Revamped chimp habitat opens at zoo
By Kathi Keys
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
 

Clifton Hughes / The Courier-Tribune EYE-TO-EYE - Gail Lash, center, shares some time with a male chimpanzee at the N.C. Zoo Wednesday morning when the new BB&T Chimpanzee Reserve opened to the public.

ASHEBORO - N.C. Zoo's male chimpanzees definitely let visitors know Wednesday that their revamped habitat is "their space" as they banged the windows separating them from humans.

It was the first day that the chimps were exposed to swarms of people on the other side of the glass of their new BB&T Chimpanzee Reserve and Kitera Forest.

At one point, the dominant male of the 13-member chimp troop evoked a loud reaction from zoo visitors. "HN" sat down on the grass, looked at the humans and clapped. Visitors responded with their own clapping and laughter.

Other chimps, at the time, were enjoying their new 25-foot climbing tree in the habitat or resting in the shade on rocks.

The occasion was the dedication of the new chimp habitat which has been closed for more than two years for a $2 million renovation.

The opening means that - for the first time in three years - all portions of the zoo are open. The chimp habitat renovation has been part of the refurbishing projects completed in the Africa region over the past year.

And the chimp habitat has received one of the most extensive upgrades in the zoo's history.

The result is more visitor friendly.

"Instead of looking down (at the chimps), we see them eye to eye," said Scott Reed, chief financial official for BB&T. He's also chairman of the board of directors for the N.C. Zoological Society to which BB&T made a $690,000 grant for zoo renovations.

Visitors' close proximity to the chimps' ground-level windows is within a replica of an African community center.

There's also a small ranger station, representing a wildlife officer's post at the entrance to an African national park, and a research center reminiscent of facilities used by scientists conducting behavioral studies of chimps in the wild.

And there's plenty of educational information about chimpanzees.

"All great apes are highly endangered ... ," said Zoo Director Dr. David Jones about the importance of the zoo's role in educating the public about this species and others.

"Zoos traditionally just contain things, but this zoo struck out in another direction," said Bill Ross, secretary of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources of which the zoo is an agency. "This is a window on the world for all of us."

Ross also expressed his appreciation for the partners which made the chimp habitat renovation possible - BB&T, the N.C. Legislature and the zoo society and its many individual donors.

Russ Williams, the zoo society's executive director, also talked about the support the zoo and society had received and presented Ross with a framed work of art - "colorful art" actually done by some of the chimps.

Lorraine Smith, the zoo's curator of mammals, let the crowd, gathered for the dedication, know what to expect from the chimps. "This is their first large crowd. If the males come up and hit the window, they're saying, 'This is their space.' "

That's what "HN" was doing to the crowd, as was the troop's other adult male, "KO." Both are about 27 years old and came to the zoo in 1978.

They're the last two wild-caught chimpanzees given to zoos.

With four of the adult females, the two males have lived together at the zoo for more than 20 years. The rest of the troop includes three adult females, two adolescent females and a juvenile female and one juvenile male.

Immediately following the dedication ceremony, the chimp habibit was opened to the public, including hundreds of school children visiting the zoo on Wednesday.

The chimps will be the focus of the final weekend of the African Festival which concludes Sunday.
 

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Copyright 2001, The (Asheboro, N.C.) Courier-Tribune