Popular Zoo Mammals and Their Best Exhibits

[pachyderm pro]

Today marks the fifteenth species to be covered in the thread, and before I get into what it is (I expect two of these exhibits may spark some debate), I have some exciting news. I realized there were a few species I forgot about that I wanted to include, meaning instead of 70 mammals, there will be 75 mammals covered in this thread! Today's post, however, will be dedicated to one of the first species I originally listed for the thread, and is our first post dedicated to a great ape: the Orangutan! The only genus of great apes not native to Africa, instead being native to the islands of Southeast Asia, the genus Pongo contains somewhere between one and three species depending on what taxonomy you subscribe to (but that's a debate for another thread). Of these, most of the orangutans in US Zoos are either purebred Sumatran Orangutans or Bornean Orangutans, with some hybrids still around.

The criteria for this post are:

• Orangutans Off The Ground: It's way too common of a site to see zoo orangutans sitting on the ground, seldom climbing. This, unfortunately, is not ideal for the orangutans, and is the result of a failure in exhibit design. Good orangutan exhibits use enrichment or other means to encourage the apes off the ground, given that in the wild these apes would spend much of their time up in the trees.
• Space: Apes live over large swaths of land in the wild, and this should be replicated in zoos by giving adequate space to these large animals. There's no such thing as too much space, but there is such thing as too little.
• Exhibit Complexity: Apes are intelligent beings. As such, it's important to design an exhibit that contains a high variety of climbing opportunities and enrichment opportunities to keep the apes engaged and active.
• Social Structure: While less social than gorillas or chimpanzees, orangutans are still apes, and still live in fission-fusion societies. While they may not be as large or as interconnected as gorilla/chimpanzee societies, orangutans still benefit from larger social dynamics, as opposed to the pairs/trios seen commonly in zoos.

The five exhibits I have chosen for orangutans are:

• Let's start this off with the controversial one: Indianapolis Zoo's International Orangutan Complex. While this list so far has primarily included naturalistic exhibits, it's not always the case that naturalistic exhibits are the best exhibits- especially with the amount of exhibits that are aesthetically naturalistic, rather than functionally naturalistic. Indianapolis Zoo's IOC does not look naturalistic, but makes no attempt at it also. Instead, it considers the orangutan behavior- and designs an exhibit that successfully encourages orangutans to spend most of their lives off of the ground. This is not a perfect exhibit, and it would be wrong to pretend it is, but it is certainly an innovative one. One of its biggest flaws is the lack of shade on the O-Line components, since orangutans, residents of tropical rainforests, wouldn't exactly encounter full sun in the wild. As of 2021, there were ten orangutans in this exhibit, including one Bornean orangutan, three Sumatran orangutans, and six hybrid orangutans. One of the Sumatrans was actually born in Indianapolis in 2016:

Photo by: @Milwaukee Man

Photo by: @Milwaukee Man

Photo by: @Moebelle

• For a more naturalistic aesthetic, one can head further west and see the orangutan exhibit at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. While not as famous or historic as the zoo's gorilla exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo still has a very impressive home for their orangutans. Two Sumatran orangutans and two hybrid orangutans share this exhibit (both hybrids were born at the zoo in the 1980's), which includes sizeable indoor and outdoor components. Both the indoor and outdoor components contain a number of climbing opportunities, including on real trees, something the Indianapolis exhibit lacks:

Photo by: @animalman0341

Photo by: @snowleopard

Photo by: @snowleopard

Photo by: @snowleopard

• Saint Louis Zoo has impressive exhibits for all of their great apes, including a impressive, large orangutan exhibit. This exhibit strikes a nice balance between Indianapolis' and Woodland Park's, with a nice combination of naturalistic aesthetics and fake trees/vines to maximize climbing opportunities. All four of the orangutans in this exhibit are Sumatran orangutans, and two of them were actually born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Given the nice balance between naturalistic elements and elements to maximize climbing, a compelling case could be made that this is America's best orangutan exhibit:

Photo by: @pachyderm pro

Photo by: @GraysonDP

Photo by: @Coelacanth18

• Zoo Atlanta has a long history with primates, and orangutans are no exception. Ten orangutans (six Sumatran, four Bornean) share the orangutan exhibits at Zoo Atlanta, and this includes four who were born at the zoo. While this large exhibit could benefit from more climbing structures, the (primarily artificial) climbing structures present are impressive. Zoo Atlanta and Indianapolis Zoo, along with Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, are all tied for the most orangutans in any US zoo:

