Now that this $25 million, 5-acre complex is actually open to the public, how much space is really devoted to the 5 elephants? About half? It is still one of the larger elephant habitats in any American zoo, and does anyone know what the pachyderm capacity is?
All I know is the space devoted to the elephants is quite generous and I havn't been able to find an accurate measure. Ill be visiting this complex next weekend (May13th-May15th) so I'll let you know what I think. I was disappointed in that I thought the Savanna range was going to be like a grassy savanna when it is mainly just mud holes with a few sparse patches of grass. Maybe it will grow in over the summer as its still pretty cold in Cleveland this time of year. The Mopani Range is much more satisfactory and features a beautiful wooded area for the elephants to roam. The capacity is 8-10 elephants.
Just got back from Elephant Crossing and we gotta say we are a bit more disappointed than we thought we would be.The yards are fairly nice as far as space goes and is full of mud holes and two pools.Another downside is the wire fencing that surrounds a good deal of the exhibit.
The indoor holding is nowhere near what we thought it would be. Its basically a row of six average sized pens,but eventually the elephants are going to have access a off exhibit night range.It should also be noted that there are sand floors in the pens. @snowleopard We asked a keeper friend of mine how many elephants the facility would hold and he jokingly said three which is what the original exhibit held.He went on to say that while technically the facility could hold up to ten that he would never want to house more than six assuming that they all got along.
Another thing we do not like is the exhibit plaza leading into the building is going to be terribly congested due to the fact that they felt the need to construct a bathroom gift shop and food stand despite the exhibit being about 50 feet from the main entrance of the zon a side note the Meerkats are not yet outta of quarantine therefore not on exhibit.
Bonnie is currently uploading more pics as we speak
