Story: Zoos and aquariums

Bornean orang-utans

Bornean orang-utans

During the 1970s and 1980s, zoos began developing large outdoor enclosures for some animals, allowing them to live in social groups and exhibit a wider range of behaviours than they had in small cages. Auckland Zoo’s 250-square-metre chimp enclosure was a vast improvement on its earlier enclosures, but by 2004 it was deemed too small to hold the zoo’s eight chimpanzees so the six youngest were moved to Hamilton Zoo. Auckland Zoo’s orang-utans took over the former chimpanzee enclosure.

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Auckland Zoo

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How to cite this page:

Maggy Wassilieff, 'Zoos and aquariums - Modernising zoos', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/18440/bornean-orang-utans (accessed 29 March 2024)

Story by Maggy Wassilieff, published 24 Nov 2008