Photo by: @SusScrofa

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @snowleopard

• Indoor exhibits for great apes is a controversial subject on this site, however I have always been on the side that outdoor access isn't necessary for an exhibit to be excellent. While many of the best orangutan exhibits do contain outdoor components, I was extremely impressed by an all-indoor exhibit on my recent visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. On this visit, all but one of the zoo's five Bornean Orangutans spent most of the time off of the ground, and this exhibit makes excellent use of its limited space with the plethora of ropes available to them. This exhibit recently received a new geodesic dome, meaning the orangutans can still experience natural sunlight even if the exhibit doesn't contain an outdoor component. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will be adding an expansion to this orangutan exhibit in the next decade, which would give more space to the orangutans and turn an excellent orangutan exhibit into an even greater one:

Photo by: @TinoPup

Photo by: @TinoPup

Photo by: @CMZman

This is the first post where I must vehemently disagree with a selection, two at that. Indianapolis and especially Cleveland are definitely not among the five best orangutan enclosures in the US. Cleveland in particular is among one of the worst in my opinion. You've gone on record in the past saying that you don't mind all-indoor ape habitats, but in my opinion that's unacceptable. The AZA feels the same way and that's ignoring the fact that the exhibit is also tiny and kinda ugly. With that said, I do agree with the inclusion of the exhibit at Saint Louis which is beautiful and still the most fun I've ever had watching orangutans.

Orangutans rarely get exhibits that do them justice, but hopefully that will be changing soon. Omaha, Brookfield and Cheyenne Mountain all have new orangutans enclosures opening in the next few years that look promising. Of the existing ones I will say the omission of San Diego is surprising. It's a very dynamic habitat that's much more attractive than most, successful at getting the apes off the ground, and also features siamangs. Here are two photos that were just uploaded by @snowleopard yesterday.

 

[birdsandbats]

There's no such thing as too much space, but there is such thing as too little.

This is probably irrelevant in relation to orangutan exhibits (an animal that is far too often given tiny enclosures), but yes, there absolutely is such a thing as too much space if it makes it too difficult for visitors to view the animal. That point is different for each species, but every species has that point somewhere.

It's also worth noting that it is at least suspected that some of the Sumatran Orangutans around may have some Tapanuli genes.

I also do not get what is good about Cleveland's orangutan exhibit. It looks tiny and depressing. I'm not against all-indoor great ape exhibits (although I have to see one I would consider good in any way, I just think it's theoretically possible to create a good one), but that one looks terrible.

 

[Coelacanth18]

There's no such thing as too much space

From a welfare perspective that could be true; important to recognize that from a visitor or management perspective there is absolutely a thing as too much space examples: the space is so large the animals can't predictably be seen, the space is so large it's harder for staff to monitor and locate them, too much space is wasted because the animals don't utilize all of it, etc.

Given the nice balance between naturalistic elements and elements to maximize climbing, a compelling case could be made that this is America's best orangutan exhibit:

This is broadly where I fall with Saint Louis. It's tricky to make a perfect habitat for orangutans: they're too large and destructive for many live plants and need a lot of durable climbing infrastructure, but they also like using vegetation and their intelligence makes it hard to square them with sterile, industrial looking setups. Saint Louis is the best one I've seen that hits the middle ground between natural aesthetic and functional space really well.

@Neil chace was the inclusion of Cleveland meant to give an example of an indoor enclosure that works well for orangutans, or do you really feel that it is better than all of the other outdoor ones that exist here?

Of the existing ones I will say the omission of San Diego is surprising. It's a very dynamic habitat that's much more attractive than most, successful at getting the apes off the ground, and also features siamangs. Here are two photos that were just uploaded by @snowleopard yesterday.

Admittedly San Diego's is pretty good, but I'm not fully there with you on the attractiveness; I've always thought it could use more natural elements, it looks like a ropes course on a lawn. For a forest species more shade also seems ideal.

 

[15399]

This is probably irrelevant in relation to orangutan exhibits (an animal that is far too often given tiny enclosures), but yes, there absolutely is such a thing as too much space if it makes it too difficult for visitors to view the animal. That point is different for each species, but every species has that point somewhere.

This point about space was specifically in reference to orangutan exhibits. I agree that it's possible to make an exhibit too big for a lot of smaller species, but for some of the largest megafauna (great apes, elephants, etc.) I would argue the point at which an exhibit is too big is larger than what a zoo could feasibly build in the present day, although I suppose it's theoretically possible an orangutan or elephant exhibit could be too big.

