I don't think I've ever done a pre-post, but I feel it's a good idea now. I have been mentioning the Orangutans need for a new home to be built, in many posts. Most recently yesterday's, as I truly believe what has happened to them at our Zoo is Animal Cruelty and has affected their mental, emotional, and physical well-being. This is not just personal opinion, everyone I've talked to since their arrival five years ago, both visitors and staff have agreed. Not having a dedicated home upon arrival, being kept in caged tubes for eight months, and the banished to live life in an ancient enclosure, is disgraceful and has been damaging to them.
I have been writing about their plight since before they got here. Documenting every step. That said, since the Mayor started chasing Pandas, and the subsequent price tag for not one, but two enclosures, to house Animals that are not even current Residents, I have been on a quest to get the Orangutans a new home built. It is a moral crime for this to happen while the Orangutans continue to live in an enclosure that is inappropriate.
The area the Orangutans are in, is the sixty year old Triple Grotto, that was built to house Great Apes in the 60s. It was considered state of the art, concrete pits with tiny islands. At one point, there were five Chimpanzees, five Orangutans, and five Gorillas, each occupying one grotto, with it's tiny island. And living in that small night house, which is truly hard to imagine.
It is not the 60s, 80s or even the 2000s, its nearing 2025, and this exhibit, while we all have fond memories, is so unsuitable, that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) own Species Survial Plan (SSP) refused to send additional Chimpanzees to the San Francisco Zoo, to live in this enclosure. Why they sent Orangutans and upon inspection two years ago, granted the Zoo renewed Accreditation is outrageous.
In my opinion the whole area needs an overhaul. It would have to be done in two steps, not phases, as the Zoo is notorious for multi-phase plans that get dropped after the first phase. This project needs to be done in succession. I have long thought about what the area needs, even sharing my thoughts with the previous Curator who shared his thoughts and they were very similar. At the time the Chimpanzee Dayroom was built, it was presented as a space the Orangutans would rotate into as well. That has never happened, and will never happen. They will need their own.
The Triple Grotto area, with adjacent space to the south, is large enough to accommodate a netted yard, a dayroom, a new night quarters, and at least one, additional netted space for a smaller Primate. I've been working on visuals for this idea for a couple weeks, but since I won't be done today, and I'd like to get those article reaction posts done this weekend, I decided to do a pre-post. I wanted something that shows the Orangutans Need to follow my last post, that focuses on the Mayor's Panda Plan with it's $25 million price tag, with no care to help fix our Zoos current Needs, starting with the desperate Orangutans.
So, until I get to my idea post, I'll leave you all with this. Photos show an aerial view of areas surrounding Triple Grotto. I have hightlighted areas for size, so everyone can get a sense of the space the Orangutans have in comparison to some other areas. While some spaces look like they can't possibly be accurate in size, the aerial maps have got to be to scale in a close enough range. Some of my Garden highlights may be alittle larger than actual, but are as accurate as I could get them.
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I watched as the orangutans were trapped in the tubes. I watched as they watched the chimpanzees roam and climb in their enclosure. I watched the orangutans antagonize the chimps, and I can’t help but believe that these orange, sentient, thinking, clever beings didn’t feel that they had been given the short end of the stick. While I am so happy the chimps f i n a l l y got their own space, I was horrified that the zoo was not ready to get the orangutans.
ReplyDeleteMy understanding is that the zoo director sought out the apes for the sake of media attention, w i t h o u t first being ready to house them. The fact that such clever mammals could be such an afterthought is infuriating and heartbreaking. The SF zoo needs a new vision, a new direction, and new management that puts animal welfare first.
The international visitors from Indonesia who came to see the SF orangutans must have been appalled.
@Anonymous - Thank you for your comment. I agree with all you've said. Reading your words evokes so much emotion, as I can still feel what I felt at those same times, AND what I felt Ollie and Amoi must have felt, and still do when they look down at the Chimps in an appropriate enclosure, with alot of space and netting to climb. I also think they wonder why they can't go in there anymore. It was horrifying and heartbreaking. It's also horrifying that Tanya Peterson is still the Director. Infuriating to say the least. What this woman did to these poor Beings, in addition to the Komodo Dragon, the Andean Bear and the young Patas Monkey, and trying to kick out our Chimps, is evil. She has no business in our Zoo let alone in charge of it. I only recently came to know about the visit from the Indonesian Consulate, as they have now got certificates they were presented with, displayed on the wall in the Chimp Dayroom and at Komodo Dragon. It's mind boggling. Thanks again. Please add your words to more posts!
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