Walk-through primate enclosures

Walk-through primate enclosures
28-10-2008

Walk-through colobus enclosure - Munster

Who has seen this exhibit? Sounds great for the monkeys.

It's actually the first time l have heard of a walk through Colobus enclosure

Other walk through primate enclosures l have seen are

ZSL
Squirrel Monkey. Small space with high volume of traffic. The monkeys seem to love it.

Howlettes
Lemurs

Apenheul
Barbary Macaque. Would never imagined this working after seeing "The Omen"
Squirrel Monkey. Aparentely the problem with the squirrel monkeys biteing visitors is getting out of hand.
Lemurs. A great show is putt on watching the ring tailed lemurs run over a roof top down a path towards a keeeper feeding 3 species of lemurs.

Pictures would be great of the barriers used to contain the monkeys :]

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Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

28-10-2008

I think there are some pics of that exhibit on zoolex!

28-10-2008

i visited monkey forest yesterday where they exhibit 60+ barbary macaques in a woodland walkthrough

29-10-2008

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Barbary macaques are used for walk-through exhibits. Anyone who has visited the Rock of Gibraltar will know why!

There are quite a few UK zoos that have jumped on the lemur walkthrough bandwagon. Edinburgh have a walkthrough with Alaotran gentle lemurs, Whipsnade have ring-tailed lemurs "In With The Lemurs", Cotswold WP have "Madagascar" with various species and Woburn Safari Park have "Land of the Lemurs", again with mixed species.

I'm sure there are countless other examples in zoos worldwide - Prague Zoo and the Bronx Zoo come to mind.

Walkthroughs with free-ranging tamarins and marmosets are also pretty common. Twycross Zoo has common marmosets in its Tropical House. London Zoo's Clore Rainforest Lookout has several primate species in the biome: silvery marmosets, golden-headed lion tamarins, pygmy marmosets and titi monkeys. And Jersey's pied tamarins, silvery marmosets and black lion tamarins are free to roam the woodland areas of the zoo.

29-10-2008

In all of North America there is exactly one walk-through monkey exhibit, and that is the squirrel monkey experience at the Phoenix Zoo. However, several zoos (Omaha, Montreal Biodome, Brookfield, etc) have marmosets and tamarins ranging above the heads of visitors.

The lemur enclosures at the Bronx are perhaps technically walk-through habitats, but there are clearly defined visitor and animal boundaries and zoogoers don't walk on anything but an outside path that looks into the enclosure.

29-10-2008

There is actually another North American zoo with a walk-through monkey exhibit and that is the Guadalajara Zoo in Mexico. They have a rainforest building where squirrel monkeys come to contact directly with the visitors. I've seen pics of people feeding the monkeys from some type of cup. Maybe they could buy some kind of food outside the exhibit to feed the monkeys.

29-10-2008

I think Blackpool may have been the first lemur walkthrough, originally with ringtails, black and white ruffed and black lemurs (although the last two are now at Cotswold). Bristol have red ruffed and ringtails in their small walkthrough. Edinburgh did have black and white ruffed with their Alaotrans, but they now have blue-eyed blacks. I believe South Lakes have ruffed too.

Blackpool also have squirrel monkeys in their Amazonia walkthrough.

The only other primate walkthrough I remember is the one at Thoiry in France in the early 1970s, shortly after the collection opened. It held a large group of moor macaques - I don't think I've seen one since.

Alan

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29-10-2008

Madagascar exhibit at Bioparc (Valencia) put you inside of "lemurs island" you can walk through with six lemur species all around.

29-10-2008

It seems that there is only 1 walk through colobus?

I missed that Chris79 of course there are many free-ranging tamarins and marmosets exhibits.

Snowleopard, l thought l remmered that DC zoo had a area where golden lion tamarins were in a walk through area. I actually dont recall any forms of restraints? Just up from the seals.

It is interesting that US zoos have not embraced this wonder if it is to do with insurance?

__________________
Stuart R Webster
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
Margaret Mead

29-10-2008

Apenheul has also free-ranging wooly monkeys, but it is full of keepers who chase away monkeys and remind visitors.

I wonder if spider monkeys, langurs and gibbons could be kept free-range, if branches in their exhibit would be placed away and much above visitors, so that animals would find it unconvenient to come close to people?

29-10-2008

The woolly monkeys at Apenheul are no longer free ranging but separated from the public by a moat

29-10-2008

Hi i have been to munster and seen the walk through colobus enclosure, it is a very natural enclosure and all the colobus were busy sunbathing when i was there on a grass bank just feet away from me. the experience was amazing and this is oming from someone who works with them regularly getting the chance to observe them so close with no barriers is definately a plus! ive a photo or two in the gallery of them!

29-10-2008

@mstickmanp: I often forget about Mexican zoos when discussing North American zoos in general, and so thanks for the reminder about the Guadalajara Zoo.

@zooman: The National Zoo, Zoo Atlanta and even I believe San Diego have at one time or another (among other U.S. zoos as well) have had free-ranging golden lion tamarins that are free to roam wooded areas with zero restraints. There was a thread on that subject a while ago and the consensus was that none of those zoos allow that now, and if and when they did it was only for a brief spell during the summer months.

When I was at the Phoenix Zoo this summer a keeper and I chatted for a good 10 minutes while my wife and I were inside the awesome squirrel monkey enclosure, and apparently there are at least 2 major concerns regarding walk-through exhibits. One is that the Phoenix Zoo tries to always have 2 employees at one time inside the habitat, and even though it is only open for a few hours per day that is costly for a zoo that has never received public funding. Secondly there is always the possibility that harm might be done to the animals, as when I was there the squirrel monkeys were brave and would come with a couple of feet of where I was standing. I think that they were curious! In Canada there have been at least 3-4 zoos that have had monkeys stolen in the last few years, and in the U.S. everyone sues each other all the time and so a third reason against walk-through exhibits is that a captive animal could bite one of the animals visiting the zoo!

29-10-2008

doesnt a major zoo in america have a walk-through ghosts of the forest exhibit for lemures?

29-10-2008

can any other macaque species be kept in a walk throuigh enclosure other than barbary (and as i just found out moor) macaques?