@birdsandbats @pachyderm pro @Coelacanth18 I was fully expecting the Cleveland addition to be controversial. Genuinely, I think the issue is that there are not five orangutan exhibits that meet the caliber of exhibits I've found for many other species. There are some species I struggled to limit the exhibits to five (e.g. Giraffes), while this was one I struggled to find five orangutan exhibits for. There are three exhibits I felt were obvious inclusions for the top three orangutan exhibits in the country: Indianapolis, Woodland Park, and Saint Louis. Zoo Atlanta was the next best exhibit I could find, making it four exhibits that were easy inclusions for this post. The fifth spot? That choice was a lot more complicated. Cincinnati Zoo came up in the research, however they failed in terms of social structure. I also considered Smithsonian's National Zoo due to how innovative the O-Line is, but the exhibits aren't particularly impressive besides that one component. The final two it came down to were as follows:

• Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which I ended up choosing, I knew would be a controversial choice. However, it clearly is the most successful indoor great ape exhibit in the country. This exhibit succeeds in getting orangutans reliably off the ground, and the sheer number of ropes/fire hoses included makes great use of vertical space. The dome is also particularly impressive, in terms of the amount of natural light it brings into the exhibit and its size/architecture.
• Omaha's Henry-Doorly Zoo would've been the less controversial choice for this thread, with its Hubbard Orangutan Forest- an exhibit that is likely to be replaced in the next few years. This exhibit, along with Cleveland's, fail in terms of naturalism, but as Indianapolis shows that may not be a bad thing. Omaha, similar to Cleveland, makes great use of vertical space with its climbing structures, but the exhibit has a larger footprint and is located outdoors. Unfortunately, this exhibit lacks shade, and an exhibit in the bright open sun is not ideal for a tropical rainforest species. Despite having an outdoor exhibit, Omaha is located in an area it can't be used all the year. While that may not be the worst thing when paired with a high quality indoor area, the indoor area at Omaha is small and has significantly less climbing opportunities than Cleveland.

Overall, Omaha may have been the more objectively correct choice, however given that neither exhibit (nor any of the other options) were particularly impressive and both had some glaring flaws, I ended up deciding to feature Cleveland instead, which is the closest any US Zoo has come to a successful indoor orangutan exhibit. I wish there were better options than this, I truly do, however there simply aren't five great orangutan exhibits in US zoos.

Just as a side note: there will be a few other exhibits in the future that will also be included for reasons other than being the outright best exhibits, especially when there aren't obvious choices. For instance, there's one exhibit that I'm planning to include due to being so historically significant it changed the way zoos across the country are displaying a certain large animal.

 

[Persephone]

If we must have an indoor orang exhibit, I think Fort Wayne’s is better than Cleveland. The entire exhibit is a series of platforms, ropes, and artificial trees. Has it aged well? Eh. I’d be surprised if they didn’t add an outdoor portion in the next five years. But it’s at least better than Cleveland’s.

 

[snowleopard]

Congratulations @Neil chace on your bravery with your orangutan selections! This is a great thread so far, but unfortunately the great red ape choices are a little perplexing to many of us. We praise your nice work, but you also have to occasionally deal with some criticism. Saint Louis, Woodland Park and Atlanta are wonderful selections, Indianapolis I haven't seen but I understand your point with including it...but Cleveland? I would put Cleveland in the 5 worst orangutan exhibits I've ever seen because I truly struggle with that all-indoor enclosure. I find it to be very small, with an ugly fake tree, and I have never been a fan whatsoever.

I would have chosen Omaha as the replacement, although now that exhibit is closed and being revamped and modernized.

So, here's another option. It's essentially a big cage, but Fresno Chaffee Zoo renovated its orangutan exhibit and it just reopened in the past month. Many more ropes were added, as well as a huge fake tree with areas for obtaining food or allowing the apes to sit in front of the viewing window. There are 4 Siamangs as well, which creates a terrific dynamic. I don't know if it's top 5 material, but it's a million times better than the junky enclosure in Cleveland.

These photos are hot off the press as I was just at Fresno on Friday.

I know that when I was touring European zoos on my past two road trips, I was told that a way to get orangutans off the ground and up into the canopy part of their enclosure is to have mixed-species exhibits. I saw orangutans with Malayan Tapirs, Small-clawed Otters (which can be feisty little critters) and Binturongs (admittedly an arboreal species) and having tapirs and otters on the ground quite often forced the orangutans to a higher area. Alas, if only North American zoos would get on board with the creation of exciting mixed-species exhibits involving apes...

 

[AnActualFan]

I do wonder why Orangs have gotten the short end of the stick, especially compared to Europe. Here's hoping Omaha fixes that with their new exhibit, as it looks excellent.

 

[lintworm]

I do wonder why Orangs have gotten the short end of the stick, especially compared to Europe. Here's hoping Omaha fixes that with their new exhibit, as it looks excellent.

I am wondering the same, it seems none of the mentioned enclosures have multiple indoor and outdoor enclosures that allow for some sort of fission-fusion housing and climbing opportunities in multiple of the enclosures listed here are mweh.... None of the top-5 here would make the European top-5....

