Fantastic outdoors exhibit, and exciting to see there breeding success. However the indoor facilities, particularly the concrete floors are really desperately in need of an update. Especially for a zoo in a northern climate which necessitates indoor housing during large chunks of the year.
@DelacoursLangur I totally agree. It would cost a fortune, but the zoo needs a larger barn with a big community central area. Also, tons of natural substrate on top of that cement!
@snowleopard I wonder if a renovation of the existing building would be a more economical solution. If that's even viable I dont know, you would have to drop the floor level in order to get a sandbed in there which I imagine would be quite difficult in and of itself. Do you know if any other zoos have done anything similar?
Space wise, I find this to be a decent (not great, but decent) elephant barn. However, it doesn't give a great view to visitors, only able to see the elephants well when in the front section and always looking down on them (doesn't give a good sense of scale). Natural substrate is great, and I wish more zoos would incorporate sand stalls or other substrate into elephant barns, but unfortunately at least in the states that doesn't seem like a common occurrence.
@DelacoursLangur I honestly think that having a truckload of sand dumped into several of the stalls would do wonders. Modern elephant houses have loads of skylights and lots of natural substrate, as that has proven to be so much better for the feet of elephants. I don't know of any zoos that have dropped the floor level in their barns.
@snowleopard The foot problems are my primary concern when it comes to substrate. Not only as a health issue, but as I can imagine if its bad enough to lead to health concerns the discomfort must be significant spending extended periods on concrete. Small concrete barns are far more acceptable in a warm climate like southern spain, israel, or the texas where indoor usage is minimal. In more northerly institutions elephants by necessity spend the majority of there time for large parts of the year indoors. I rate exhibits such as those at Zurich and Cologne much higher than say Howletts, despite the immense difference in outdoor acreage because of this.
