Excited children and parents crowded underneath the stainless steel structure suspended overhead at the Indianapolis Zoo.
The pointed and cheered as a chimpanzee made its way along the elevated trailway. Kids and adults peered upwards, trying to get a better look at one of the zoo’s most recent additions.
At the same time, the great ape looked down, investigating its new neighbors.
Chimps have come to the Indianapolis Zoo with the opening of the Penny & Jock Fortune International Chimpanzee Complex presented by Central Indiana Honda Dealers. The massive multi-faceted structure includes three living spaces connected by an overhead trail that weaves around the zoo, giving visitors a chance to see the apes in action as well as for the chimpanzees to explore territory much like they would in the wild.
The complex is one of the largest chimpanzee habitats in the United States and is home to 21 apes. As the attraction opens to the public Saturday, it represents a major victory for guests to the zoo, ape conservationists and the chimpanzees themselves.
“We are immensely proud of what has been accomplished here. The Penny & Jock Fortune International Chimpanzee Complex is a major achievement for our zoo and for our city, and is a major point of pride,” said Dr. Rob Shumaker, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Zoo. “We’ve done something that is extremely innovative and establishes a new standard for the care of chimpanzees in accredited zoos.”
In December 2022, the Indianapolis Zoo announced its massive $53 million capital campaign known as The Campaign for Our Zoo, Our Community, Our World. The campaign included a newly envisioned guest welcome experience as well as the Global Center for Species Survival, both of which opened on Memorial Day weekend in 2023.
But the most significant aspect of the campaign was the International Chimpanzee Complex. Designers wanted to created a habitat that catered to the unique personalities of chimpanzees.
The great apes live in a social structure known as “fusion-fission,” which means there is a community of individuals, and in the course of a day, the animals will come and go as they please. Some individuals will go off on their own, while others work in small or even large groups. Those social encounters change repeatedly day to day.
The new habitat had to accommodate that organization.
“I believe what we’ve built here will allow us to have a remarkable, dynamic and incredible community of chimpanzees that will be immensely interesting to our guests, and certainly all of us who work with them at the zoo,” Shumaker said.
After visitors to the zoo enter the complex through the new welcome center, they are funneled through the Global Center for Species Survival and out into the zoo grounds. There, they encounter the first aspect of the new chimpanzee habitat: the community hub.
Already, the zoo’s chimpanzee groups have been exploring and acclimating to the space.
“Seeing the chimpanzees interact with a new exhibit, interact with new people, seeing the relationships building between chimps has been amazing. Seeing them build a community has been really cool to watch,” said Veronica Meredith, chimpanzee keeper.
Just a short walk from the community hub — both for zoo visitors and the chimpanzees — is the Harlan/Shriver Families Cognition Center. The indoor space features a series of touch-sensitive computer stations where the chimps can solve problems to mimic natural foraging and problem-solving behavior, just like they would in the wild.
Their successes are rewarded with banana pellets or cereal that the chimps scoop into their mouths.
“The goal is to have touch-screens not only here in this building, but spread all over the exhibit,” said Dr. Chris Martin, director of research for the zoo. “The apes can travel, they can forage, they can explore. We’ll be turning the touch-screens on throughout the day, so they can go and see if one is available, work to get some food. In that sense, it’s a lot like a wild foraging scenario.”
The final piece of the International Chimpanzee Complex is the Deborah J. Simon Culture Center, the largest indoor space for both the chimpanzees and zoo guests. A focus of the center will be on tool usage, and activities will be available for the apes to demonstrate tool skills both indoors and outdoors.
The three buildings making up the complex will give visitors glimpses at different aspects of chimpanzee life.
But it’s the overhead Chimpanzee Trail that likely gets the most attention. The quarter-mile long enclosed pathway lets the apes move freely, much to the delight of visitors.
On Tuesday morning, with busloads of school children flooding the zoo, it was the trailway that roused the most excitement. Groups of kids followed the apes back and forth, waving to get attention and promising to get it a banana.
That connection will be a boon for everyone involved, Shumaker said.
“I believe that everything sees about our chimpanzees here will absolutely compel them to care about their conservation in the wild as well as their care and well-being here at the zoo,” he said.
AT A GLANCE
Penny & Jock Fortune International Chimpanzee Complex presented by Central Indiana Honda Dealers
What: A new exhibit featuring indoor and outdoor spaces for chimpanzees, designed to encourage natural chimpanzee behavior and mimic a wild environment.
Where: Indianapolis Zoo
How large: 9,600 square feet, including three indoor-outdoor spaces for chimpanzees connected by an overhead trail system.
When does it open: Saturday
Information: indianapoliszoo.com
