Chimpanzees' Tea Party 1966

Print from a slide taken by my father, developed May 1966. It is interesting that a Chimpanzee is watching the party. Until fairly recent years the Chimpanzees had these cages plus a moated area behind the house that had been a much later construction. When the cages were about to be demolished I was told by a keeper it was a great shame as the animals much preferred the cages where they could climb and see what was going on to the moated area (it did have a bit of a viewpoint from an old tree trunk). The left-hand cage as we view this photo was for Orang-utans and one can just be made out by the green door. The window behind the door allowed viewing into a smallish area that was usually part of the Orang exhibit, but in the mid 1970s this was where the Raccoon Dogs were housed. The open door beyond this was a public entrance to the Ape House.

Great photo! I noticed that chimp and thought I bet he's feeling left out. lol
I don't ever remember the moat enclosure, but certainly remember the cages they were in and have a vague memory of being inside the viewing area.

The moated enclosure was where the Bird Show theatre is now.