@Osedax Yup - before that it was Maxine/Patty and Happy before Maxine died. Jim Breheny actually has a Twitter thread talking about Patty and Happy, and even how dividing the yard in two helped bring peace between them - Patty and Happy have even been observed touching trunks!
If the elephants were to pass away or move on to another collection, what do you think would happen to the exhibit. Could it be an extension for the rhinos or be renovated for more elephants. I doubt hoofestock would move in as the monorail would miss one of it's crowd pullers. It needs a new a new species that would carry the same heavy weight as an elephant, traditionally an ABC animal.
@ZooTripper365 Me personally, while I would like to see Bronx act as a bachelor facility for elephants, having elephants in the first place (especially the Happy situation), for the time being at least, continues to bring in negative PR for the zoo. Realistically I think they'd just convert it to another rhino exhibit at the moment.
With all the bad press of the past few years, I can't see elephants returning after the death of their current two residents. While the elephants enclosure wouldn't be suitable for them, I'd love to see bears on the monorail in an enclosure similar to the one occupied by the tigers.
