A view into the outdoor enclosure for Asian elephant bulls in Copenhagen Zoo. The exhibit is a bit too small but the high walls provide the males with some privacy.
January 2009
A view into the outdoor enclosure for Asian elephant bulls in Copenhagen Zoo. The exhibit is a bit too small but the high walls provide the males with some privacy.
January 2009
Ah...."some privacy"?! I thought we had agreed, Toddy, that the enclosures for the male elephants are - to say the least - "the "weak link" of this exhibit? You can´t seriously mean this?!
"Privacy"? The "privilege" to stare into a wall, with no outlook into the rest of the world?
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By the way - since you visit Copenhagen Zo more often than I do:
Do you remember my post (or possibly gallery comment) on the fact that a zoo keeper had told me that the males would eventually get access to the herd´s enclosure now and then, as soon as the technical problems with the gates are sorted out? Have you seen the males in the herd´s enclosure yet?
@Dan: Don't get me wrong here. I totally agree with you: the males' exhibit is by far the weak link! I was simply trying to point out something positive about the exhibit.
Yes, they lack some real overlook but that would not improve even if they were allowed to look out over the visitor pathway and then just into another high wall. The only place that they can get a view is over the females' exhibit.
About privacy, the males are often irritable and seek to be alone in the wild when they are in must. This is the only positive thing I can find about the exhibit, that the bulls can get away from the crowd during their must periods. Therefore it is good that the bulls have a wall between them and the visitors.
And no, the gates are still not fixed. There is currently some construction by the gates and the terrasse. A bit embarasing really that the house is not even a year old and does not even function properly.
No problem, Toddy! I know you are in favour of animal welfare at zoos, just as I am. I was deliberatley being a bit provocative...
I guess what it all boils down to is that the overall design is flawed as far as the male enclosures are concerned. They should have found a way not to leave the males staring at a wall (or another wall, for that matter).
Hope they sort out these problems with the gates! Oh My God- to see Chiang-Mei go into that water..... or maybe, as old as he is now, he would not dare go into it, but just to see him puzzled, interested, curious... dipping his trunk?
AFTER 40 YEARS IN A PRISON CELL WITH ADJOINING "OUTDOOR ENCLOSURE"....
You know what I mean..........................................................................
There's really not much to defend here. One of earth's largest and most intelligent mammals surrounded by massive walls in all directions. It detracts from an otherwise above average elephant paddock for the females, and once again a bull elephant gets shafted in a major zoo. I agree with basically everything Dan has already stated.
Right on, snowleopard! And now we are debating on-line and in the heat of the moment (and God prevent Sun Wukong from ever finding out that snowleopard - or anyone else, for that matter - is once again critizising an enclosure he or she has not inspected in person), but let me just tell you that the male enlosures at Copenhagen Zoo are a huge disappointment to me!
The exhibit has been featured on Danish television commercials under the banner of "The World´s Happiest Elephants!" But I don´t think that the old male, Chiang-Mei, or the young male, Tonsak, would subscribe to that.
Hi Toddy, please keep us updated on the development of the bull enclosure. I am looking forward to the day when the bulls can mix with cows and maybe also enjoy a dip in the pool
@lberthung: Don't count on the situation developing much. There have recently been some attempts to introduce Tonsak to the younger females but only for a short time.
The males will only mix with the females in the breeding season. The males will occasionally have access to the females' outdoor paddock to allow them some more room and the chance of swimming.
Last summer I spoke to one of the old keepers who also look forward to the day when Chieng Mai may go for a swim if he wants to.
When I visited the zoo in June last year I found a nice spot in Fredriksberg Have to film the cows go swimming with Gandhi and I have uploaded a short video at YouTube at this address:
