![]() ![]() ![]() These activities range from participating in a research demonstration, to training with a keeper, to creating an abstract painting on a canvas using non-toxic, water-based paint. As with any enrichment, the animals have the flexibility and choice to participate in the activity or walk away. No day is routine keepers offer the primates various activities to stimulate cognition. Check out videos of ape enrichment in action: playing with the iPad, medical training, and painting! Novel items and activities include iPads (for playing with various apps), musical instruments, painting, mirrors, boomer balls, rubber tubs, burlap, paper and boxes among others. Keepers maintain a detailed calendar to ensure that the items and experiences remain novel and interesting. The Zoo’s primates receive between four and eight forms of enrichment every day to keep them physically and mentally active. In addition to the Orangutan Rope-Pull and Wet Zone exhibits at Think Tank, animals have plenty of activities to keep them busy throughout the day. Keepers provide the primates with enrichment - enclosures, socialization, objects, sounds, smells and other stimuli - to enhance their well-being and give them an outlet to demonstrate their species-typical behaviors. Our gorillas and orangutans also have the option to enjoy some time away from the crowds in off-exhibit areas behind the scenes. Great apes tend to be active in the morning and nap in the mid to late afternoon. Throughout the day, lemurs may be found basking in the sun, jumping through the trees, or huddled together, often grooming one another to strengthen their social bonds.ĭepending on the time of day and weather conditions, all of the lemurs and apes have a choice to be in their indoor or outdoor enclosures. Ring-tailed lemurs, red-fronted lemurs and black-and-white ruffed lemurs live on Lemur Island. With their long arms and hands, gibbons are adapted to moving fast high in the tree canopy using an arm-over-arm motion called “brachiation.” When walking on the ground, they place their arms above their head for balance. ![]() The Zoo’s tall outdoor enclosures are fitted with platforms, ropes and swings that encourage these lesser apes to navigate their habitat just as they would in the wild. The push valves are operable only by the apes, who will have the ability to shower a visitor, themselves or both.Īt Gibbon Ridge, visitors can see siamangs swing through the ropes and branches. The outdoor orangutan exhibit is fitted with two mister shower heads. Looking at the animals outside? Get caught under a mist of water - turned on by an orangutan - in the Wet Zone. Inside Think Tank, participate in a tug-of-war with an orangutan at the orangutan rope-pull and test their arm strength. ![]() Learn more about the Zoo’s ongoing primate research projects, see the monkeys illustrate the rules of living in a society, and observe rats navigating their exhibit, highlighting their physical abilities and flexible decision-making skills. The interactive Think Tank exhibit is the place to think about animal thinking! Visitors are introduced to orangutans, Allen’s swamp monkeys, Schmidt’s red-tailed monkeys, Norway rats, and land hermit crabs to explore the concept of thinking through three main themes: language, society and tool use. Orangutans have the choice to use the O-Line on nice weather days from late morning to the early afternoon. Walking between the Great Ape House to Think Tank? Look up! Orangutans travel along the O-Line, a 50-foot-high suspended cable track that gives them the freedom to move between their yards at the Great Ape House and Think Tank. Whether inside or outside, the apes have an opportunity to climb trees and multi-level platforms, rest in a hammock swing from hanging ropes and fire hoses, engage in enriching activities (such as training and painting) and forage for food. Having a choice of how to spend their time is critical to great ape care, so enclosures are designed to provide the animals with opportunities to use their natural behaviors in new and exciting ways. Within the house, floor-to-ceiling viewing panes allow visitors to view these endangered animals up close. The homestead for the Zoo’s gorillas and orangutans is the Great Ape House. The Smithsonian’s National Zoo is home to over a dozen species of primates. ![]()
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