Where Do They Live?
At our gorilla facilities in the Santa Cruz Mountains, temperatures seasonally range from a daytime low of 55 degrees to a high of 80 degrees. Koko and Ndume have access to outdoors 365 days of the year via a large sunny 20-foot tall 4800 sq. ft. yard and a second smaller, shaded yard (approx. 650 sq. ft.).
Both yards feature ropes, suspended tires and balls, a natural substrate floor, and multiple loose enrichment toys. The yards are connected via chutes to their indoor quarters with multiple rooms for each gorilla. A third indoor housing unit with two rooms is available adjoining the large yard to provide shelter, heat, or cooling (seasonally) should the gorillas choose to utilize it. All but one indoor room have windows to allow the gorillas to monitor the outdoor environment, something gorillas enjoy doing.
