Is the waterfall broken already?
Just like the gorilla exhibit?
I hope not: with the LA city bureaucracy, it's taken over three years to get the gorilla water feature repaired.
I haven't visited, so my opinion is based only on the photos and descriptions I've seen here and elsewhere.
First, it is a huge improvement over the old situation. The political fights and huge investment are a testament to those at the LA Zoo who clearly want to do the right thing--kudos to them.
But the miles of metal fencing/gates and huge effort to create country-based interpretive areas both seem unfortunate. Maybe when the surrounding vegetation grows in and more elephants are added, it will be better. Now, it seems like an exhibit of hardware and expensively-decorated buildings, saying little or nothing about how wild Asian elephants live.
That said, it is much better than the equally-expensive elephant extravaganza 150 miles to the south, and in terms of area, variety of space and potential for developing a viable herd it beats just about every other Asian elephant exhibit I can think of. Dublin and St. Louis do a better job of creating barrier-free, naturalistic spaces, but LA has more flexibility for change and growth.
Is the waterfall broken already?
Just like the gorilla exhibit?
I hope not: with the LA city bureaucracy, it's taken over three years to get the gorilla water feature repaired.
Considering Otter Lord took the photo in mid January, I wouldn't be surprised if the waterfall is just off due to cold weather. Another reason could be that maybe there was no elephants in this yard when the photo was taken.
By the way, I'm glad the waterfall in the gorilla exhibit will finally be fixed!
Billy was actually in this yard when I came. A keeper was breaking off bamboo from plantings by the chimps and throwing it to him, which I found kind of odd.
I was at the zoo this past weekend and the waterfall was working just fine, even though there were no elephants visible in that yard. As a matter of fact, I don't believe I've ever visited when the waterfall wasn't running after this habitat's official opening.
