Monkey Land: An attempt at a realistic British zoo

[Mr Weasel]

How the freakin hell did I miss this! Weasel, words cannot describe how happy I am to see you here buddy!

Super happy to see you're building in Planet Zoo, and even happier to see that your skills are just as great as they used to be in ZT2. Can't wait to see more!

The feeling is most definitely mutual my old friend. It’s amazing to see you again and I’m loving being in your company once more, just like old times!

 

[Gerben]

Great update once again Mr. Weasel!
Glad that you're uploading the park once it's finished as well, I'm sure I can learn a trick or two from that haha.

 

[Mr Weasel]

Thanks for the responses once again, it's appreciated.

#9 - Kings of the Treetops​

This is the final major exhibit at the park which is dedicated to its Bornean orangutans.

The viewing area for the outdoor orangutan habitat. Visitors can view the habitat underneath a fabric shade structure:

General view of the outdoor orangutan habitat. The orangutans are kept on an island which has been freshly planted. An arrangement of climbing logs and hose provides ample climbing opportunities:

Raheel, the park's lone male. There's four (1.2.1) Bornean orangutans at Monkey Land:

The entrance to Kings of the Treetops. The exhibit is designed around a one-way system which takes visitors on an educational journey through various different orangutan habitats:

The path to the orangutan house is dotted with information about orangutan conservation. I made the signs before the new billboards came out but I decided to keep them due to the hours I put into them:

Dioramas of the threats Bornean orangutans face can also be seen. This is an example of deforestation in order to build housing:

A replica of a truck often involved in deforestation operations in Southeast Asia:

The entrance to the orangutan house. The building itself was lightly inspired by Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo:

The immediate view upon entering the orangutan house. This part of the house is themed around the treetops:

Visitors can observe the orangutans through faux trees:

An example of the signage present in this area:

The view through the windows. The orangutans have access to a tall frame in the shape of a tree:

A view from inside. The indoor enclosures are surrounded by tropical plants which are protected by hot wire. The building's glass structure and the presence of humidifiers creates a hot and humid atmosphere similar to the orangutan's natural habitat:

After the treetops section, visitors enter a small cinema where a short documentary on orangutan conservation is screened. When the documentary ends, the projection screen lifts to reveal the main indoor room for the orangutans:

This feature sadly doesn't "work" in the game but I made a mock-up to show how it would look if it did:

Watch the video here

A view of the seating area and the projector:

Edit: Oops, it looks like I deleted the side off the seating. I'm not sure how I managed that.

The main indoor enclosure:

The immediate view upon entering the Peat Swamp section of the orangutan house:

The viewing area for the Peat Swamp room:

The Peat Swamp enclosure features a waterfall, pond and various aquatic plants:

An example of the signage:

The immediate view upon leaving the orangutan house:

The viewing area for the orangutan nursery enclosure:

This enclosure is home to mothers and their offspring, as shown below. The baby is kept separate from the main habitat due to the risk of drowning in the moats and other water features indoors, among other reasons:

The backstage areas are accessible through the rear of the main building:

Overview of Kings of the Treetops:

I hope you enjoyed this update! Next, we're gonna take a look behind-the-scenes at some of the staff facilities.

 

[DarthQuell]

Thanks for the responses once again, it's appreciated.

#9 - Kings of the Treetops​

This is the final major exhibit at the park which is dedicated to its Bornean orangutans.

The viewing area for the outdoor orangutan habitat. Visitors can view the habitat underneath a fabric shade structure:

General view of the outdoor orangutan habitat. The orangutans are kept on an island which has been freshly planted. An arrangement of climbing logs and hose provides ample climbing opportunities:

Raheel, the park's lone male. There's four (1.2.1) Bornean orangutans at Monkey Land:

The entrance to Kings of the Treetops. The exhibit is designed around a one-way system which takes visitors on an educational journey through various different orangutan habitats:

The path to the orangutan house is dotted with information about orangutan conservation. I made the signs before the new billboards came out but I decided to keep them due to the hours I put into them:

Dioramas of the threats Bornean orangutans face can also be seen. This is an example of deforestation in order to build housing:

A replica of a truck often involved in deforestation operations in Southeast Asia:

The entrance to the orangutan house. The building itself was lightly inspired by Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo:

The immediate view upon entering the orangutan house. This part of the house is themed around the treetops:

Visitors can observe the orangutans through faux trees:

An example of the signage present in this area:

The view through the windows. The orangutans have access to a tall frame in the shape of a tree:

A view from inside. The indoor enclosures are surrounded by tropical plants which are protected by hot wire. The building's glass structure and the presence of humidifiers creates a hot and humid atmosphere similar to the orangutan's natural habitat:

After the treetops section, visitors enter a small cinema where a short documentary on orangutan conservation is screened. When the documentary ends, the projection screen lifts to reveal the main indoor room for the orangutans:

This feature sadly doesn't "work" in the game but I made a mock-up to show how it would look if it did:

Watch the video here

A view of the seating area and the projector:

Edit: Oops, it looks like I deleted the side off the seating. I'm not sure how I managed that.

