Lessons in primate heat tolerance : a commentary based on the "human zoo" experience

"Current enclosure designs for nonhuman primates emphasize cognitive and psychological well being (Hosey, 2005). The equal importance of physical environment was made apparent to us during the 2007 Human Zoo Project, which aimed to promote community awareness of Great Ape conservation, at Adelaide Zoo. To gain an experience of zoo exhibit conditions, four groups of six human participants spent a week in an outdoor enclosure that previously housed orangutans. A universal and immediate complaint made by participants was heat discomfort despite access to a spa pool, hammock, iced drinking water, shade sail, and sheltering palm trees (Figure 1)."--p. 162.