Columbus Zoo opens new indoor orangutan viewing habitat
POWELL, Ohio (WCMH) — The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has introduced the opening of a new indoor orangutan viewing habitat.
The 1,096 square foot Ken Cooke and Jerry Borin Orangutan Indoor Habitat, which is positioned adjacent to the outside habitat, will make it possible for zoo site visitors to notice orangutans, Sulango, Dumplin, and Khali, through the calendar year.
“The primary intention of this project was to present a good wintertime year property for the orangutans whilst also furnishing Zoo company with the option to stop by and see them discovering this area for the duration of the colder months,” the zoo mentioned in a launch.
The indoor habitat offers bed room area for the orangutans, as well as immediate obtain to their outdoor habitat, and a advanced indoor habitat with public viewing. It also has area for staff to enable them to care for the orangutans.
“We are very excited to share this new habitat with the neighborhood. The development and style of this place was actually a labor of appreciate for the Zoo, and so lots of people today from a variety of departments have contributed to generating it a profitable space for our orangutans. Orangutans are very intelligent, and they are very curious animals with excellent difficulty-solving abilities. This habitat delivers us with several opportunities to interact the orangutans mentally when mimicking their normal behaviors,” said Audra Meinelt, curator of the Columbus Zoo’s Congo Expedition region and orangutans.
But the zoo says the new dayroom is the genuine gem of the show:
The dayroom is a two-tale open up area furnishing the orangutans with entry to vertical spaces ranging from 10-25 ft at the peak of the ceiling. It options groupings of “bamboo” (tall painted metallic poles) that will have some versatility and change in diameter from 2.5-5.5 inches. The poles also range in height, from 20-25 toes tall, giving the orangutans with total use of the dayroom’s upper room. Added “vines” (painted firehose) will be connected to the bamboo poles and other characteristics in the creating to create a complex network of locations the orangutans can select to navigate.
The dayroom has also been very carefully made with enrichment in brain for these hugely smart apes. Together the east wall of the place, at the second-story level, there is a ledge that gives a location wherever the orangutans can interact with enrichment objects the team offers. An additional enrichment factor is a program of pulleys so personnel can place enrichment products at various heights and encourage arboreal motion.
The building’s west wall is composed of multiple windows, introducing tons of daylight to the habitat and great sights for the orangutans to observe individuals who are on the boat ride or crossing the bridge. A number of columns positioned along the area floor will also provide enrichment possibilities these kinds of as puzzle feeders, audio enrichment with push buttons, and water resources. Skylights insert even far more daylight to the indoor room, letting in as much normal gentle as feasible.
In the general public viewing place and at the out of doors habitat and viewing shelter, the Zoo team intended new graphics and videos to update attendees about conservation problems connected to the orangutans. The signage incorporates actions that visitors can consider to enable and collaborate with conservation partners performing to safeguard orangutans in their native selection.
Launch from the Columbus Zoo and Aqarium
For extra information stop by ColumbusZoo.org