacular (a bit small and the dangling fire hoses are downright ugly).

Don't even get me started about the monstrosity that is Indianapolis...
 
Arizona Docent said:
I don't think the Indianapolis exhibit was there when I visited (whcih I think was in 2000). This looks better than most, but still not spectacular (a bit small and the dangling fire hoses are downright ugly
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Didn't see them, or any unnatural looking elements in the habitat on my last visit. This is by far the greatest orangutan exhibit I've ever seen.
 
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