Philadelphia Zoo Adds Gorilla Passageway To Its Overhead Animal Network
By John McDevitt
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Zoo's latest skyway for animals allows visitors to see gorillas just feet above their heads.
The network of outdoor enclosures, called "Zoo 360," allows animals to roam above and around visitors. The latest, "Gorilla Treeway," is an elevated, 300-foot outdoor passageway where the great apes can hang out and play.
A special platform also allows animal handlers to get right up next to the gorillas, to facilitate training and medical care.
Zoo curator Kevin Murphy (below) explains that the animals are being conditioned to take part in their own upkeep:
"With vaccinations, depending on whether they are in the shoulder or in the hip, the gorilla is trained to position along the mesh, hold that position until the keeper tells them to let go, and then they can inject them with a vaccination or, ultimately, draw blood."
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Many visitors, especially kids, are amazed by how close the gorillas are. Next up for Zoo 360 is an African plains trail, where giraffes, zebras, and rhinos will also be able to roam near visitors sometime next year.