The main indoor enclosure:

The immediate view upon entering the Peat Swamp section of the orangutan house:

The viewing area for the Peat Swamp room:

The Peat Swamp enclosure features a waterfall, pond and various aquatic plants:

An example of the signage:

The immediate view upon leaving the orangutan house:

The viewing area for the orangutan nursery enclosure:

This enclosure is home to mothers and their offspring, as shown below. The baby is kept separate from the main habitat due to the risk of drowning in the moats and other water features indoors, among other reasons:

The backstage areas are accessible through the rear of the main building:

Overview of Kings of the Treetops:

I hope you enjoyed this update! Next, we're gonna take a look behind-the-scenes at some of the staff facilities.

I love it, but in order to for the theme, try naming one of the Louie Prima, after the singer that portrayed the original King Louie from Disney's 1967 Jungle Book.


The deforestation truck idea is very cool

 

[FoxyDee]

I am in awe, so beautiful and realistic. Good job!

 

[NZFanatic]

Very awesome. Love the distribution sign you made, but did you know there are actually three orangutan species now? The Tapanuli orangutan was described in 2017 as a species separate from the Sumatran orangutan.

 

[DarthQuell]

Very awesome. Love the distribution sign you made, but did you know there are actually three orangutan species now? The Tapanuli orangutan was described in 2017 as a species separate from the Sumatran orangutan.

I never heard that. I gotta check that out

 

[Karen F]

Really impressive! Well done!

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

I wondered why that looked so familiar while I was scrolling through this! Your entrance really does look similar to the Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo. This was an incredibly impressive thread to read through, thank you so much for sharing!

 

[NZFanatic]

I wondered why that looked so familiar while I was scrolling through this! Your entrance really does look similar to the Budongo Trail at Edinburgh Zoo. This was an incredibly impressive thread to read through, thank you so much for sharing!

Dang I miss Edinburgh Zoo.

 

[ZSHplays]

Love the different habitat types there!

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

Dang I miss Edinburgh Zoo.

It's a lovely Zoo! I often wish it wasn't on a hill though

 

[NZFanatic]

It's a lovely Zoo! I often wish it wasn't on a hill though

I visited three or four times when I was living in Perth a few years ago. Absolutely loved it, and Budongo Trail was definitely a highlight. If you're worried about hills, you should check out Wellington Zoo here in New Zealand. Almost the whole thing is on a steep incline.

 

[Eltanin Casciani]

I visited three or four times when I was living in Perth a few years ago. Absolutely loved it, and Budongo Trail was definitely a highlight. If you're worried about hills, you should check out Wellington Zoo here in New Zealand. Almost the whole thing is on a steep incline.

I would love to! NZ is on my list of places I'd love to travel to.

 

[Mr Weasel]

Thank you so much for the comments and likes once again.

#10 - Staff facilities​

This update is on the park's staff facilities.

The view towards the staff centre / animal hospital from within the park. The area is off-limit to visitors:

This is a warehouse used for storage. On the left, you can also see the gate which vehicles can drive through to access the park:

The front of the staff centre / animal hospital - the main building is used for veterinarian care and zookeepers, whereas the building on the left is used for administration:

Another view of the staff centre / animal hospital:

The back of the staff centre / animal hospital - the large door is used for animal ambulances:

The staff centre also features a small garden where keepers can grow plants:

Deviating from the layout, let's take a look at some other parts of the park. Here's the events suite and education and conservation centre:

These buildings have their own car park which visitors can access separately from the main entrance:

The access road towards these buildings:

Elsewhere, this is the gate which staff can use to access the Pan Trail backstage area, which features its own car park, staff room, keeper hut, veterinarian surgery and off-show holding enclosures:

Meanwhile, this road allows access to the back of the cafe:

That wraps up this update. In the next one, we're going to take a look at the gift shop.

 

[ZSHplays]

Man I need to do more work on my backstage areas!

 

[Hugo98]

I remember you from the ZT2 community. The zoos there were great and this one is too. It really has a very realistic appearence. My favourite is the orang utan complex but everything looks great.

 

[Mr Weasel]

Thanks again for your comments and likes!

#11 Gift shop​

This is the penultimate update guys!

The gift shop exterior, located close to the entrance. The gift shop sells various souvenirs, ornaments, toys and books:

I'm quite proud of the way this turned out as I used zero references and only my own ideas:

General view of the gift shop upon entry:

All of the stock is primate-themed - here's a selection of toys:

These are the book shelves. The first shelf is for adult books whereas the second is for kids:

Another view of the interior:

The checkout area - a visitor information kiosk is also located nearby:

The final update is next up - a look at the park at night time.

 

[Urufu1997]

This Souvenir Shop is absolutely amazing. Great Work. I hope if I'll ever try the same with the Souvenirs it will look at least half as good. Also really great Work with the Exterior Design

 

[Mr Weasel]

#12 - The Park at Night​

In this final update, we're gonna take a look at the park at night.

I tried to place lights everywhere they'd realistically be but, for some reason, things don't always look as lit as they would be in real-life.

The park from above:

The entrance:

The cafe:

Inside the Old World monkey house:

Inside Pan Trail:

Inside Gorilla Outlook:

Inside Kings of the Treetops:

The staff centre / animal hospital:

The gift shop exterior (in retrospect, I could have added more lights around here):

The gift shop interior:

And that's the end of your tour of Monkey Land. I hope you enjoyed it! I certainly had a blast building it and putting these updates together. All of your comments and likes made it all the more rewarding too, so thank you! Hopefully it won't be long until I have another zoo to showcase.