Eventually they will be allowed access to the community room and the larger yard but the birth has delayed that. Once Beco gets used to the North Yard they should be allowed access.
@ snowleopard: I know you love substrate (and in any other case so do I) but we opted for a more sanitized facility. And BlackRhino is right. The floor is rough so we dont have to clean their feet, like most facilities do. The topography is also leveled so none of our elephants have joint pain.
We brush their feet, daily, but we dont have to remove dead skin from their feet or other feet procedures like other zoos do. While I also enjoy minimizing direct contact with some animals remember elephants are very social and intelligent animals. They love keeper interaction as it keeps them stimulated and the cleaning also stimulates the elephant. Who doesn't like to have their feet scrubbed?
The new $13 million Asian elephant exhibit at Oklahoma City Zoo has a 15,600 square foot barn, which must make it just about the largest of its kind in North America. Details are on this link:
Asian Tropics, opening next year at Denver Zoo, will have a 20,000 sq. ft. elephant barn but there is still no confirmation on where the zoo will source additional elephants from in the future. Perhaps from the zoos that currently have 2 elephants and will eventually be phasing them out?