 

[15399]

I am wondering the same, it seems none of the mentioned enclosures have multiple indoor and outdoor enclosures that allow for some sort of fission-fusion housing and climbing opportunities in multiple of the enclosures listed here are mweh.... None of the top-5 here would make the European top-5....

I'm not overly familiar with European Orangutan exhibits, but I can definitely agree that this is a species none of the US zoos have really built a top-tier exhibit for. All of the ones chosen have some aspects of exhibit design they excel in and/or have great orangutan enrichment programs, but all of them also have areas they are lacking and could be significantly improved.

Zoo Atlanta does have multiple outdoor exhibits for their orangutans and Woodland Park has multiple as well (at least two outdoor and one indoor). However, I agree even these could benefit from more different spaces for their Orangutans and management in some sort of fission/fusion.

 

[15399]

Congratulations @Neil chace on your bravery with your orangutan selections! This is a great thread so far, but unfortunately the great red ape choices are a little perplexing to many of us. We praise your nice work, but you also have to occasionally deal with some criticism. Saint Louis, Woodland Park and Atlanta are wonderful selections, Indianapolis I haven't seen but I understand your point with including it...but Cleveland? I would put Cleveland in the 5 worst orangutan exhibits I've ever seen because I truly struggle with that all-indoor enclosure. I find it to be very small, with an ugly fake tree, and I have never been a fan whatsoever.

I would have chosen Omaha as the replacement, although now that exhibit is closed and being revamped and modernized.

So, here's another option. It's essentially a big cage, but Fresno Chaffee Zoo renovated its orangutan exhibit and it just reopened in the past month. Many more ropes were added, as well as a huge fake tree with areas for obtaining food or allowing the apes to sit in front of the viewing window. There are 4 Siamangs as well, which creates a terrific dynamic. I don't know if it's top 5 material, but it's a million times better than the junky enclosure in Cleveland.

These photos are hot off the press as I was just at Fresno on Friday.

I know that when I was touring European zoos on my past two road trips, I was told that a way to get orangutans off the ground and up into the canopy part of their enclosure is to have mixed-species exhibits. I saw orangutans with Malayan Tapirs, Small-clawed Otters (which can be feisty little critters) and Binturongs (admittedly an arboreal species) and having tapirs and otters on the ground quite often forced the orangutans to a higher area. Alas, if only North American zoos would get on board with the creation of exciting mixed-species exhibits involving apes...

The Fresno exhibit does seem like an interesting choice, and probably one more deserving than Cleveland. The mixed species element is certainly commendable. Is it a perfect exhibit? No, but unfortunately there aren't really any perfect Orangutan exhibits on this side of the pond.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Zoo Atlanta and Indianapolis Zoo, along with Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, are all tied for the most orangutans in any US zoo

I think Tampa dropped down in the list since they sent 4 of their Bornean to Naples Zoo. Honestly it is good to ship out some of the stock from Tampa, it isn't a large exhibit area and was over crowded. It's also worth noting that Tampa has a renovation of the orangutan habitat (as well as tiger) on the plans.

 

[SwampDonkey]

It's also worth noting that it is at least suspected that some of the Sumatran Orangutans around may have some Tapanuli genes.

Great point, according to this post it seems almost certain that they are around, probably not pure, but in high hybrid percentages.

 

[birdsandbats]

I think the most bizarre orangutan exhibit in the US is Brookfield's, because it's a horrendous exhibit that could easily be incredible with just a simple renovation. Currently, the orangutans are housed on this depressing concrete island above the Asian exhibit at Tropic World. They are mixed with gibbons, and the gibbons also have access to the much larger area below, where they are mixed with Asian Small-clawed Otters. I do not understand why Brookfield needs to keep the orangs separate. Orangutans have been mixed successfully with ASCOs many times and in fact it encourages the apes to show more interesting behaviors to the public.

With this one tiny, minor change (just a rope to get lower), Brookfield could have itself the undisputed best indoor orangutan exhibit, but instead they have decided to keep one of the worst in the nation.

 

[15399]

With the amount of attention this orangutan post has gotten, I think I won't include a new species today, and instead share a personal anecdote about why I'm okay with indoor great ape exhibits.

Growing up, I would see great apes at only two zoos (they aren't exactly common in New England). One of these was the chimpanzee exhibit at Southwicks Zoo, which while not bad, doesn't do a great job of highlighting the apes. On just about every visit to that zoo ever, the four chimps were huddled and sleeping in a part of the exhibit far from the viewing areas. As such, chimpanzees were never really a highlight at Southwicks Zoo, where the rhinos and capybaras are species I remember seeing much more fondly. To contrast with Southwicks, Franklin Park Zoo's indoor gorilla exhibit was *the* highlight of the entire zoo. The gorillas were usually active, the zoo had a great enrichment program for them, and the exhibit was large and inside an impressive building.

