New > Will 2021 Be The Year That The Orangutans Get A Home Of Their Own?

This post was started months ago, after the Zoo had  ReOpened from it's first Shutdown.  After weeks and weeks passed, and other construction projects restarted, there was still no sign of any work being done in the Triple Grotto Exhibit for the Orangutans. 

I have several Construction Update posts, but this one has been bumped as it flows from the previous one.  It was always the first in the series, as it is a constant irritation that like with the Chimpanzees for so many years, the Orangutans needs have taken a back seat to everything else.  

During the five months the Zoo had been ReOpened, the construction for the Snow Leopard expansion was in full swing, while nothing happened at Triple Grotto.  Then, a  few months ago I saw the architect going over plans with the construction guy in front of Triple Grotto.  When they were done I asked her about the project.  

Previous information was that only the North Grotto would be included in the project.  There would be no netting, no new structures, basically no new nothing.  After talking to her, it seemed like much of the same, with the exception of including the Middle Grotto.  All other work seemed to focus on bringing it up to code.  Except for the addition of the Middle Grotto, this was all a let down, but whatever gets the Orangutans into a space of their own as soon as possible, the better at this point.  That said, I asked how long the project would take.  The answer is shocking.  Maybe a couple weeks.  

It's unconscionable that a project with so little work being done, that could conclude in a short amount of time, was back-burnered while the Snow Leopard project moved forward.  

It is disgraceful that the Orangutans were not only allowed to come here by the AZA and SSP, without a dedicated home in place, but that they have been here Nineteen Months in virtually the same situation as when they got here.  The exception is that they now get access to the Chimpanzee Yard four mornings a week.  

Ollie and Amoi, November 2020

It is curious that the Triple Grotto exhibit has been left empty for two years, since the Chimps moved into their new space.  The Great Ape Passage, was supposed to be multi-phased, the Chimp Dayroom, Chimp Yard, and Triple Grotto for Orangutans, with the option of rotation once all three areas were complete.   Positioned next to the Cafe, Triple Grotto in my opinion is a focal point in the Zoo and again, it's curious that work there has not been a priority.  Not having this project done before or soon after the Orangutans arrived is a huge fail to both the welfare of the Orangutans and the Zoo aesthetics. 

Last Saturday, January 16 was Appreciate A Dragon Day. Many Zoos were posting about their Komodo Dragons.  It made me think of our passed Falcor, who was one of my besties.  I loved that guy and championed for his life to be better.  Unfortunately, he was brought to the Zoo under the guise of a temporary home, with a new home within a year and half.  It took near five years for him to get the home he was promised.  His situation broke my heart every time I visited him.  

When I think about the things at the Zoo that aren't right, Falcor's situation has to be the worst.  Sadly there have been others, and in 2019, the Orangutans became the latest victims.  

In a post from September 2019, I even noted, suggested and questioned that the South Grotto could have been done with minimum, so the Orangutans could have their own space, at least until the Zoo got it together to do the North, and now Middle Grottos for them.  

screencap from post 9.2.19

Just awful that wasn't done before they got here.   It's cruel that they didn't have a space of their own, and I think they suffered because of it.  Thankfully the Animal Care Staff is great and has done everything they can for them under the circumstances.  Amoi, the female, has always been comfortable, but it's taken Ollie, the male, some time.  The last few weeks before the current Shutdown, I watched as he spent more and more time in the yard and on his own.  So happy to finally see him comfortable and gaining confidence.  Something he probably would have had from the start, had they had their own space upon arrival.  As it should have been. 

Having no designated space, even a year plus after bring Orangutans to the Zoo, continues to be a disservice to both species.  Enclosure guidelines for Seven Chimpanzees mandates the space size of both the Yard and Dayroom, that is why there are both spaces.  The high energy of Chimp Society dictates that size need, so each Chimp can find a corner to retreat to.  Without it, there is the probability of more unrest and injury.  Those two spaces were never meant to be shared.  They were meant to allow rotation between three spaces, yet the Zoo has failed to provide the third space.  Both species spent long periods of time, months, shut out of areas that they should have had access to.  The Chimps out of their yard and the Orangutans out of everywhere.

It's unreal that I still need to write about the same thing as a year ago.  But here we are.  Here they still are.  

photo used in post 12.15.19

Maybe by Christmas 2021.

Related posts regarding Orangutan situation

https://iamnotananteater.blogspot.com/2019/11/hot-topic-posts-chimpanzees-and.html

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