ISIS lists the Wild Animal Park as having 11 African elephants (3.8) but I know that the numbers from San Diego are sometimes inaccurate on that site. Whatever the total, having large herds on a combined 5 acres of land, set against a marvellous backdrop, is yet another of the world's great zoo experiences.
The current viewing oppurtunities for this exhibit are still limited, once a path is built on the former monorial berm between the two exhibits it will be much better!
SDWP has always been something of a legend to to me, ever since I saw it featured in television programs here in Sweden some 40 or 45 years ago. Utterly fantastic and apart from the wonderful sizes of the enclosures I especially like that the animals in general seem to have outlook on the magnificent surroundings.
The SDWAP actually acquired a new bull elephant to start a new herd in the old Asian Elephant exhibit. They are also deciding on whether to combine the exhibits and how they're going to do it. They might break down the barrier to combine them or make a tunnel so the path can be used to view the exhibits or do what they did at Elephant Odyssy with the path going underneath the exhibit.
I'm really hoping that they combine the two exhibits to form a minimum of 5 acres (or maybe more with the extra space) for their large herd of African elephants. Some kind of raised platform would be fantastic, but I'm sure that the focus is currently on the upcoming Asian monorail or the upcoming "Tiger Trail" section of the park. Aren't the sumatran tigers the next major species to receive a new exhibit?
Currently there is construction for several new exhibits along the tram route, including another flamingo exhibit! Tiger Trails does sound like the next major species exhibit however.
I'm really hoping that they combine the two exhibits to form a minimum of 5 acres (or maybe more with the extra space) for their large herd of African elephants. Some kind of raised platform would be fantastic, but I'm sure that the focus is currently on the upcoming Asian monorail or the upcoming "Tiger Trail" section of the park. Aren't the sumatran tigers the next major species to receive a new exhibit?
That would be the worst thing to do. The best would be to leave them as two separate exhibits that are connected in some way. This way they can grow the grass back when necessary, and reduce the impact of the elephants on the exhibit.
They've started building of some of the other exhibits on Journey into Africa but not Tiger Trails. The Flamingo pond is the old watering hole for East Africa that now has the road separating the animals from it. I figure they should add Tiger Trails soon and work in more stuff from their master plan other than focus on the new JiA exhibits. Adding more exhibits to an already pretty good attraction is nice, but I think having totally new exhibits, especially one that displays the new tiger cubs and rare tigers that are hardly seen in an old chain fence type exhibit, will draw in more tourists and money.
As for the elephant exhibits, I think a tunnel would be nice and would allow guests to have viewing along that pathway. Though, I don't know how that would work in cost and getting elephants to go underground. Typically the Park always puts in extra fences to fence off parts of the enclosure, so I would expect that they would do that. They did it in EO too, the exhibits are hardly ever fully accessible and the male is often separated for natural reasons.
