Does anyone know when this elephant exhibit was built? How large is it? Is the zoo still regarded as a type of "sanctuary" for Asian elephants who are either retired from circuses, past breeding age, or unwanted elsewhere?
Can't answer the first part, but they actually have quite an interesting Elephant history and bred a female calf some years ago. The mother and calf later joined a breeding group in Europe. The father 'Luka' was a very dangerous bull who went on to Port Lympne and is now in Spain(?). They replaced him with Chester's home-bred male 'Jubilee' (first Asian born in the UK) but he didn't breed before he died at Belfast. Since then they have only held a few older non-breeding females.
It was built around 1985 when the council built a whole new zoo,which is what is still now open!Size wise its probably a bit smaller than Chester Zoo's outdoor enclosure but the inside house is well under half the size of Chesters.Last I heard they were just going to house old or non-breeding females!
