Rendering: Audubon Zoo to overhaul monkey exhibit and add island
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The boardwalk area at the back of the zoo will be closed for the next year while its converted into a spider monkey habitat. Rendering: Courtesy of Audubon Nature Institute
Audubon Zoo is overhauling part of Jaguar Jungle to create new spaces for spider monkeys and guests, officials announced Tuesday.
Driving the news: The boardwalk area in the back of the zoo is being renovated to add poles that will allow spider monkeys to swing overhead, according to Audubon spokesperson Melissa Lee.
- The project also will add an island, a new path and a boat with interactive exhibits. The boat won't move in the lagoon, Lee tells Axios.
Timeline: Construction started this week, officials say, and is expected to be finished by January 2025.
- Audubon did not say how much the project will cost.
Zoom in: The animals that live in the construction zone have been moved.
- The bat house, alpaca yard and playground will remain open during construction, Lee says.
- Valerio, the infamous feline resident who escaped and went on a killing spree in 2018, will be on exhibit in Jaguar Jungle during the renovations.
Meanwhile, the zoo continues to work on the giraffe habitat, which has been empty since the last of the zoo's giraffes died earlier this year.
- A sign posted outside the habitat says the giraffes would be here in fall 2023. An updated timeline wasn't immediately available Tuesday.
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