Despite the property slump, Dublin Zoo's gorillas are trading up.
The zoo's seven western lowland gorillas have been moved to a newly designed rainforest habitat on the African Plains side of the Phoenix Park campus.
The 12,000 sq m habitat of undulating topography - unveiled to the public today- has been carefully designed to mimic the apes' natural west African rainforest habitat.
In one of her last official engagements as President, Mary McAleese opened the new habitat.
In a double celebration, the zoo also announced the birth of a new baby gorilla. The female infant was born earlier this month, just days after the gorillas were moved to their new home.
The largest of all the primates, gorillas favour quiet, tranquil environments, and the zoo's new habitat design has been guided by behavioural studies of the animals in the wild. High, rocky outcrops and trees allow the apes an overview of the surrounding landscape, while streams and dense vegetation allow them to forage and rest in secluded places.
“Today marks the culmination of years of planning," said Dublin Zoo director Leo Oosterweghel. "Every detail of this wonderful rainforest has been thought through carefully to resemble as closely as possible the gorilla’s natural habitat.
“This new home should encourage them to continue breeding and to encourage their natural behaviours giving visitors to Dublin Zoo the most amazing gorilla experience,” he said.
Western lowland gorillas are classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources red list of threatened species.
The numbers of these ground-dwelling primates is estimated to have fallen by more than 80 per cent as a result of commercial hunting and the highly contagious ebola virus.
