Orangutan Exhibit--Hagenbeck Zoo 2004

The orangutans reside in the exhibit throughout the day and shift at night to their sleeping boxes behind the scenes. Some individuals, though, live permanently in the exhibit and build sleeping nests in the tree canopy. By opening shifting doors, the sleeping boxes form a continuous loop accessible to the animals at daytime as a retreat from the public. Additionally, individual animals can be separated from the group in the holding area with access to non-public outdoor enclosures. In order to vitalize and diversify the exhibit, dwarf otters were introduced. The otters inhabit the water moat next to the visitors. The two species use the exhibit in an optimal way. The otters are always free to enter the exhibit. The otter island, which is inaccessible for the apes, serves as their retreat. For the otters, we created an island in the moat, and they have access to the caves. Interactions between the two species are observed frequently.