The Siamang enclosure at Monkeyworld is good- the exact opposite of Marwell's. The only drawback IMO is that the trees are mature Scots Pine- not very natural and I wonder if they get sticky pine resin on themselves a lot as a result- but the whole Monkeyworld site is Pine/heathland so there is no choice of other tree-type. The last time I went(some years back) I noticed the range of other Gibbon enclosures, although not overly tall or large, were long and very well equipped with carefully-placed hosing etc to allow maximum scope for brachiation- again the complete opposite of Marwell's Siamangs. What I'm a little unclear about is whether there is/are now more open-air enclosures for more of the Gibbons, apart from the longer-established Siamang one.
The golden-cheeked gibbons had new open air enclosures built at the far end of the park 5+ years ago, which are spacious and have very good indoor facilities, which put most of the other zoos' to shame! The siamang indoors wasn't great from memory, though it's probably 3 years since i was there.
Yes, that's right, there are two large gibbon enclosures at the bottom of the park, they did originally plan to build enough to house all the gibbon in large enclosures but don't know what's happened to that plan. I would say Jersey's is a pretty good enclosure too, very similar set up to Paignton. Best views I've had of gibbons in the UK I would say.
I mentioned in post #10 the high standard of Monkey World's gibbon enclosures, particularly the new one. I have some photos from my last visit in December that I'll try to sort out. I agree that Jersey's gibbons are well catered for, especially as they have a group of orangutans as enrichment They used to live in the orang house but their early morning calls were so deafening for staff and orangs that a separate house was built next door. They still have access to the orang house during the day and usually attend the daily Orang talk.
Possibly it proved too expensive?- I would rather see them kept like that than in the more conventional-style cage enclosures where they don't have the same access to height.
I think the discussion around indoor accommodation is an interesting and important one, and if public awareness of seasonal use/disuse of enclosure space grows I would expect there to be more attention paid to those establishments that have little more than a small wooden shed attached to large naturalistic outdoor spaces. Having said that, gibbons do venture outside in cold weather, albeit for shorter periods, and I think there is a difference between being shut in and choosing to stay in the warm. Despite the concerns about the masking of inferior indoor quarters with lush exteriors, in terms of innovation, I think Dudley should be mentioned: http://photos.zoochat.com/large/dscf8468-6127.jpg (note the pleasingly immersed gibbon up in the tree) When looking at cages gibbons in zoos where there are large stands of trees nearby, it seems such a waste of money for a new cage to be built when gibbons are able to be housed relatively cheaply through hotwiring an open area around some trees.
That looks fine to me. To my mind you can't beat natural trees for Gibbons to swing and climb in- a couple of mature trees seems to be quite adequate for them, though I don't know if they gradually destroy the foliage. Like many animals, I think they will come outside in winter in fine weather- cold is not what most animals hate, its wind and/or rain, which we get a lot of obviously.
Monkey World: I don't actually have any photos of the new gibbon enclosure, but here's JamesB's one showing one of the large trees, complete with gibbons. http://www.zoochat.com/195/peanut-amp-pungyo-trees-295673/
Brilliant- that's how they should be kept IMO. I note this is an Oak(?) tree so they do have some other trees apart from the Pines.
Oh not auto spell again. It was meant to say 'do you like to see gibbon call or branchiating more? Sorry for the confusion. I don't generally like to see animals 'emaciated'
The three 'gibbons in trees' enclosures are amazing, the smaller I'm not so keen on, though they are heavily planted for the gibbons and they do seem content in them. I actually wonder if it suits the needs if the guys who live in them better that the huge open enclosures that the others live in
