Best City Zoo Elephant Exhibits?

tigris115

Well-Known Member
10+ year member
Hoping to make a city elephant exhibit in PZ. The total area is about 100 acres (85.78 in the main zoo and 15.59 across the road)

I uploaded a picture of the land below.

So I'm wondering what elephant exhibits in city areas can be considered good to great. I would like a indoor area suitable for cold winters as well as a good cow and bull yard.
 

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Hoping to make a city elephant exhibit in PZ. The total area is about 100 acres (85.78 in the main zoo and 15.59 across the road)

I uploaded a picture of the land below.

So I'm wondering what elephant exhibits in city areas can be considered good to great. I would like a indoor area suitable for cold winters as well as a good cow and bull yard.

100 acres (40 hectares) is really large for a European city zoo at least. Most typical classical city zoos are more like 25-40 acres in size. This means that two of Europe's most praised elephant enclosures with large house would easily fit in your zoo. The 2 hectare (5 acre) Cologne elephant complex as well as the 2.7 acre Zurich elephant exhibit:

Europe's 100 must see exhibits

If you are looking for a small, but modern, elephant exhibit that makes most out of the available space, have a look at Tembea in Zoo Basel, Switzerland. Total area is 6500 square metres (1.6 acres). This enclosure has plenty of structure and large diversity of feeding stations and offers a varied habitat on limited space. The lower picture shows the bigger half of the cow yard, that can be divided in 2 parts and there is a bull enclosure too if separation is necessary.

full

@lintworm

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@lintworm
 
That looks nice. I'm thinking that since I'm doing Indian elephants, I can make a general Giant Herbivore building for both Indian elephants and Indian rhinos
 
Frankly, most US city zoos have phased out their elephants. As@lintwomr mentioned, 100 acres is quite large to be considered a "city zoo." Check out Cincinnati Zoo (77 acres) planned Elephant Trek. Taronga Zoo in Sydney is a true city zoo exhibit but doesn't meet the standards of a modern facility, in my opinion. Oregon Zoo is 64 acres and has my favorite elephant complex in the country, Elephant lands. Houston Zoo is 55 acres and also has one of the best elephant programs in the country.
 
I don't think it'd really be a "city zoo" (it's in the suburbs), but the Birmingham Zoo has an amazing elephant exhibit and is 122 acres.
 
Tbh, I just got this template for a city zoo off of Steam because making my own would be a pain in the ass
 
Taronga Zoo in Sydney is a true city zoo exhibit but doesn't meet the standards of a modern facility,

Taronga's enclosures are rather tiny. Yes, they may be quite scenic and well designed, but they're small.

Oregan probably has the best elephant complex in the US imo.

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It's not an entirely aesthetic enclosure, but is large, and serves the elephants well.
 
Smithsonian's National Zoo, Cleveland Zoo, and Saint Louis Zoo come to mind as being city zoos with strong elephant complexes in the US.
 
I don't know if this would fit, but the best elephant exhibit in my opinion would be the Kaeng Krachan Elephant Park at Zoo Zurich in Switzerland. I've never been to Switzerland, (or anywhere in Europe in that manner). Still, this enclosure just by the pictures is by far the nicest elephant enclosure I have seen, Its indoor area is spectacular and it looks like you are looking into the vast jungles of Southeast Asia. It looks nothing like your typical indoor elephant area. It even hosts a restaurant that overviews one of the indoor yards so you can view the elephants while you dine. The outdoor area from the pictures reminds me of the Colombus Zoo's elephant yard. Overall, this exhibit is state-of-the-art, and I do hope to pay a visit to Switzerland one day and see this immaculate enclosure for myself one day.
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