Thanks for uploading a wonderful assortment of exhibit photos! I really like Oklahoma City Zoo and I think that it is one of the 15 best zoos in America, but from the many photos online the new, multi-acre Asian elephant complex comes across as an expensive but average addition to the zoo. The long boardwalks and covered buildings for visitors appear to be terrific, and the space for the two female elephants (and one is pregnant) is immense...however there is no sense of the exotic or a feeling of discovery within the complex. Having 3.6 acres of land for 2 elephants is enormous, but there aren't massive chunks of undergrowth in the surrounding area such as at the exhibits in Nashville and North Carolina. There are a lot of metal doors for the pachyderms, plus basic fields that could just as easily be in the English countryside. This is still one of the premier Asian elephant habitats in North America simply because all of the best ones for elephants are for Africans, and hopefully the future addition of Expedition Asia will make this section of the zoo feel more complete.
The design firm responsible for this exhibit has always felt, if I understood them correctly, that since plants will grow it is unnecessary to invest in larger plants for opening day.
Oddly enough, when the rfq for this exhibit came out a couple of years ago, (the entire Asia complex not just the elephants) it appeared that the plans for animal exhibits far exceeded the budget. I don't know whether they changed the budget or spent it all on this phase, While none of the structures appear expensive, there is (as Drew wrote) alot of it!
You're welcome! I, too, like the OKC zoo and consider it along with Sedgwick County to be my "home zoo" as I seem to visit it at least once a year. I don't know all the details but I guess the original design was for the whole Asian area and came in way over budget so they just built the elephant piece (if this is what $13 million dollars got them I am not surprised the rest was over). I agree Rob, I remember thinking at the time the RFQ came out that they might have been biting off more than they could chew, and would need to have a lot of bang for their buck for it to be successful. I don't think building a $4 million boardwalk (exagerating...but maybe not!) was the way they were going to get the most bang for their buck. Don't even get me started on the plantings.....
