August 6, 1998
Contact: Rod Hackney
Telephone: 336-879-7204

ASHEBORO -- "Going to Kansas City, Kansas City here I come." The refrain from that classic rhythm and blues tune may come to mind for chimpanzee keepers at the North Carolina Zoological Park these days as they finalize plans to send their charges to the Kansas City (Mo.) Zoo for a 14-month sabbatical.

Ten of the zoo's chimpanzees will be moving to Kansas City this fall, with about half the group expected to depart on September 1, and the rest scheduled to leave in early November. Their temporary relocation is necessary while more than $1.6 million in renovations are made to the N.C. Zoo's chimp exhibit and holding facilities. In addition to the 10 bound for Kansas City, one female chimp from North Carolina will be transferred to the Dallas (Tex.) Zoo as part of the American Zoo and Aquarium Association's (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP), a national cooperative management program for zoo animals.

Ranging in ages from four to 29, the nine female and two male chimps are exhibited in a half-acre outdoor habitat that includes large living trees, a stream, an artificial termite mound and an artificial tree for climbing. Renovations to the exhibit will include an additional climbing tree and major changes to the overlooks that will improve viewing and educational displays for zoo visitors.

The new construction also will expand the off-exhibit holding quarters for both the chimps and the zoo's lions from 4,400 to more than 8,000 square feet, including an outdoor chimp holding area. Improved caging, lighting and capabilities for such high-tech equipment as closed-circuit observation cameras, along with a new keeper service area, are in the plans as well. About $1.14 million of the total construction cost will come from state funds, with the remainder provided by the N.C. Zoological Society, the zoo's private, non-profit support organization.

Construction is set to begin in November after the second group of chimps departs for Kansas City. The chimps are being sent in two groups because Kansas City cannot accommodate all 10 animals at one time in their quarantine facilities. AZA zoos require new animals coming into their collections to go through a quarantine period for health observations.

According to Lorraine Smith, N.C. Zoo Curator of Mammals, the chimp transfer is the result of more than a year of preparation and planning by the Animal Division staff. North Carolina is fortunate that Kansas City has the facilities to house the chimpanzees, Smith said, since there is a tremendous shortage of exhibit and holding space for chimps in American zoos. The Kansas City Zoo will receive $5,000 per month for housing and care of the chimps during their 14-month stay. Those funds also are being provided through private contributions to the N.C. Zoo Society. A Kansas City Zoo chimp keeper will be arriving in Asheboro on Friday to spend a week becoming familiar with the N.C. Zoo chimps. In addition to Kansas City's cooperation, the Detroit and St. Louis Zoos also are helping with the move by providing shipping crates for the animals.

"We are pleased the Kansas City Zoo's chimpanzee facility is of such high quality that we are able to cooperate with another fine AZA institution as they improve their holding and exhibitry," said Kansas City Zoo Director Mark Wourms.

Bruce Clark, Curator for the Kansas City Zoo, said North Carolina's chimps will be exhibited on alternate days with Kansas City's 10-member troop. Kansas City's three-acre, outdoor chimp habitat is among the newest in the country, having opened in June 1995.

"We are preparing our facility to alternately exhibit both groups of chimpanzees," Clark said. "The two troops will not have physical access to each other, although they will become familiar by sight and sound. Our staff is eager to observe expected behavioral changes in both troops."

The North Carolina Zoo is planning to reopen its renovated chimp exhibit to the public in the fall of 2000. The zoo is an agency of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

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