Bronx Zoo - Congo Gorilla Forest

July 2008.

Did Bronx have a lot of hot wire in the Gorilla exhibit?

Not as much hotwire as many other zoos. It drives me crazy when gorillas have a large exhibit with a handful of trees, and then those trees are all electrically charged. Why not give them a soccer field instead?

I think Bronx, Lincoln Park, & San Diego use the least amount of hotwire in their gorilla exhibits

Hotwire is used to protect trees because without such protection the trees are very likely to be girdled or otherwise mechanically damaged by gorillas or other primates. A group of active young apes can decimate a mature forest in a very short time.
Note that the "vines" on the tree trunk in this photo are hotwires that artfully protect the tree. Congo has plenty of hotwires---they are just very well camouflaged. But there are smaller "sacrificial" trees not hotwired, along with much other unprotected vegetation that the animals can interact with (i.e. trash). A gorilla exhibit under a canopy of electrically-protected trees is a big improvement over a soccer field--which is what most would become without protecting the trees.