LOCATION:

Melbourne Zoo, Elliott Avenue, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia
Phone: 61-3-9285 9300
Fax: 61-3-9285 9350
URL: http://www.zoo.org.au/

KEY WORDS:

arboreal, conservation, immersive, interaction, orang utan, orangutan, siamang, thematic, experience

ANIMALS:

Family:	Species:	Common Name:	Capacity:
Hominidae	Pongo abelii	Sumatran Orang-utan	5
Hominidae	Pongo sp	Hybrid Orang-utan
Hylobatidae	Hylobatus syndactylus	Siamang	4

AWARDS:

    2007 Equal 2nd - ARAZPA Exhibit award - large scale development

DESCRIPTION:

Melbourne Zoo’s ORGAN-UTAN SANCTUARY is a place to connect with orang-utans. The exhibit highlights the similarities between people and orang-utans, as for example individual characters and intelligence. After engaging with the orang-utans, who can resist wanting to help these amazing forest people survive?

The exhibit provides three separate enclosures for orang-utans (mesh exhibit, open exhibit and day room), and indoor and outdoor viewing for visitors. Members of the zoo staff – designer, curator, interpreter and zoo-keeper – traveled to Indonesia and Malaysia, observing orang-utans in the wild, met orang-utans in rescue centres, and talked with people who are working to help protect orang-utans and their forest homes.

The Orang-utan Sanctuary is part of the TRAIL OF THE ELEPHANTS precinct that already houses the Zoo’s five Asian Elephants. Trail of the Elephants takes visitors on an ‘interactive tour’ through South-east Asia, with opportunities to engage in the issue of humans and other species sharing the forests.

The Orang-utan Sanctuary houses both siamang and orang-utans, with the goal of having a mixed-species display after the animals have been introduced to each other .

The visitors journey through the Orang-utan Sanctuary via a boardwalk at tree-top level. The boardwalk progresses past the mesh exhibit and ‘Health-check Point’ to the Orang-utan Sanctuary Visitor Centre, then past the open exhibit, back down to ground level, through the Palm Grove and to the Make-a-Difference pavilion. The exhibit has ample spaces for viewing, while benches and seating provide opportunities to rest and absorb the setting.

The three orang-utan enclosures provide contrasting experiences for the orang-utans. All are complex and dynamic spaces that promote climbing and activity above the ground: The mesh exhibit being totally enclosed provides ample opportunity for suspending furnishings; the indoors day room provides protection from the elements; and the open exhibit features over 200 sway poles, some fixed and some flexible, to encourage travel through the exhibit by the orang-utans and siamangs. Both the day room and mesh exhibit have ‘training walls’ that allow keepers to train orang-utans as part of a presentation to visitors and as enrichment for the animals.

The Orang-utan Sanctuary Visitor Building has strong architectural lines borrowed from the indigenous architecture of Indonesia, specifically the Aceh region. Inside, the structure is alive with colour, activity, displays, and views of the three orang-utan exhibits. The building has two ‘rooms’, the main viewing gallery and a smaller area that lends itself to group activities. Large inclined windows on both sides of the building provide viewing of the two outdoor exhibits. Bench seating at the windows continues into the exhibit space providing resting platforms for the orang-utans and siamangs. Visitors are delighted with close interactions between humans and the animals.

The spacious day room spans from floor to ceiling of the two-storey building and can be viewed at the rear of the Visitor Centre Gallery. The day room provides a further opportunity for visitors to watch keepers and apes interacting at training walls at conditioning sessions.

The Make-a-Difference pavilion is the conclusion to the Trail of the Elephants precinct. It consolidates the conservation messages that visitors encounter throughout the precinct. Make-a-Difference is housed in a pavilion designed to reflect the traditional architecture of Malaysia. A ‘tree-of-life', borrowed from artwork of the Sarawak people, has been painted on the rear wall of the pavilion. Within the pavilion, visitors can find out how their choices can actively contribute to the conservation of orang-utans and their habitat. Touch-screens illustrate the support that Zoos Victoria provide to in-situ conservation programs in South-east Asia. A large Asian ceramic pot provides a donation point, with the monies being collected here directed to these conservation programs.

