Odsherreds Zoo - Lemur exhibit

The exhibit for white-fronted lemurs in Odsherreds Zoo, Denmark. Too small.
October 2008

What a strange enclosure! Is the flowerpot for the lemurs of the humans to look at? Is that someone's house? Both on top of the cage and along the side are what look like large sheets of plastic...what the heck? Could a visitor stick their fingers into the cage? Is that a hamster bottle on the far right hand side of the cage?

I woulden't call it strange, just extremely basic. Odsherreds Zoo have their main focus on primates, especially marmosets and tamarins. These species are very well kept in Odsherred but the white-fronted lemurs badly need a new exhibit. It is a shame since many of the other exhibits are of a high quality.

Odsherreds Zoo is one of the smaller Danish mini-zoos built around an old farm. This farm-building has been renovated inside to serve as a monkey house (which it does alright).

The plastic on top is to protect from rain and only covers a small part of the exhibit in the corner. Here the lemurs have a small platform to rest on and the plastic on the side is to ensure privacy there.

Yes, potentially they could. In Denmark we have something called "personal responsibility", something I believe you have given up in North America? In our zoos this means that the visitors have to stop themselves from doing something stupid instead of the zoo having to stop them. It works quite well too.

Yes, that is their drinking bottle. Works just as well as a water bowl.

This zoo is the worst I have ever been to. Almost every enclosure are too small and looks like something you have build on your backyard...

Odsherreds Zoo

There is nothing intrinsicaly 'wrong' with this enclosure; it just doesn't meet 'modern' standards. From an animal husbandry point of view it could be good enough. The criteria should be 'do the animals live long and do well in it?', not 'would I like to live in it/is it pretty?'

I wouldn't exactly call myself an exhibit basher and like you I look rather at functionality than looks. However, this exhibit is NOT good enough. The basic design is fine but it desperately lack interior furnishing with branches to climb about on. It is also too small for a family of lemurs.

But to say this zoo is all bad though would be a mistake. They have a gorgeous outdoor island for squirrel monkeys and marmosets as well as quite good exhibits for lar gibbons, green monkeys, llamas, red-necked wallabies/emus and the rest of their marmoset/tamarin collection (species including silvery marmosets, golden-headed lion tamarins, cotton-top tamarins and more).

This exhibit isn't too bad, but still needs to be refurbished.

More climbing structures, glass viewing panels, and perhaps a bit bigger would be a half decent exhibit.

Well, glass panels would be prettier but wouldn't make for a better exhibit. As of now the lemurs can use the cage as a climbing frame which in a way too small exhibit like this is much better.