Well if I am going to travel to another continent to see better exhibits I rather see an animal in its native land. lol.
This exhibit works very well for the elephants. Can you tell me another elephant exhibit in the US that has an exhibit with as many enriching, innovative opportunities as this one?
Well if I am going to travel to another continent to see better exhibits I rather see an animal in its native land. lol.
This exhibit works very well for the elephants. Can you tell me another elephant exhibit in the US that has an exhibit with as many enriching, innovative opportunities as this one?[/QUOT\
DAK, SDWAP, Nashville, Indianapolis, Oakland all currently have equivalent space/activities, that are also far more attractive/naturalistic. LA, National, Dallas are building much better exhibits than this.
Many of the better exhibits (in general, not just elephants) I'm thinking of are within a day's drive of Cleveland.
Well if I am going to travel to another continent to see better exhibits I rather see an animal in its native land. lol.
This exhibit works very well for the elephants. Can you tell me another elephant exhibit in the US that has an exhibit with as many enriching, innovative opportunities as this one?[/QUOT\
DAK, SDWAP, Nashville, Indianapolis, Oakland all currently have equivalent space/activities, that are also far more attractive/naturalistic. LA, National, Dallas are building much better exhibits than this.
Many of the better exhibits (in general, not just elephants) I'm thinking of are within a day's drive of Cleveland.
Really. What activities do these facilities offer that are so enriching like San Diego? You have said yourself how incredibly ugly Oakland's enclosure is. None of these places have something where they implement an elephant's most important daily activity, eating/foraging, into an enriching experience.
Really. What activities do these facilities offer that are so enriching like San Diego? You have said yourself how incredibly ugly Oakland's enclosure is. None of these places have something where they implement an elephant's most important daily activity, eating/foraging, into an enriching experience.
No, all of them do. It's called keepers distributing food from outside the edges of the exhibit. Not high tech, but does the trick. I don't think there's anything more enriching about having the food delivered automatically from a giant metal "tree." And Oakland's exhibit is not especially attractive, but is bigger and at least has trees, varied topography and some areas of grass, unlike the flat dustbowl of EO.
It is a little different, because San Diego allows the elephants to browse which is how they naturally eat in the wild. I have heard that in Oakland the elephants spend hours just standing in the same place, waiting around. San Diego has trees too. There are acacia tree inside the utilitrees, and the branches will eventually grow over. Why is it that you hate this exhibit so much? It is really sad that you talk so negatively about it when the elephant staff were so excited about it and were really happy with the way it turned out. San Diego really put a lot of research and time into the exhibit, and everything was carefully planned.
Yes, it was very expensive to build, and since it is California it cost way more to build. It also includes a jaguar, lion, condor, tapir, and other various hoof stock exhibits.
Naturalistic enclosures can be functional, but I have yet to see an enclosure as functional as this one. It is just sort of sad that all you zoochatters hate this exhibit so much when a lot of time, money, and research went into it. They were really excited about the exhibit and I know the elephant staff and the ambassador of the exhibit (Rick Schwartz) were very pleased with how it turned out.
I wouldn't go by the reports from staff (and Schwartz is staff). They really do have to say such things. They might really feel that way, but you can't know.
I agree, though, that this is trying to be a new concept and we will see whether or not it adds anything. People HATED free-flight aviaries for years before they became the norm.
