Construction of the new Orangutan House

Project goal

Our current orangutan house does not meet the latest standards for modern and innovative animal accommodation. Despite the significant breeding successes that have been achieved with these endangered great apes and the devoted care of our keepers, urgent action is required to bring our enclosures up to current animal accommodation standards.

The new Orangutan House is being built not just for our older current residents, but primarily for future generations of orangutans. The most important innovation is in making the spatial design match the orangutans’ natural social structure. Enclosures will therefore be built to accommodate female orangutans and their young, with separate enclosures for solitary males.

Outdoor enclosures

Orangutans are native to South East Asia, where they dwell in the safety of the trees of the tropical rainforests. It was important to incorporate the orangutans’ native habitat into the design of their new facility, and the idea thus emerged to create an “indoor” outdoor enclosure. By building a circular protective structure around the outdoor enclosure, the animals will be better protected both against harsh weather conditions and noise. This will also enable the orangutans to make use of the outdoor enclosures for a greater proportion of the year. Despite being covered, priority was given to providing the possibility for the orangutans to see far and wide from within the enclosure. There was therefore an additional planning focus on the vertical design of the enclosure. With an overall height of 10 metres, the orangutans will be able to look out across the Zoo and Grand Garden from their observation points.

The future residents

In addition to the orangutans, other species native to South East Asia will also be moving into the new house: these include the Aldabra giant tortoises Hugo II, III and IV already resident in the Zoo, as well as completely new species such as the smooth-coated otter, which is rarely seen in zoos, and another attractive species of monkey from the langur group. It is envisaged that the new monkey species will be socialised with the orangutans. Various reptiles in their terrariums will also be moving into the new enclosure.

Three tropical landscape areas

The natural habitat of Dresden Zoo’s resident Sumatran orangutans is the tropical rainforest of Sumatra.

Besides the rainforest, tropical habitats also incorporate a variety of other landscapes. Different biotopes of the tropics will be presented in and around the new orangutan house. Visitors will be guided through three themed areas representing the different biotopes:

the “Green jungle” with a view into the binturong enclosure, the “Green mountains and valleys beneath giant trees”
the hilly outdoor enclosure of the orangutans and the river valley of the smooth-coated otters
and the “Tropical beach” with a view into the giant tortoise enclosure.

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Areas/volumes
Usable area	approx. 2,095 m²
Net floor area	approx. 3,440 m²
Gross floor area	approx. 4,164 m²
Gross building volume	approx. 21,173 m³

Costs* gross
On-site infrastructure	approx. € 400,000
Building	approx. € 15,000,000
Outdoor enclosures	approx. € 3,000,000
Technology in outdoor enclosures	approx. € 800,000
Additional building costs	approx. € 2,800,000
Sum total	approx. € 22.000,000

Financing
Loan	€ 12 m
Dresden Zoo’s own resources	€ 7,35 m
Donations from Friends of Dresden Zoo	€ 650,000
Fundraising campaign	€ 2,2 m

Construction of the new Orangutan House

Project goal

Outdoor enclosures

The future residents

Three tropical landscape areas

Areas and costs

Areas/volumes

Costs* gross

Financing and donations

Financing

Schedule

Project delivery

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