Although Sedgwick County has a great elephant staff this exhibit is kind of sad, and i'm really happy that a new elephant exhibit is the top priority on the construction list. However, this 100% concrete stall and barren yard isn't adequate for earth's largest land animal, and i'm really surprised this hasn't made IDA's top ten worst elephant exhibit list.
I agree with you whole-heartedly! There are a few master-plans posted up on billboards around the zoo, and the multi-acre elephant complex looks like it could be one of the best in North America when it is finished. Also, the entire African Veldt area will also be renovated after the elephants shift to a different part of the zoo (closer to the gorilla/okapi area). The good news is that Sedgwick County is such an awesome zoo that overall there aren't that many poor areas anywhere.
It seems like the African Veldt is the only bad area of the zoo besides a few poor enclosures scattered around the zoo. Hopefully, the new elephant complex is a 'Congo Gorilla Forest' type exhibit rather than a very decent above average exhibit like 90% of the zoo, that way it would put Sedgwick County on the map.
