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Phoenix Zoo Review of New Orangutan Exhibit

Discussion in 'United States' started by Arizona Docent, 14 Jun 2011.

  1. Arizona Docent

    Arizona Docent Well-Known Member 15+ year member

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    Location:
    Arizona, USA
    Last Saturday I went up to Phoenix Zoo for their monthly summer night event, where the zoo reopens from 6-9:30pm. The handout said the oranguatans would be put in at 7pm, so I went there first since I had not seen the new exhibit. Here is what I think.

    First, many of you know from photos in the gallery that their previous exhibit was absolutely hideous and anything other than that would be an improvement. The new exhibit is certainly a vast improvement over what they had. That is really about the only nice thing I can say about it. Aesthetically, it is a disaster (a $3.7 million disaster, I might add).

    The exhibit consists of two separate yards, with outside mesh viewing for either one and a central indoor room with glass viewing for both, as well as glass viewing for indoor ape rooms. The left yard also has a raised boardwalk on the far end for higher level mesh viewing.

    The right yard, which has not been used by the apes yet (according to signage), is basically a wide (but not very deep) sloping grass yard. There is a long row of fake bamboo posts running parallel to the ground about one foot above ground level, kind of like something kids would walk along to try to balance. I have no idea what purpose it serves. There is also a small moat. This yard is open air with no mesh or fences above or behind. In terms of aesthetics, it is the better of the two yards, but in terms of ape needs it is probably the worse, as there are no climbing opportunities.

    The left yard, where the apes were, is completely mesh covered and is very plain with no foliage other than grass on the ground. It is filled with large climbing structures, sort of like fake bamboo (but not very realistic), just nailed together in large square structures. Probably more useful for the apes, but aesthetically a nightmare.

    The indoor houses, one connecting to each yard, are small plain rectangular cement bunkers with shavings spread across the ground. Looks like communist era apartments from eastern bloc countries.

    If you cannot tell already, I hate this exhibit. Exhibits are supposed to be naturalistic nowadays, but apparently no one at Phoenix understands this. I mean for over three and a half million I think they could have done better than a turf lawn and a barren jungle gym. Apparently (if you scroll through the links in the attachment), there are some nice unseen features like an underground medical treatment center. But it is as if no thought whatsoever was put into the visitor experience (or maybe they thought kids being able to put their face to an orangutan face through the glass is enough). Sadly, for some visitors this is enough. But one of their stated goals is to inspire people to care for the forests where wild orangutans live. This exhibit does not even come close to achieving this.

    This is one of the keystone exhibits for their capital campaign "A World Class Zoo for a World Class City." Apparently zoo staff have never travelled outside of the Phoenix area to see what a real world class zoo looks like. Sadly, the best exhibits at this zoo are the older ones (cheetah, bighorn, etc). I hope they learn from this disaster and get their act together for the next major exhibit for sumatran tigers. Tiger exhibits are inherintly easier to build (I think) than orangutan exhibits, so I am cautiously optimistic.

    http://phoenixzoo.org/orang-hutan/
     
    Last edited: 14 Jun 2011