This Is How Great Zoos Exhibit Gorillas:)

May 23rd, 2010.

Hmm those Rocks look a little fake!! Yes it looks nice but give me a Howlets or Port Lympne cage where they can climb in any direction they want to.

More a forest edge, than a true, heart of the rainforest experience, but still one of the greatest gorilla enclosures in the world, up there along with New York and Howletts.

New York's probably would not be what it is had Seattle not done this first. We learn from each new exhibit how to do it better next time.

Not sure what Howlett's has learned or adopted from NY or Seattle---while those zoos and others have learned from Howlett's innovations (soft beddeing as a ground substrate, large climbable holding spaces creating great 3D space etc.). But clearly the NY/Seattle model is intended BOTH to give the animals a great place to live and to give visitors a sense of how gorillas live in Central Africa. Howlett's does not attempt the latter, so in my book does not merit recognition as a great exhibit. Great enclosure yes; great Exhibit no........

Don't you see those trees and vines? Why do you think they can't climb here?

Don't know if they're real or fake, but they look pretty real to me!

The gorillas can basically touch and climb on everything and anything in the exhibit, and the fact that this was the world's first ever naturalistic gorilla habitat (over 30 years ago!) makes it seem even more impressive now. It is certainly better than 95% of the gorilla enclosures around the world, even though it has arguably been surpassed in North America by Bronx, Disney, etc. Modern zoos are all about showcasing exotic wildlife in natural conditions, and thus it is wonderful to see massive apes that appear to be in a forest/jungle setting rather than a metal hamster cage. Ha!

Yes I do see the tree`s but I actually see more bushes than trees,personnaly never had much fun climbing bushes as they normal don`t hold my weight so a gorilla has no chance of climbing them!!

I agree with you! when i enterd one of the exhibits (before the gorillas where out, ofcourse) i was amazed and i defintly thinks that the gorillas in woodland park are getting realy good care, training and settings. one of my favorites zoos and gorillas exhibit.