Great Ape Passage - Orangutans Move In

A stop on San Francisco Zoo: Exhibit by Exhibit, a free self-guided tour.

Ahead is the Great Ape Passage, built into part of the zoo's historic Pachyderm Building, where elephants once lived. Opened in 2019, it added an indoor dayroom with viewing windows and an outdoor passage overhead where apes can climb above visitors' heads.

The zoo kept chimpanzees for 96 years, but in late 2025 it paused that program. Its last chimps were to move to other zoos, and their habitat is being converted for Bornean orangutans, which the zoo plans to breed. It hopes to bring chimpanzees back in a larger habitat within 5 to 10 years.

Bornean orangutans are critically endangered as their forests are cleared for logging and palm oil plantations. Look up as you walk, and you may see an orangutan moving hand over hand above you. Nearby, the Primate Discovery Center holds more monkeys and lemur relatives.

Getting here: Walk north from Penguin Island past the Asian rhino yard to the Great Ape Passage.

Did you know?: The word orangutan comes from Malay words usually translated as person of the forest.

Photo op: Stand beneath the overhead passage and look up - an orangutan crossing above you is the shot.

For kids: Orangutans build a fresh nest of branches to sleep in almost every night. What would you use to build yours?

Nearby: Leaping Lemur Cafe and restrooms are just west. On your way back to the entrance, detour through Gail's Fragrance Garden near the South Lawn.

More on Wikipedia: Bornean orangutan · Chimpanzee

Stops on this tour

  1. Main Entrance - Where the Map Begins
  2. African Savanna - Giraffes on the Fog Line
  3. Gorilla Preserve - A Troop on the Hill
  4. Lemur Forest - Madagascar by the Sea
  5. Dentzel Carousel - Older Than the Zoo
  6. Insect Zoo - Small Wonders Up Close
  7. Family Farm - From Storyland to Goats
  8. Mother's Building - Murals Behind the Arches
  9. Koala Crossing - A Gift from Sydney
  10. Australian WalkAbout - Kangaroos by the Sea
  11. Tropical Rainforest - A WPA Birdhouse Reborn
  12. Grizzly Gulch - California's Missing Bear
  13. Little Puffer - A Steam Train from 1904
  14. Lion House - Big Cats in a WPA Classic
  15. Penguin Island - A Colony Built in 1984
  16. Great Ape Passage - Orangutans Move In