the international orangutan center:
A wow factor for the Midwest

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  Functional Forest               Meet the Animals              Educational Components 

The best orangutan exhibit in the world.

To engage, enlighten, and empower children and families, we need exhibits that bring people close to animals. In return, we owe the animals in our care a habitat where they can lead enriched, fulfilled lives. That’s the dual goal of our dramatic new International Orangutan Center and its first arrivals - eight orangutans, one of the largest groups of these endangered great apes of any zoo in the nation.
 
Orangutans now live only in the forests of the Southeastern Asian islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Unbelievably intelligent and charismatic, orangutans are creatures of the rainforest. Their habitat is being destroyed like other rainforests worldwide.
 
The orangutans coming to the Indianapolis Zoo have been displaced by damaging floods and other unforeseen developments at their previous homes. Some of the eight orangutans have formed social units with unique bonds.
 
With your help, the Indianapolis Zoo will build them a spectacular and unique home—the only facility that can keep these orangutans together in an exhibit specifically designed to meet their physical, social, and intellectual needs.

The landmark site of the exhibit is the soaring Beacon of Hope tower that will draw people into the Indianapolis Zoo while enhancing the downtown skyline. With its unique design, it will become an icon for the Zoo, and a beacon for the city and for wild orangutans.

The orangutans and the International Orangutan Center will be overseen by the Indianapolis Zoo’s Vice President for Life Sciences, Dr. Robert Shumaker, one of the top orangutan experts in the world.