Facility design for Bachelor Gorilla groups

This paper emerged from discussions following the Bachelor Gorilla 2000 Workshop Facility Design sessions. Although many ape facility design features are common to all gorillas, the purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of special needs of bachelor gorillas. For example, managing escalating aggression between maturing or silverback males may require a high degree of caregiver intervention and thus easy access to gorillas both on- and off-exhibit is beneficial. Facility design features that reduce contact aggression, increase affiliation, provide visual barriers or escape routes, and allow safe outlets for species-typical behavior are essential to the successful management of bachelor gorilla groups in zoos. Such provisions permit caregivers the ability to constantly monitor and modify the zoo environment to meet rapidly changing husbandry needs. Creatively designed habitats and continuing research on bachelor group dynamics will undoubtedly allow zoo managers to maintain all gorilla groups in an environmental and social context that enhances well-being over the long term.