Speaker: Sarah Edwards is the Senior VP of Infrastructure and Construction at the Indianapolis Zoo.
Sarah Edwards will talk about the planning, engineering, and execution involved in going from an idea to reality for the growing group of chimpanzees that now call the Indianapolis Zoo home. She will talk about the challenges of making this exhibit work for the animals, staff and visitors to the Zoo.
Today’s Presentation
Program: Live and Zoom: Designing and developing a world class home for chimpanzees at the Indianapolis Zoo
Speaker: Sarah Edwards, Senior VP of Infrastructure and Construction, Indianapolis Zoo
Introduced By: Rick Whitener
Attendance: NESC: 102, Zoom: 30
Guest(s): Mary Todd, Sharon Hoog, David Garcia
Scribe: Hank Wolfla
Editor: Ed Nitka
View a recording of today’s Zoom presentation at: www.scientechclub.org/zoom/1917.mp4
Today’s speaker was Sarah Edwards, the Senior VP of Infrastructure and Construction at the Indianapolis Zoo. Sara gave an excellent presentation about the reality of planning, engineering, and execution of building facilities for a growing group of chimpanzees at the Indianapolis Zoo. The facility was designed under a mission statement that would provide a fusion/fission society for the chimpanzees. These animals need personal flexibility and a natural environment. Chimpanzees live in groups of 20 to 50 animals in their national environment. Presently, the zoo has 21 animals.
The new zoo facility was designed in a linear pattern with three buildings. These are the Community Hub, the Cognitive Facility, and the Cultural Center. All these buildings are built with concrete and steel. Chimpanzees are much more robust than humans, so the keepers and the public need to be protected. A chimpanzee can jump as high as 18 feet and leap as far as 20 feet. Slam lock doors are used throughout the facility for safety. The glass windows between the public and animals are 2 1/8 in thick. Steel columns with three-wire (mid-wall) and six-wire electric fences located at the top of the walls provide a pulsed 5000-volt shock to stop the animals from reaching the top. To keep the animals from digging under the wall, the floor of the outdoor facility has a 2-foot layer of topsoil over a 2-foot layer of stone.
The facility was started in August of 2021 and was finished in December of 2023. The budget for the project was 28.125 million dollars, and the project was completed with a final price of 30 million. Each of the three buildings in the complex has electrical generators for backup power to keep the security and environment system online. Chimpanzees like a warm and humid environment, but at the same time, they are cold-tolerant. The floors are heated in the cage and holding areas, and the environment is controlled by the typical HVAC system.
Exciting features include a touch screen learning system in the cognitive center, which provides the animals with learning entertainment. What is very interesting is that in some areas, two touch screens are shared with the chimpanzee and the human on the other side of the wall. Special cage areas have been designed for chimpanzees to enter, and there are down tubes for the drawing of blood without the need for anesthetizing the chimps. This taught behavior is reinforced by a robust reward system. The feeding stations are made from very strong stainless steel. Chimpanzees are fed both cut-up food and whole food, such as heads of lettuce. Many of us have seen the Zoo’s
presentation on TV; Sarah told us the best time to visit the Zoo to see the Chimpanzees out and active would be first thing in the morning, and you should start in the Community Hub.
Sarah Edwards
