A view inside the elephant house in the Elefantenpark in Cologne Zoo, Germany. This house is very spacious and allows for the whole group to stay together at night. There is also a deep indoor pool so that the elephants can swim during winter as well. There are seclusion boxes to separate individual animals and the bull has a private indoor exhibit behind the low wall in the back. The large windows allow for lots of natural light to filter through and the visitors have several high-placed viewing points.
The only thing this house is missing is a large area of sand covering perhaps about 50% of the floor and perhaps some artificial trees for decorating and enrichment purposes.
The Elefantenpark opened in September 2004 and is the biggest project in Cologne Zoos history. The total size of the Elepfantenpark is 2 hectares or 4.95 acres, equal to 10% of the zoos total size. Between 15 and 20 Asian elephants live the in Elefantenpark and it is one of the best and most spacious elephant exhibits in Europe.
July 2009
