New Primates at the Virginia Zoo

So I finally got around to checking out the new Trail of the Tiger habitat at the Virginia Zoological Park in Norfolk. The addition almost doubles the amount of animals and habitat space at the zoo. I have to say that I’m very happy with the finished product. All of the enclosures are very impressive looking and spacious.

The most exciting part for me, as an anthropologist, was the arrival of three new primate species to the zoo: Siamangs, Orangutans, and Gibbons.

Siamangs
A male siamang named Bali and female named Hitam are two of VA Zoo’s newest residents. Their outdoor habitat is essentially an island with trees, shading, and log-structures with ropes for climbing and brachiating:

Siamang habitat

Bali

Hitam brachiating

Orangutans
We didn’t get to see the Orangs enjoying their outdoor habitat (it was midday & 95 degrees F), but it was so sweet looking even I wanted to get in and climb around!

The zoo gained two orangutans: Schnitz the male, and Pepper the female. These two captive-born orangs were childhood pals that were separated for some time before being reunited again in 1995. The VA Zoo has provided them with their first outdoor habitat.

Schnitz

Orang couple

Gibbons
The VA Zoo was also lucky enough to have gotten two White-cheeked Gibbons. These guys also have a pretty nice enclosure with plenty of space to play. The gibbons (Dexter the male and Asia the female) share their enclosure with a family of Asian Small-clawed Otters; everyone seemed to get along well.

Asia swinging and Dexter sitting

Asia swinging

Asia, 25 feet up

The Trail of the Tiger habitat is quite extensive and includes the afore-mentioned primates, red pandas, exotic birds, Malayan tapirs, and (of course) the tigers.

Malayan Tiger Habitat

Tiger habitat

Taking a dip

All of these pictures were taken by Anthroprobably.  Additional information was gathered from http://virginiazoo.org

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