When I was a child (1970's) visiting Los Angeles Zoo (and once or twice San Diego Zoo) it was common to have a small snack stand near elephants for visitors to buy a bag of peanuts to feed them. (Also a stand at Sea World and Marineland to buy sardines to feed the sea lions). Those days are gone in USA, though it is interesting how giraffe feeding platforms have taken over the American zoo scene.
I just noticed two things I did not notice initially.
1) The elephants are stepping over a wire fence.
2) There is a keeper in the exhibit standing next to the rear elephant.
@Arizona Docent Giraffe feeding platforms are becoming more common in the UK but as an experience and you pay a hefty price for it. So only a couple of people do it a day.
Colchester zoo still offer giraffe and elephant feeding free on the day, just form a queue and you get to feed them a small item of food.
@taun At most/all giraffe feedings in the U.S. it costs too, however I'm guessing it's cheaper here because it's usually only a couple bucks, which I wouldn't consider "hefty"
@Hipporex@taun At my local zoo (Reid Park in Tucson) it is (or was) three bucks if I remember correctly. (I haven't been in a while so it may have gone up). However it seems most other zoos where I have seen it the going rate is five bucks. It is popular and a good money maker, which is why it is so common. How much does it cost at UK zoos?
I would recommend the reconstruction of the exhibits of elephants. Construction of a male house is planned. The enclosures are quite outdated and their very good family of elephants would deserve better housing. Not bad, but it could have been better.
@Arizona Docent Not sure of the costs but at most UK zoos that offer it it's done as a pre-book 'private experience' rather than as a mass offering, so it's presumably costed accordingly. Colchester do a version that involves just queuing up on the day (as I saw at Jacksonville, for instance - which I guess is the couple-of-bucks model?) but mostly it's treated as a high-value, low-volume offering.
