Dallas Zoo Giants of the Savanna

Enzo

Enzo

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Hello. Are the elephants at the Dallas zoo still mixed with other African mammals? I have seen a few videos on YouTube and that doesn't seem to be the case any longer. Does it have anything to do with the Swazi cows? Thanks in advance!
 
Enzo said:
Hello. Are the elephants at the Dallas zoo still mixed with other African mammals? I have seen a few videos on YouTube and that doesn't seem to be the case any longer. Does it have anything to do with the Swazi cows? Thanks in advance!
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They did mix the elephants giraffes and hoofstock together lot more when just the golden girls were living there until 10 years ago when the new swazi herd arrived. I think they still do that but much less often now that they're about to be an active breeding facility. In most of the more recent pics and vids the pachyderms are in their south exhibit whilst the hoofstock and ostrich are in the much smaller north habitat. They keepers confirmed it on the last two visits I made last year. The south yard Is about 3 times bigger than the north yard anyways.


That being said, since the next phase of their master plan involves repurposing the monorail area to a safari trail with cheetah varouis antelope breeds and, more importantly, the return of rhinos, I think they should move the giraffes zebras ostriches and kudu to that area and strictly devoye both the north and south habitats for their growing herd. They also plan to add a large indoor playroom for the herd more or less around the barn very soon too.
 
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The Horse Boy said:
They did mix the elephants giraffes and hoofstock together lot more when just the golden girls were living there until 10 years ago when the new swazi herd arrived. I think they still do that but much less often now that they're about to be an active breeding facility. In most of the more recent pics and vids the pachyderms are in their south exhibit whilst the hoofstock and ostrich are in the much smaller north habitat. They keepers confirmed it on the last two visits I made last year. The south yard Is about 3 times bigger than the north yard anyways.


That being said, since the next phase of their master plan involves repurposing the monorail area to a safari trail with cheetah varouis antelope breeds and, more importantly, the return of rhinos, I think they should move the giraffes zebras ostriches and kudu to that area and strictly devoye both the north and south habitats for their growing herd. They also plan to add a large indoor playroom for the herd more or less around the barn very soon too.
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Oh, what a bummer. I mean, the differential of their exhibit was the fact you could see so many species mixed with elephants, including a few favorites. That would be a huge loss for the zoo, in my opinion. I do understand they might be separated because they want to avoid problems between the herd and the other species, but still.
 
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Enzo said:
Oh, what a bummer. I mean, the differential of their exhibit was the fact you could see so many species mixed with elephants, including a few favorites. That would be a huge loss for the zoo, in my opinion. I do understand they might be separated because they want to avoid problems between the herd and the other species, but still.
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I know dallas was an OG with that, but I think it may be safer if they either move their the giraffes ostrich and hoofstock to the monorail area, or even just build some invisible barrier that blends seamlessly into the two habitats, like a moat that goes down into a half angle for the animals to go up and down, or a larger water hole structure. Caldwell and Fresno do that at their savannah habitats, which both use moder african elephant habitats. I think both in the wild, let alone captivity, elephants don't spend too much time with other animals except at waterholes and pans. Hence they might eventually have conflicts with other species if that were to continue in a zoo enviornment.
 
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From what I've seen and read, it looks like elephant mixes are more trouble than they are worth. Omaha also teased some ambitious mixes (white rhino/giraffe/ostrich/antelope and elephant/zebra) that seem to not really happen often.
 
JVM said:
From what I've seen and read, it looks like elephant mixes are more trouble than they are worth. Omaha also teased some ambitious mixes (white rhino/giraffe/ostrich/antelope and elephant/zebra) that seem to not really happen often.
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Exactly. Like I said, that is why they should either use a barrier to permanently separate the giraffes hoofstock and ostrich from the elephants, or move the hoofstock to the future safari trail, then devote the entire multi-acre savannah to elephants in order expand their herd and perhaps keep multiple bulls (it looks like they can only hold one adult bull at maximum). Either choices are a win-win for me.

It looks like NC birmingham Omaha tampa fresno caldwell and atlanta don't have elephants share the same space with other species but they still make it look like the habitats blend in with eachother.
 
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Great Argus said:
My understanding is this is pretty much what they're already doing. They're fully capable of separating the troublemakers.
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Oh, well in that case the giraffes and ostrich at least can stay where they are long term. But zoo staff told me they moved the zebras to an off exhibit area recently due to parking garage construction. Maybe thag can be their long term area when safari trail opens and they can move the kudu to that area too. But maybe this is wishful thinking a bit
 
JVM said:
Is Tampa the only elephant mix remaining in the US? I know since my previous post, it looks like Omaha has fully discontinued the zebra/elephant mix, and Dallas, Tampa and Omaha are the only three I really knew of in the US.
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Fresno Zoo had their elephants mixed with impala and then with slender-horned gazelles. That ended when the babies were born.
 
The Horse Boy said:
And it's probably for the best as it's doesn't seem to be an AZA accredited facility with high habitat and care standards.
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Saw it firsthand, one of the better ZAA facilities I've been to. Only egregiously bad habitat I saw was the spotted hyena exhibit, the monkey exhibits were a tad snug. The savannah area they have is allright, the animals at least have more than enough room and some decent shade structures.

I've been trying to get better about secondhand experiences versus firsthand experiences.
 
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