Nearly 100 Giant Tree Trunks Transform Monkey Habitat At World’s Oldest Zoo

Barbary macaques at Tiergarten Schonbrunn are climbing high again after their habitat was upgraded with new climbing trees made from nearly 100 natural black locust trunks provided by the Austrian Federal Forests.

The Barbary macaque and Barbary sheep enclosure, which opened in 2021, has been fitted with new climbing and enrichment structures designed to create more opportunities for activity, climbing, and observation.

Zoo director Dr. Stephan Hering-Hagenbeck said a varied habitat with rocks, trees, and trunks is especially important for the macaques. He thanked the Austrian Federal Forests for their long-term cooperation and support with feeding branches and special tree trunks.

The zoo specifically searched for twisted and irregular trees to make climbing more exciting for the animals while naturally blending into the rocky landscape. The trunks were sourced from the Mannersdorfer Wuste forest district in Lower Austria.

Austrian Federal Forests board member Andreas Gruber said black locust trees grow with strong and widely branching limbs, making them especially suitable for climbing structures.

Officials added that black locust wood is highly weather-resistant and considered the hardest wood available in Central Europe.

The bark was intentionally left on the trunks to provide habitat for native insects, occasionally giving the monkeys an extra snack.