INDIANAPOLIS — A new primate exhibit is coming to the Indianapolis Zoo.
The zoo is getting ready to open an International Chimpanzee Complex over Memorial Day weekend.
It will be one of the largest communities of chimpanzees in the country. The animals can move around on a trail system, which is hundreds of feet long.
"It is designed as best as we possibly can from the point of view of the chimpanzees first," said Dr. Rob Shumaker, president and CEO of the Indianapolis Zoo.
They will decide where they go and what they do every day, giving them choices.
Shumaker said this allows visitors to have unexpected encounters with the animals. The zoo currently has four females: Lucy, Sue, Mara and Lela.
There's also male chimpanzees Billy and Ben.
More chimpanzees are in quarantine, and over the next few months, Shumaker said they'll be introduced to the others. The goal is to open the exhibit with about 20 chimpanzees.
Some visitors can expect to have a life-changing experience.
"It does happen. People have those moments where they are forever-changed about their understanding or their feelings about a chimpanzee," Shumaker said. "We want to provide those opportunities, and the more comfortable the apes are, the more options they have, the more places they have to go, the more likely they are to take those opportunities and have a private moment with a visitor."
The complex can house up to 30 chimpanzees.
And an interesting fact — chimpanzees can live well into their 50s and 60s.