ST. LOUIS — The Saint Louis Zoo’s newest attraction looks like a jungle gym for kids, adults and animals alike.
The Michael and Quirsis Riney Primate Canopy Trails will open to the public Monday, July 12, giving visitors and primates a first-of-its-kind zoo experience. The 35,000-square-foot playground is an outdoor expansion that’s connected to the Primate House. It lets the zoo’s lemurs, tamarins, colobus monkeys and chimps explore outside – some of them for the first time ever.
“Our original Primate House opened in the ‘20s. It had very limited outdoor space,” said Saint Louis Zoo Director Michael Macek, adding that with this new exhibit the primates can spend most of their time outside now if they want to.
The canopy trails also allow visitors to experience the primates like they never have before. The exhibit almost look like a treehouse and playground all rolled into one. It features elevated boardwalks, mesh tunnels and climbing fixtures for guests of all ages, taking visitors up into the treetops where they can watch the lemurs and chimps hanging out in their own play areas.
“This is a very innovative experience for the visitors and the animals,” Macek said.
PHOTOS: A first look at the zoo’s new Primate Canopy Trails
The habitat was designed to wind through the monkeys’ eight outdoor homes, meaning they could be roaming from one space to another all while guests are climbing through their own tunnels.
“We have 70 different combinations,” Macek added. “So, on one day you may come and visit and find one species in a particular habitat, the very next day you’ll have another. So that’s enriching for our guests and it’s really enriching for our species because our monkeys and lemurs can go throughout and visit different areas at different times of the day and the week.”
For those who prefer to keep their feet on the ground, there’s still plenty to experience. The zoo created a see-through tunnel that guests can walk through to get a panoramic view of the animals.
Primate Canopy Trails opens to the public at 10 a.m. Monday. Admission to the exhibit is free. The Saint Louis Zoo continues to require timed entry tickets, which you can reserve online for free. For more information, visit stlzoo.org/PrimateCanopyTrails.