CPZ elephant enclosure

The Cameron Park Zoo has two female elephants in a pretty spacious enclosure with grass. The enclosure was built in the 90\'s, which put the zoo ahead of many larger institutions in terms of animal husbandry and space allotted to the elephants. Due to new AZA guidelines the zoo needs to acquire an additional female elephant. In my thoughts on the topic, I feel as if they (the zoo) should remove white rhinos from their collection, and expand the elephant yard into the rhinoceros yard.

Is this a recent photo? I was there just over a month ago and also last year and there was never water in this moat. I did not even know it was designed to hold water.

There is usually water there.

I would have to disagree with the idea of kicking out the rhinos in favor of more elephants.

@AZ there's a designated pool, and then there is a moat.

@Jbnbsn Do you think the zoo should end their elephant program? (from aerial view, I could see that the elephant barn was incredibly small...)

Considering that this is at least aesthetically the 2nd best elephant exhibit in the state and now the 3rd largest, I would say no, they should not end their elephant program. The barn might be small, but that can be fixed.

I would hate to see the rhinos disappear. I hate that any zoo should have to reduce its diversity. As you and I have both seen, mixed species with elephants might be the new wave of the future. Why not expand the barn and make it so other species can coexist with the elephants and rhinos. Zebra and elephants, gazelles and rhino? There's enough room in the exhibits for it to work.

Or at the very least, rework it to mix the rhinos with the hoofstock, rather than getting rid of them.

Does anybody have any news on the elephants?