While @snowleopard views Woodland Park, a zoo he's been a long time visitor at, as a "gold standard" for great ape exhibits (deservedly so, might I add- those exhibits are high on my list of ones I want to see someday), growing up my "gold standard" for apes was Franklin Park Zoo. While since I've been to a few exhibits I'd argue are better than Franklin Park's, such as Disney and Bronx, and Franklin Park has since expanded to include an outdoor gorilla exhibit, I still standby that Franklin Park's exhibit, even without the outdoor section, is an excellent home for the gorillas- and is an exhibit that shapes my view of how Northern zoos can successfully exhibit apes (especially with the outdoor area, which does improve it by allowing the gorillas choice between two different spaces).

As far as orangutans are concerned, the first time I saw them was on a trip to Chicago when I was 8. Brookfield Zoo's exhibit, mentioned by @birdsandbats earlier as an example of one of the worst (which I can agree with), was my first time ever seeing orangutans and I was in awe of both the spectacle of Tropic World (e.g. the exhibit's height, size, and waterfalls), as well as seeing orangutans for the first time (there was also an infant at this point, which was like icing on the cake). Since then, I've seen orangutans at a few other zoos, but they remain a species I've rarely seen. Since I started my lifelist in 2020, only two zoos I've been to had orangutans. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which I mentioned as a good exhibit, was an impressive experience since all the orangutans were active and off of the ground. While the exhibit may not meet the standard of Saint Louis or Woodland Park, it still succeeded in creating an engaging, enriching display for both orangutans and visitors.

The other exhibit I've seen was Philadelphia Zoo's, which did have an outdoor area, but ultimately failed to provide as impressive a home for their apes. Not only did Philadelphia have less orangutans than Cleveland, all of them were sitting on the ground of the indoor component, making for a very depressing display. While the outdoor exhibit was there, it lacked much of anything for climbing opportunities, and stood out to me as one of the three worst exhibits in the entire zoo. Given my limited experience seeing orangutans, perhaps this is why I view Cleveland more highly than many others on the site, as it is by far the better of the exhibits I've seen in recent years and provides such an engaging opportunity.

To end this post off, I want to bring it back to gorillas, a species I've actually had the privilege to be involved in a research project on. I attend college in Buffalo, studying animal behavior, and am on the research team of one of my professors. During the school year, once a week I go to the Buffalo Zoo and partake in observational research, primarily (though not entirely) on the zoo's gorilla troop. While criticized by some as a horrible exhibit, and I agree it's not exactly a great exhibit, the gorillas remain a highlight of my week and, despite the exhibit's quality, still have the opportunity to behave as gorillas are expected to behave. Our ethograms for the Buffalo gorillas don't significantly differ from what would be expected at any other zoo with a similarly sized troop of gorillas. Granted, part of this is due to the zoo's enrichment program, feeding schedule, and other factors not related to the exhibit itself, but the exhibit clearly does provide the framework for the gorillas to live a high quality life. Truthfully, especially with Buffalo's weather in mind, if I was given the ability to change this exhibit, outdoor access would be low on my list of priorities. Instead, factors I consider more important include natural substrate and natural lighting, both things that Buffalo could improve upon.

Overall, I hope this admittedly long anecdote helps you all to understand my perspective on great ape exhibits. While I respect and understand the opinion of those who are against their exhibit, there remain some indoor ape exhibits I'd consider perfectly acceptable for their inhabitants, and theoretically speaking I don't see why an indoor exhibit couldn't be amongst the best out there. Hypothetically speaking, I ask those against indoor ape exhibits one question: If Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest was located under a geodesic dome, but with the same design of the current exhibit, would it remain one of the best gorilla exhibits in the nation, or does the mere presence of this dome make this hypothetical exhibit unacceptable/amongst the worst?

 

[TinoPup]

With the amount of attention this orangutan post has gotten, I think I won't include a new species today, and instead share a personal anecdote about why I'm okay with indoor great ape exhibits.

Growing up, I would see great apes at only two zoos (they aren't exactly common in New England). One of these was the chimpanzee exhibit at Southwicks Zoo, which while not bad, doesn't do a great job of highlighting the apes. On just about every visit to that zoo ever, the four chimps were huddled and sleeping in a part of the exhibit far from the viewing areas. As such, chimpanzees were never really a highlight at Southwicks Zoo, where the rhinos and capybaras are species I remember seeing much more fondly. To contrast with Southwicks, Franklin Park Zoo's indoor gorilla exhibit was *the* highlight of the entire zoo. The gorillas were usually active, the zoo had a great enrichment program for them, and the exhibit was large and inside an impressive building.

