14-04-2025
The Cincinnati Zoo opens new Siamang Point exhibits in Elephant Trek
An expanded and now interactive experience for Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden guests opened to the public on Monday, introducing a highly anticipated addition to the Harry and Linda Fath Elephant Trek exhibit that first opened in October of 2024.
This new exhibition is called "Siamang Point" and features several new species, including Asian small-clawed otters, Siamang gibbons and rhinoceros hornbills. It offers more opportunities for visitors to experience the animals up close and personal.
The variety of species share a habitat that originally only hosted an Asian elephant herd with space for their future offspring. The creation of the exhibit is an investment in a long-term breeding program that will help secure the animals' futures at the Cincinnati Zoo.
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Zoo staff members such as Wendy Rice, the team leader of Siamang Point, can finally present the redesigned area to the public after many months of hard work to prepare the landscape and allow the animals enough time to adjust to their new environment.
'I'm really excited to be a part of Siamang Point and to introduce these species to our guests,' said Rice. 'I think as our guests get to come back and visit with them, you're going to fall in love with them as individuals.'
As guests crowd around, playful otters Munti and Berbak can be seen chasing one another into the waters of their enclosure and Sebastian, a male Siamang gibbon, quickly strides overtop of awestruck guests in his overhanging outdoor habitat.
While Monday's grand opening was pivotal for the animals and zookeepers alike, staff members say they do not plan to stop improving Elephant Trek yet.
'There will be one more species joining us here at Siamang Point, hopefully in the summer months,' said Rice. 'We hope to add a Northern Sulawesi babirusa to the mix. It's going to live in the Asian small-clawed habitat with the otters, so that's a really cool element [of this habitat] that's going to be an evolution as we come into the summer months."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Cincinnati Zoo opens new exhibit Siamang Point to public
