Columbus Zoo Bonobo Exhibit

The newly renovated indoor “Claudine Andre Bonobo Habitat” has opened at the Columbus Zoo. This fresh space was designed specifically for the bonobos, offering increased vertical space (26 feet total) with pathways and climbing/swinging opportunities-an important component for this species that spends time both on the ground and in trees. Three-foot-deep mulch biofloor for the bonobo’s additional comfort. Increased HVAC to provide high humidity, the ideal condition for bonobos. Bonobos are among the rarest great apes in the world and are known for their female-led social structures. There are only 5,000 to 50,000 estimated to remain in the wild.

Bonobos are native to forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and face threats like habitat destruction to bushmeat hunting. The Columbus Zoo has a long-standing partnership with Friends of Bonobos, the conservation organization that created the world’s only bonobo sanctuary. Founder Claudine Andre has rescued and cared for hundreds of bonobos, and they have reintroduced bonobos into the wild, first in 2010 and again in 2022. Columbus Zoo is one of only a few organizations in North America to house bonobos and is actively involved in global conservation projects aimed at protecting this species. The redesigned rooms to accommodate the complex social structure of the species came together with the fabricator and the local galvanizer working on the final phase of this project. The galvanizing team: Operations, Plant Manager and the Sales team not only galvanized the steel but thoroughly prepped the material so it could be painted on-site at the zoo once it was delivered, avoiding a 5-hour roundtrip to and from the fabricator’s facility. This saved the fabricator time and money from unloading and loading the material, prepping the material in their fab shop was not needed. Teamwork makes a difference; the galvanizer’s Sales team met the fabricator on-site the day of the delivery to ensure there were no issues on the galvanizer prior to painting. Another successful project completed not only for the fabricator but also for the bonobo habitat at the Columbus Zoo.