While @snowleopard views Woodland Park, a zoo he's been a long time visitor at, as a "gold standard" for great ape exhibits (deservedly so, might I add- those exhibits are high on my list of ones I want to see someday), growing up my "gold standard" for apes was Franklin Park Zoo. While since I've been to a few exhibits I'd argue are better than Franklin Park's, such as Disney and Bronx, and Franklin Park has since expanded to include an outdoor gorilla exhibit, I still standby that Franklin Park's exhibit, even without the outdoor section, is an excellent home for the gorillas- and is an exhibit that shapes my view of how Northern zoos can successfully exhibit apes (especially with the outdoor area, which does improve it by allowing the gorillas choice between two different spaces).

As far as orangutans are concerned, the first time I saw them was on a trip to Chicago when I was 8. Brookfield Zoo's exhibit, mentioned by @birdsandbats earlier as an example of one of the worst (which I can agree with), was my first time ever seeing orangutans and I was in awe of both the spectacle of Tropic World (e.g. the exhibit's height, size, and waterfalls), as well as seeing orangutans for the first time (there was also an infant at this point, which was like icing on the cake). Since then, I've seen orangutans at a few other zoos, but they remain a species I've rarely seen. Since I started my lifelist in 2020, only two zoos I've been to had orangutans. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, which I mentioned as a good exhibit, was an impressive experience since all the orangutans were active and off of the ground. While the exhibit may not meet the standard of Saint Louis or Woodland Park, it still succeeded in creating an engaging, enriching display for both orangutans and visitors.

The other exhibit I've seen was Philadelphia Zoo's, which did have an outdoor area, but ultimately failed to provide as impressive a home for their apes. Not only did Philadelphia have less orangutans than Cleveland, all of them were sitting on the ground of the indoor component, making for a very depressing display. While the outdoor exhibit was there, it lacked much of anything for climbing opportunities, and stood out to me as one of the three worst exhibits in the entire zoo. Given my limited experience seeing orangutans, perhaps this is why I view Cleveland more highly than many others on the site, as it is by far the better of the exhibits I've seen in recent years and provides such an engaging opportunity.

To end this post off, I want to bring it back to gorillas, a species I've actually had the privilege to be involved in a research project on. I attend college in Buffalo, studying animal behavior, and am on the research team of one of my professors. During the school year, once a week I go to the Buffalo Zoo and partake in observational research, primarily (though not entirely) on the zoo's gorilla troop. While criticized by some as a horrible exhibit, and I agree it's not exactly a great exhibit, the gorillas remain a highlight of my week and, despite the exhibit's quality, still have the opportunity to behave as gorillas are expected to behave. Our ethograms for the Buffalo gorillas don't significantly differ from what would be expected at any other zoo with a similarly sized troop of gorillas. Granted, part of this is due to the zoo's enrichment program, feeding schedule, and other factors not related to the exhibit itself, but the exhibit clearly does provide the framework for the gorillas to live a high quality life. Truthfully, especially with Buffalo's weather in mind, if I was given the ability to change this exhibit, outdoor access would be low on my list of priorities. Instead, factors I consider more important include natural substrate and natural lighting, both things that Buffalo could improve upon.

Overall, I hope this admittedly long anecdote helps you all to understand my perspective on great ape exhibits. While I respect and understand the opinion of those who are against their exhibit, there remain some indoor ape exhibits I'd consider perfectly acceptable for their inhabitants, and theoretically speaking I don't see why an indoor exhibit couldn't be amongst the best out there. Hypothetically speaking, I ask those against indoor ape exhibits one question: If Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest was located under a geodesic dome, but with the same design of the current exhibit, would it remain one of the best gorilla exhibits in the nation, or does the mere presence of this dome make this hypothetical exhibit unacceptable/amongst the worst?

I like Philly's a lot. The outdoor portion may not have a ton of platforms everywhere, but it's one of the few that has live trees they can climb. The couple of animals they have just tend to like being on the ground (and under blankets). When they had an infant, the female was climbing more to keep up with it. They can also rotate between several areas.

 

[15399]

I like Philly's a lot. The outdoor portion may not have a ton of platforms everywhere, but it's one of the few that has live trees they can climb. The couple of animals they have just tend to like being on the ground (and under blankets). When they had an infant, the female was climbing more to keep up with it. They can also rotate between several areas.

That's a fair analysis. It goes to show how subjective zoo exhibits can be that even with the same general criteria in mind, someone can hate an exhibit than someone else loves.

 

[TinoPup]

That's a fair analysis. It goes to show how subjective zoo exhibits can be that even with the same general criteria in mind, someone can hate an exhibit than someone else loves.

