This is the former Elephant Mesa section. The former central elephant exhibit is now divided into yards for rhinos, while the rocky open yards surrounding this have an unfocused collection of various animals.
This is the former Elephant Mesa section. The former central elephant exhibit is now divided into yards for rhinos, while the rocky open yards surrounding this have an unfocused collection of various animals.
After the new children's zoo is finished, I really hope that the zoo's next project is to convert Elephant Mesa into a proper modern giraffe (and maybe rhino?) savanna complex. This area and the canyon of old bear grottoes and corncrib monkey cages seem like the last really outdated parts of the zoo.
@DavidBrown agree, this should be a massive priority for the zoo. The giraffe and rhino enclosures are extremely poor by contemporary standards, although in not sure if there is space nearby to expand them.
This whole area of the zoo is looking shabby and lets the zoo down. The remaining bear grottos also need looking at, and despite near universal praise on this site I’ve always thought the sun bear forest lacked substrate and could be improved.
