Weren't giraffes completely absent from the zoo for several years while they built the new Asian elephant-giraffe-okapi exhibit? Did they go away again when the "new" exhibit got renovated yet again or is this picture from that period of the second renovation?
My question for you all is why do I know all of this information about a zoo that I have never even visited? Zoo obsession can be scary.
Vanishing Giants, a renovation of the Elephant House, opened in 2000 with exhibits for elephants, giraffes, and okapis. Before this renovation you walked straight through the building with the indoor housing for the animals on either side. The outdoor enclosures lined the outside of the building. With this renovation the outdoor space was increased four times, and the indoor space was increased by three times. This picture is from before the renovation of the Elephant House into Vanishing Giants.
During the construction of Vanishing Giants the cows and calf were moved to the Special Exhibits Building (Former Ape House, now 4-D Theater), and the bull left for the Louisville Zoo. One giraffe and several okapis were there for the opening, but I do not remember if or for how long the giraffes and okapis left the zoo.
Vanishing Giants was again renovated in 2007. This is when it was renamed Elephant Reserve. Prior to this renovation the giraffe left the zoo for The Wilds, and the Okapis moved to Rhino Reserve. This renovation included the bull elephant yard and a new visitor pavilion. Giraffes did not return to the zoo until the summer of 2008 with the opening of Giraffe Ridge.
@Kudu21: thanks for the history and maps of the elephant exhibit through time. I can't tell from the 1993 map, were the giraffes kept in the elephant house also or were they somewhere else (African veldt area?) or were there no giraffes at the Cincinnati Zoo prior to the Vanishing Giants exhibit?
The giraffes were kept in the Elephant House prior to the Vanishing Giants exhibit. This photo shows a giraffe in the Elephant House prior to Vanishing Giants.
