I have seen the use of primate walk through exhibits in a few zoos. For instance Henry Doorly and Washington D.C. Zoos both have Golden Lion Tamarins have not separation between humans and people. I have also seen lemurs been used in this situation. Besides disease going from one primate to another (human) are there any downsides to having these exhibits. Also the Monkey Jungle attraction in Miami Florida lost their accreditation does anyone know why? If it was because of primates having contact with humans and the health risks shouldn't they get their accreditation back?
And Brookfield's Tropic World has free range tamarins. The possible downside that comes readily to mind is biting.
Lemur walk through exhibits are fairly common in England. Zoonosis and injury are the obvious problems, but I would also suggest that the close contact increases the stress on the animals. A major concern I would have would be small children and toddlers - trying to go and 'pet' the exhibits!
London zoo has squirrel monkeys in a walk through and in Japan there are monkey parks with native and foreign species roaming free, some are captive, some wild. Jerusalem has a lemur walk through area. Skansen in Stockholm has a lemur walk through which I hated as it isn't very spacious, rather than walking through an open park where there is room to get away you have to go through quite a tight space and I didn't like it. Personally I'm quite scared of primates and don't particularly like these exhibits. Although I thought the lemur walk thorough in Edinburgh was excellent, it was a misty damp morning and I was the only person there, it really felt like true immersion.
Well, lemurs can climb trees! One of biggest advantages of such exhibits is that lemurs have lots of space not limited by the cost of cages or moats.
We have a monkey forest in Staffordshire. It is just an area of fenced off woodland where 2 groups of macaques live and seemingly flourish. Visitors have to stay on a wide gravel path bordered by a low fence but the macaques come and go across the path as they like. Guides along the path are there to make sure the visitors and monkeys do not harrass one another.
There was a place not too far from where I lived that did let you pet the lemurs in the walk-through exhibit at their own will, but I believe these lemurs were raised by humans and they weren't in groups (2 ring-tailed lemurs and 1 of each ruffed lemur species), so they were used to people. I believe it has closed down now, though. I don't see biting as a concern with tamarins or marmosets, but I'd say it's much more risky with larger monkeys like macaques.
Phoenix originally wanted to also put black howler monkeys and white-faced sakis in Monkey Village with the Squirrel Monkeys. But the way I understand it is, the USDA said "no" to any monkeys larger than the squirrels.
Actually, as I remember it, the zoo thought about howlers but then decided on their own not to go with them. The sakis however were turned kaiboshed by the USDA.
Monkey Jungle Monkey Jungle isn't an accredited zoo it has Red Howlers in a walk through exhibit and Capuchins. I believe they are USDA liscensed so I guess USDA doesn't have a problem with these large monkeys in walk through exhibits.
It could have also been because of the particular arrangement of that exhibit versus the one in Phoenix.
With most of the exhibits yes, but their Amazon exhibit has free ranging howlers, capuchins, and squirrels.