The individual animals involved can also make a big difference in how something is perceived!

 

[AnActualFan]

The individual animals involved can also make a big difference in how something is perceived!

Not only that but also when you view the exhibit, for one person could get unlucky and the Orangs are on the ground not doing anything, while others might get significantly lucky and see a lot more movement in the area. There is also a time side to this subjectivity that I feel might be understated when talking about the best exhibits.

 

[Pleistocene891]

Today marks the fifteenth species to be covered in the thread, and before I get into what it is (I expect two of these exhibits may spark some debate), I have some exciting news. I realized there were a few species I forgot about that I wanted to include, meaning instead of 70 mammals, there will be 75 mammals covered in this thread! Today's post, however, will be dedicated to one of the first species I originally listed for the thread, and is our first post dedicated to a great ape: the Orangutan! The only genus of great apes not native to Africa, instead being native to the islands of Southeast Asia, the genus Pongo contains somewhere between one and three species depending on what taxonomy you subscribe to (but that's a debate for another thread). Of these, most of the orangutans in US Zoos are either purebred Sumatran Orangutans or Bornean Orangutans, with some hybrids still around.

The criteria for this post are:

• Orangutans Off The Ground: It's way too common of a site to see zoo orangutans sitting on the ground, seldom climbing. This, unfortunately, is not ideal for the orangutans, and is the result of a failure in exhibit design. Good orangutan exhibits use enrichment or other means to encourage the apes off the ground, given that in the wild these apes would spend much of their time up in the trees.
• Space: Apes live over large swaths of land in the wild, and this should be replicated in zoos by giving adequate space to these large animals. There's no such thing as too much space, but there is such thing as too little.
• Exhibit Complexity: Apes are intelligent beings. As such, it's important to design an exhibit that contains a high variety of climbing opportunities and enrichment opportunities to keep the apes engaged and active.
• Social Structure: While less social than gorillas or chimpanzees, orangutans are still apes, and still live in fission-fusion societies. While they may not be as large or as interconnected as gorilla/chimpanzee societies, orangutans still benefit from larger social dynamics, as opposed to the pairs/trios seen commonly in zoos.

The five exhibits I have chosen for orangutans are:

• Let's start this off with the controversial one: Indianapolis Zoo's International Orangutan Complex. While this list so far has primarily included naturalistic exhibits, it's not always the case that naturalistic exhibits are the best exhibits- especially with the amount of exhibits that are aesthetically naturalistic, rather than functionally naturalistic. Indianapolis Zoo's IOC does not look naturalistic, but makes no attempt at it also. Instead, it considers the orangutan behavior- and designs an exhibit that successfully encourages orangutans to spend most of their lives off of the ground. This is not a perfect exhibit, and it would be wrong to pretend it is, but it is certainly an innovative one. One of its biggest flaws is the lack of shade on the O-Line components, since orangutans, residents of tropical rainforests, wouldn't exactly encounter full sun in the wild. As of 2021, there were ten orangutans in this exhibit, including one Bornean orangutan, three Sumatran orangutans, and six hybrid orangutans. One of the Sumatrans was actually born in Indianapolis in 2016:

Photo by: @Milwaukee Man

Photo by: @Milwaukee Man

Photo by: @Moebelle

• For a more naturalistic aesthetic, one can head further west and see the orangutan exhibit at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo. While not as famous or historic as the zoo's gorilla exhibit, Woodland Park Zoo still has a very impressive home for their orangutans. Two Sumatran orangutans and two hybrid orangutans share this exhibit (both hybrids were born at the zoo in the 1980's), which includes sizeable indoor and outdoor components. Both the indoor and outdoor components contain a number of climbing opportunities, including on real trees, something the Indianapolis exhibit lacks:

Photo by: @animalman0341

Photo by: @snowleopard

Photo by: @snowleopard

Photo by: @snowleopard

• Saint Louis Zoo has impressive exhibits for all of their great apes, including a impressive, large orangutan exhibit. This exhibit strikes a nice balance between Indianapolis' and Woodland Park's, with a nice combination of naturalistic aesthetics and fake trees/vines to maximize climbing opportunities. All four of the orangutans in this exhibit are Sumatran orangutans, and two of them were actually born at the Saint Louis Zoo. Given the nice balance between naturalistic elements and elements to maximize climbing, a compelling case could be made that this is America's best orangutan exhibit:

Photo by: @pachyderm pro

Photo by: @GraysonDP

Photo by: @Coelacanth18

• Zoo Atlanta has a long history with primates, and orangutans are no exception. Ten orangutans (six Sumatran, four Bornean) share the orangutan exhibits at Zoo Atlanta, and this includes four who were born at the zoo. While this large exhibit could benefit from more climbing structures, the (primarily artificial) climbing structures present are impressive. Zoo Atlanta and Indianapolis Zoo, along with Tampa's Lowry Park Zoo, are all tied for the most orangutans in any US zoo:

Photo by: @SusScrofa

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @snowleopard

• Indoor exhibits for great apes is a controversial subject on this site, however I have always been on the side that outdoor access isn't necessary for an exhibit to be excellent. While many of the best orangutan exhibits do contain outdoor components, I was extremely impressed by an all-indoor exhibit on my recent visit to Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. On this visit, all but one of the zoo's five Bornean Orangutans spent most of the time off of the ground, and this exhibit makes excellent use of its limited space with the plethora of ropes available to them. This exhibit recently received a new geodesic dome, meaning the orangutans can still experience natural sunlight even if the exhibit doesn't contain an outdoor component. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo will be adding an expansion to this orangutan exhibit in the next decade, which would give more space to the orangutans and turn an excellent orangutan exhibit into an even greater one:

Photo by: @TinoPup

Photo by: @TinoPup

Photo by: @CMZman

Cleveland's exhibit looks really small with very few climbing opportunities. This is only judging based on pictures though.

 

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For the first (and likely the only) time in this thread, a post will be dedicated to the best exhibits of a domesticated species (well, technically two species). The species in question are the Camels! These large, impressive ungulates are both domesticated species, although at least the Bactrian camels can have strong educational tie-ins to the critically endangered wild Bactrian Camel, which does not have an ex-situ population and is native to Mongolia. While many facilities do offer camel rides (understandably given the camel's history of domestication for this purpose), camel rides are not being considered in this post, which is dedicated specifically to their exhibits. Furthermore, species was not considered when designing this post, even though all of the exhibits happen to feature the Bactrian camel, which is anecdotally more common in zoos.

The criteria used in this post are:

• Size: Camels are large animals. While many zoos have them in relatively small paddocks, ideally they should be granted a large, spacious paddock- similar to what a zoo would give to other large ungulates.
• Social Group: Camels are herd animals, and ideally zoos would replicate this social structure by keeping more than a single camel. While some zoos listed do only have one pair of camels, some of the better ones have much larger herds- which is even better!
• Control Over Surroundings: While many habitat furnishings may not be "naturalistic" for a species that would be found in desert areas, camels still deserve choice and control over their surroundings. This means an ideal exhibit will allow the camels access to more shaded areas, areas with natural substrates, and other means of choosing their direct environment.

My choices for top camel exhibits are:

• A herd of five Bactrian camels has access to a very large exhibit on Minnesota Zoo's Northern Trail. Large grassy areas are complimented by a large pond, which provides a nice aesthetic even if not reminiscent of the Mongolian steppe:

Photo By: @Dhole dude

Photo By: @Moebelle

Photo by: @Baldur

• A good ungulate paddock doesn't need to be a particularly complex exhibit, and the exhibit at Kansas' Lee Richardson Zoo is a good example of this. Home to a pair of Bactrian camels, this is a spacious yard with nice grassy areas, as well as some sandier sections and a few trees for shade:

Photo by: @snowleopard

Photo by: @Wurm

• Five Bactrian camels share a large habitat at the Detroit Zoo, that until recently was mixed with a White-lipped Deer x Bactrian Deer hybrid. While the front boundary of the exhibit isn't the most appealing look and the exhibit is longer and narrower than some of the others on the list, it still allows the camels a spacious home with a nice amount of shade from the trees in the exhibit:

Photo by: @pachyderm pro

Photo by: @Bisonblake

Photo by: @Bisonblake

Photo by: @Miss Gulch

• Unfortunately, few photos exist on Zoo Chat of zoos in more difficult-to-reach locations (understandably so). One such place is Minot, North Dakota- home to the Roosevelt Park Zoo. Every photo in the gallery is from a single Zoochatter's visit in 2014, and only one shows their bactrian camel exhibit, home to three individuals. However, this appears to be a rather large, albeit simple, paddock, with a water feature in the front and some large trees to provide shade:

Photo by: @snowleopard

• While surprisingly only home to two Bactrian camels, The Wilds, now the first zoo to be featured four times in the list, includes Bactrian camels in its impressive 350 acre first pasture. Camel mixed-species exhibits are on the rarer side, but The Wilds makes it work due to how large the space is. Also in the same habitat is Indian Rhinos, Pere David's Deer, Persian Onager, Przewalski's Horse, Javan Banteng, Grevy's Zebra, and a species that gave this exhibit a mention on this list already, the Sichuan Takin:

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @Moebelle

Photo by: @Moebelle