The pathway winds past a mature multi-trunked Senegal date palm and back to the main zoo boulevard concluding the experience. At the base of the palm is a series of ‘spirit houses’ decorated with carvings of elephants, tigers and orang-utans. A 'soundscape' features animals sounds, and sculptures of frogs have been placed among the bamboo growing near the pathway.
 

SIZE:

Space allocation in square meters:

COSTS:

AUD 6,500,000 including 15 % for design.

OPENING DATE:

DESIGN:

Beginning: 2004

• Project Management: Root Projects Australia, Melbourne, Australia
• Zoological Design/Landscape: Green and Dale Associates, Warrandyte, Australia
• Concept Architect: Troppo Architects
• Concept Zoological Design: pja architects + landscape architects, p.s., Seattle, WA, USA
• Concept Interpretive Design: Work As Play, Portal, AZ, USA
• Principal Consultant: CLP Design, Melbourne, Australia
• Structural and Civil Engineers: JMP John Mullen@Partners, Melbourne, Australia
• Services Engineers: Irwinconsult PTY LTD, Melbourne, Australia
• Irrigation Consultant: ten Buuren Irrigation Designs PTY LTD, Boronia, Australia
• Building Surveyors: Checkpoint, Melbourne, Australia
• Electronic Media: Magian Design Studio, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia

CONSTRUCTION:

Beginning:

LOCAL CONDITIONS:

This is a climatic diagram for the closest weather station.

PLANTS:

FEATURES DEDICATED TO ANIMALS:

All enclosures facilitate changes in furnishing, and all create opportunities for arboreal travel, and rest and feeding above ground. Furnishings are placed so as to provide for the needs of different aged animals, and both siamangs and orang-utans. They include resting platforms, climbing structures, sway poles, and ropes. Furnishings are placed to enable animals to rest in the sun, seek shade, or protection from the elements as required.

The indoor areas can be heated, as can the resting platforms near the viewing windows.

The enclosures are rich and dynamic. Puzzle feeders and arboreal feeders promote foraging above the ground. The mesh exhibit and day room are both totally enclosed allowing for a variety of enrichment opportunities without fear of the orang-utans creating escape routes. A feature of the day room is the ‘game puzzle’ comprised of four units – two for use by visitors and two by orang-utans. Each unit is filled with a series of acrylic cubes which collectively form a maze. The orang-utans fashion tools to move small food items through the maze and retrieve the treat. The ‘cube modules’ provide for a multitude of combinations – including variations in difficulty.

Over 200 sway poles have been placed in the Open Exhibit constructed from fibreglass or built from metal. These represent the upright trunks typical of pole forests, a orang-utan habitat. They promote swaying from pole to pole, a locomotion typical of orang-utans. Poles are placed at varying distances reflecting the different arm-spans of a mature male, adult female, and juvenile orang-utans.

The facility includes all the standard features one might expect in an animal facility, including areas suitable for capture of animals, dens that might be used for recovering, raceways to safely move animals through exhibits, and provision of fresh water for drinking.
 

FEATURES DEDICATED TO KEEPERS:

A particular challenge presented by Orang-utan Sanctuary has been working at heights. A series of purpose-built ladders and fixing points for harnesses ensure the safety of all staff servicing the enclosures. An elevated walkway above the mesh exhibit enables safe access to change enrichment devices and furnishings.

The two-storey visitor centre houses the animal dens on the lower level, along with the food preparation kitchen, locker space for the keepers, an office and meeting room. Rooms adjacent to the service yard hold the heating and air conditioning plant, life support systems, and storage. Various support facilities are included to enable operation of the facility pump for water moat, heating and cooling and services such as hot and cold water, electricity and gas.
 

FEATURES DEDICATED TO VISITORS:

To the rear of the building is a second space that can be used for presentations of groups including school groups. This area can also be set up for activities including holiday programs.

There are dedicated locations for presentations, again providing ample opportunity for viewing. These include the ‘training walls’, areas where keepers can train the orang-utans. There is one located at in the mesh exhibit and another in the day room.

The Visitor Centre lends itself as a venue for functions and has been used for revenue-generating activities such as ‘Breakfast with the Orang-utans’. The design of the overall facilities also allows for VIP tours to areas not normally accessed by visitors.

The experience provides for visitors of varying ages and competencies, including wheelchair access.
 

