Gorilla exhibit

I missed these other photos before. I really like the look of the enclosure even better from this angle- there are more trees etc than I saw before- it has been very attractively done but I would expect so from Frankfurt!

the only thing is they have used up a lot of valuable space(for an urban zoo) with the wide water moats, but overall it looks excellent.

This does look very good.
Pertinax, have you been to Frankfurt zoo? It would have to have the most unused area for a urban zoo l have ever seen. They have plenty of space.

A water moat seems a very good idea from a cost and visual perspective. It also Really poses very little threat to the gorillas if done correctly as l am also sure they would have.

What will be interesting is to see how often the gorillas use this area. I know that the keepers were really not fussed in getting a new gorilla house as the old one was very good. Obviously this does have a improved outdoor area.

yes, I have been but a long time ago now.

The inside of the old Ape House, which was top class when it was built, was getting very shabby looking. The old outdoor area was originally rocky but I know they replanted it with grass etc more recently. This new house is partly on the site of the old one.

Overall I think a new Apehouse at Frankfurt was about due and I really like this design a lot. Once the vegetation has grown and the shade trees have grown, it should encourage the Gorillas outside more (of course they may be shut outside in the day in fine weather, as at London).

I see distinct similarities with London's enclosure - but here the dead trees are more attractively sited and London have not planted shade trees like this- they should do that. I think the provision of the live(protected) trees should go a long way to providing that essential 'cover' for the Gorillas when they are outside. Its good but Frankfurt know how to look after Great Apes generally..

I hope to go and see this sometime...

But what about gorillas being shy and wanting hiding places and a canopy over their heads?

This exhibit is relatively big and provides climbing oppotunities, but what about the these two other requirements that I mention? (The second one almost never provided at zoos, I know...).

Dan, Pertinax mentioned that they have planted a number of trees which will develop into shade trees. You can even see one that the leaves haven't grown on yet towards the right side of the picture (as well as a few more in the enclosure)

Da you are 100% correct. It seems it is now acceptable to just have a few trees. Western Lowland Gorillas come from an area called the impenetrable forest. The name says it all.

The gorillas relly on there sense of smell not sight as much. As you could litterally be 5 feet away but not see them as the foilage is so dense.

It would be great if this zoo had trees planted all over this exhibit. Not just a few here and there.

When l first came to understand just how sensitive a gorilla is l was amazed. As they are certainly not that in aperance. They really are very shy and incredibly seneitive.

Lets give this exhibit a year or two. As Frankfurt is really very good with gorillas.

Judging from the photos posted of this new gorilla exhibit I'm totally surprised that Pertinax (of all people) is impressed by the enclosure. It is definitely very pretty, perhaps adequate in size for large apes, better than many others out there...BUT with a water moat which is notorious for killing the odd age, and lack of substantial canopy then I think that those are two reasons why it ultimately fails. To say that shade trees have been planted is great, but how many years will slide by before those very same trees supply effective coverage? It looks remarkably like London Zoo's Gorilla Kingdom, and that has received an endless torrent of abuse from ZooChatters. Frankfurt's exhibit looks better, but is it really that great? Hmmm...

Well, Europe is on the verge of spring/summer now, so there is the odd tree whose leaves haven't grown back yet. The tree on the right of the photo looks quite large, so this will provide shade when the leaves appear (and there seem to be a number of large trees near to the house as well)

If you look at the next photo down you will see that four or five young live trees have been planted- presumably hotwired to prevent the gorillas wrecking them. They will grow to provide at least some canopy. This is probably the most realistic method of providing cover in outdoor enclosures and yet still look natural and attractive. For hiding places- there are plenty of logs and tree trunks they can sit behind. Don't forget as its brand new there is no tall vegetation yet either and any new exhibit has to start off looking barer than it will be when it matures.

Berlin's outside enclosure has what looks like a big bean tree growing in it- probably hotwired too but it provides perfect shade and cover.

I think it is(or has the potential to be)a good enclosure and a lot better than many of the open air ones that have been designed in recent years.

The water moat is interesting- Frankfurt actually lost an adult male(Abraham, father of their twins) in the watermoat of the last house in the 1960's- after that accident they filled in the watermoat and replaced it with a glass wall. Now, and despite that, they've gone back to a water- moated design again, presumably because its fashionable, gives a more watery 'bai' effect and probably because they've been able to design it more safely.

As far as the canopy goes, I don't think anywhere in captivity truly replicates a Rain Forest-(how about the Bronx?) unless its with covered cages like Howletts. What the best ones can create is a sort of halfway stage beween the canopy 'feel' and the open Bais where the gorillas emerge from the forest to feed for periods. With the outdoor enclosures I'm not sure what else can be achieved really to mirror the true wild habitat,unless like Apenheul(and Vallee de Singes) there is some mature woodland on their Gorilla island, which of course makes it more effective in this respect.