Auckland Zoo was beyond excited to open its new high canopy habitat for orangutans and siamangs – phase one of its $60m South East Asia Jungle Track due to be completed by summer 2021/22. While three months later than scheduled due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the delay, following what’s been an epic journey to create, gave these primates and their keepers, plenty of time to settle into this stunning new environment.
Unique, not just to Aotearoa, but globally, the new habitat – all about giving these arboreal primates the ability to be and behave as they do in the wild, features mature trees and other tropical fauna interspersed with tree-inspired climbing structures, and an extensive network of aerial pathways (created by a 25m high poles connected to over 2km of special ropes) that extend out of the habitat and out over the Zoo’s lake.
At Snakes Downunder Reptile Park and Zoo in QLD, they celebrated the arrival of three new species. These acquisitions were years in the making, giving QLD’s Wide Bay/Burnett locals the chance to get up close and personal with some extraordinary animals – a Lumholtz’s tree kangaroo, Komodo dragon, and radiated tortoises.