INTERPRETATION:

Along the boardwalk simple graphics are used that echo signage that might be seen at an Orang-utan Sanctuary. Multi-lingual text is used. The Orang-utan Sanctuary Visitor Centre is rich with experiences. Framed portraits of orang-utans adorn the walls and highlight the individual nature of orang-utans. Huge coloured banners hang from the ceiling. A glass screen featuring images of orang-utans in their habitat divides the two spaces of the Visitor Centre. A life-sized carving of a male orang-utan and a second carving featuring a female with her infant can be explored by visitors. These sculptures were commissioned in Bali. Animal identification signage seems to break the normal rules, identifying individual animals and their traits, such as ‘she likes to mix red and blue paint to make her favourite colour purple’.

Within the Orang-utan Visitor Centre there is a large video screen showing orang-utans in the wild, and describing threats to orang-utans and solutions to help them survive. Visitors can choose to watch several brief interviews with people working with orang-utans, while touch-screens provide additional information about the Zoo’s orang-utans, amazing orang-utan facts and profiles of agencies working to help save orang-utans.

The Game Wall puzzles demonstrate the problem-solving skills of orang-utans. The animals move food treats through a maze-like structure consisting of cubes. Visitors can compete with the orang-utans at Game Wall puzzles accessible to the public.

Displays aimed at our younger visitors show how an infant orang-utan spends several years learning survival skills from its mother. There’s even a nest to curl up in, and fabric leaves to drape over your head.

Live presentations further enhance the experience. These might be keeper training sessions, staff talking with visitors, or activities such as making enrichment devices for the apes.

Outside, sculptures and a 'soundscape' add to the experience. Within Make-a-Difference are four touch-screens that can be explored to find out ways to contribute to conservation, to sign up for a newsletter, and to find out how Zoos Victoria support conservation in South-east Asia.
 

MANAGEMENT:

The Zoo’s horticulture team maintains the plants and associated landscape features. The Zoo’s works team attends to maintenance issues.

The interpretation team manages two teams of presenters including zoo staff and trained volunteers.

The visitor services team attends to day-to-day needs of visitors, including their safety.

Both orang-utans and siamangs are managed species under the Australasian Species Management Program.
 

RESEARCH:

Visitor satisfaction will be assessed as part of the Zoo’s ongoing evaluation of visitor experience and satisfaction. Visitor surveys are routinely completed to evaluate visitor experience throughout the zoo, including scoring of keeper presentations.

A more comprehensive evaluation of the Orang-utan Sanctuary, including delivery of messages will be completed to determine the success of interpretation goals and conservation outcomes.

Animal Behaviour

A collaborative project involving both zoo staff and volunteers commenced in March 2006 to gather data about the zoo’s orang-utans and siamangs prior to their move to the Orang-utan Sanctuary. This included interactions between individual animals, behaviour patterns, and amount of time spent ‘above-ground’. Data was then collected following the transfer to the Orang-utan Sanctuary. Comparison of the ‘before’ and ‘after’ move data sets has been completed. The results suggest that following the move to Orang-utan Sanctuary that the Orang-utans are spending more time engaged in locomotion, and more time at levels greater than 1m (3.3 ft) above the ground.

Furthermore the frequency of interactions between orang-utans and visitors has also increased.
 

CONSERVATION:

Touch-screens and a video in the Orang-utan Sanctuary Visitor Centre provide information about threats to the survival of orang-utans and ways that visitors can contribute to orang-utan conservation. This includes providing information about agencies working to help orang-tans, and promoting community understanding of threats to orang-utans.

Make-a-Difference at the end of the journey is the primary location for telling conservation stories. Here visitors can explore touch-screens to -- Give visitors actions that they can undertake at home, at work, or when travelling that have positive impacts on conservation -- Encourage visitors to donate money -- Direct funds and other support to Fauna and Flora International’s Sumatran programs and WildAid’s Cambodia Project.
 

LOCAL RESOURCES:

Several local schools have contributed to the Orang-utan Sanctuary by growing plants that are then harvested as browse for the orang-utans.

The Australian Navy assisted animal husbandry staff with rigging of ropes in enclosure areas.

The Metropolitan Fire Brigade has donated fire hoses that have been used in enclosure areas.