Hmmm... one of the first things that attracted and astonished me when I started seeing photographs from DAK was elephants moving freely in what appeared to be lush and richly planted exhibits. Therefore giving me the impression that the exhibits must be incredibly large - otherwise such a phenomenon would not be possible.
But if you look closely at this picture, you can see a lot of small hotwire "posing as straw" in front of those bushes, can´t you? Click on the picture and it will be more visible.
I don´t buy that argument. The vehicles would not be driving into the bushes. On the contrary, you can clearly see wheel tracks OUTSIDE of the hotwire, can´t you?
There is in fact some hot-wire in the back ground. I think the reason why there is hot-wire is because the plants in the background cover the barriers of the exhibit.
I don´t buy that argument. The vehicles would not be driving into the bushes. On the contrary, you can clearly see wheel tracks OUTSIDE of the hotwire, can´t you?
I don´t buy that argument. The vehicles would not be driving into the bushes. On the contrary, you can clearly see wheel tracks OUTSIDE of the hotwire, can´t you?
the hotwire at the front would be used to protect the vehicle from elephants (I imagine) and the hotwire at the back is to act as a boundary as mstickmanp said.
would you rather see little stalks of hotwire as a fence or big steel horizontal poles as a fence? Which one keeps the exhibit looking natural? It's not like the hotwire is preventing elephants access to parts of their exhibit (at least this photo doesn't suggest so...)
The tracks in the exhibit most certainly won't be the guest cars. It's far too dangerous if they were that close to an elephant.
The vehicles carrying visitors through Kilimanjaro Safari are always separated from the elephants by a secure barrier (hidden dry moat or pool), never just hotwire (we all remember Jurassic Park don't we?). The "hot grasses" are used inside the exhibit to protect zones of vegetation that hide barriers, provide shade for the elephants and effectively replicates an African landscape. While very frequent replanting does occur, it is primarily to provide enrichment for the elephants (two minutes of enjoyment uprooting canes and grasses!). Without the hotwired protected areas, the exhibits--although huge--would quickly be worn down to dust by the large group of elephants living there.
Somewhere on this site there was a great link to an aerial view of the DAK elephant exhibits, where you can clearly see how moats and pools are used to invisibly contain the elephants, and the protected planting areas within the enclosure itself. It's brilliant....
I agree that the realism of the elephant exhibit is fantastic, and it's easily one of the best elephant habitats in North America. I'd take hotwire over huge fences or concrete walls any day of the week.
