Outdoor Orang Exhibit at Madrid Zoo Aquarium, 26/05/11

The Bornean Orangs are mixed with Lar Gibbons.

These gibbons have a tiny little one now.Saw him / her just last Sunday & hopefully will see him / her growing up as I get to the zoo most weekends.The outdoor area is just about acceptable with the major fault being the very scarce climbing areas which is beyond my comprehension in an enclosure "designed" from scratch for orangs and gibbons.The interior area is of a mind-bogglingly poor design.One day I will get to the bottom of what happened there.The enclosure demolished to make way for this was a scary experience to walk past.A few very low strands of hotwire and a very insubstantial water-filled moat ( really a testimonial effort) separated a pack of huge spotted hyenas from the visitors.At times they would get quite excited , running at some speed and at times I was uncomfortable passing this enclosure alone on very quiet days.I am sure many were relieved when this enclosure disappeared - surely among the most risky and daring to be found in any European zoo.