Best UK Asian Elephant enclosure Reboot

Best UK Asian Elephant enclosure?

  • Total voters
    37
  • Poll closed .
felis silvestris

felis silvestris

Well-Known Member
This is just a bit of fun to judge the general consensus on the best enclosure for Asian Elephants in the UK. I have added a few photos from the gallery to make it easier for members to compare the different exhibits. If anyone wants to make an argument for a particular enclosure, please feel free to do so. Also, I would encourage people to list the enclosures in order of what they think is best.

I decided to put the safari park exhibits in here too because they aren't real drive through enclosures and are relatively similar to the zoo enclosures.

If there are any outdated photos, collections that no longer hold them or people have photos for exhibits not in the gallery or with poor photos please let me know.

Belfast

full

@MagpieGoose

full

@Bhutan

Blackpool

full

@MagpieGoose

full

@zoogiraffe

Whipsnade

full

@twilighter

full

@MagpieGoose

Woburn

full

@MagpieGoose

Chester

full

@gulogulogulo

full

@gulogulogulo

Longleat

full

@MagpieGoose
 
I voted Whipsnade here. I don't think the win is as clear as other comments seem to suggest, due to the small size of the bull facilities, but between its large area, variety of enrichment offers, good separation options, successful breeding record and astonishing indoor area (brilliant substrate and wonderful ambience with the skylights), I will say that it is the best of the lot, if only barely.

Chester was a genuine contender, and definitely deserves an honourable mention here. It deserves tremendous credit for its multi-generational herd, and with the deep sand outdoors, variety of feeding stations and remarkable waterfall feature, it may well be the most enriching and structurally complex of the lot. Only the lack of grass and the poor indoor areas (small, dark and with a questionable choice of fencing) let it down.

Woburn is also excellent. The outdoors for the cows are fairly equal, but the bull facilities at Woburn are what impressed me most on my visit, at 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) to Whipsnade's 0.3 (0.7), with a sizeable pool, multiple feeders, and a multitude of enclosures, presumably for the introduction of cows. However, yet again it was the indoors, which are entirely offshow and, judging from the external view, appear to be substantially smaller than Whipsnade's that let it down.

Blackpool, which I have not yet seen in person, also looks great, and Longleat deserves credit for creating a purpose-built space for a rescue cow, but ultimately that can't be compared to an enclosure for a breeding herd, regrettably. Belfast, which I also haven't seen in person, looks forgivable outdoors but horrifically outdated indoors.

Overall, I voted Whipsnade, but not for lack of competition. A lot of great enclosures in the country for this species.
Fallax said:
I've seen three of these and it's got to be Whipsnade, just so large compared to the rest.
Click to expand...
Woburn's is over a hectare bigger...
 
Panthera1981 said:
I do wonder about the longevity of the Woburn group. The park had all these big plans years ago that never came to fruition. It’s also very quiet regarding breeding
Click to expand...
Woeburn have a young female in Tali who need to leave to breed as she is at the perfect age but when speaking to keeper they refuse to let her go! But is very important for breeding as her parents aren’t well represented elsewhere! They have the older female Yen zin who was suppose to encourage breeding and be a aunty as apparently was a mother before she came woeburn but now is separated now more than ever from the 2 females cow one who now hasn’t had a calf in 10yrs so is unlikely to become pregnant again. And the other female who hasn’t ever had a successful pregnancy! So it’s just an aging herd with no future .. despite having alot of space to grow xx
 
Kalaw said:
I voted Whipsnade here. I don't think the win is as clear as other comments seem to suggest, due to the small size of the bull facilities, but between its large area, variety of enrichment offers, good separation options, successful breeding record and astonishing indoor area (brilliant substrate and wonderful ambience with the skylights), I will say that it is the best of the lot, if only barely.

Chester was a genuine contender, and definitely deserves an honourable mention here. It deserves tremendous credit for its multi-generational herd, and with the deep sand outdoors, variety of feeding stations and remarkable waterfall feature, it may well be the most enriching and structurally complex of the lot. Only the lack of grass and the poor indoor areas (small, dark and with a questionable choice of fencing) let it down.

Woburn is also excellent. The outdoors for the cows are fairly equal, but the bull facilities at Woburn are what impressed me most on my visit, at 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) to Whipsnade's 0.3 (0.7), with a sizeable pool, multiple feeders, and a multitude of enclosures, presumably for the introduction of cows. However, yet again it was the indoors, which are entirely offshow and, judging from the external view, appear to be substantially smaller than Whipsnade's that let it down.

Blackpool, which I have not yet seen in person, also looks great, and Longleat deserves credit for creating a purpose-built space for a rescue cow, but ultimately that can't be compared to an enclosure for a breeding herd, regrettably. Belfast, which I also haven't seen in person, looks forgivable outdoors but horrifically outdated indoors.

Overall, I voted Whipsnade, but not for lack of competition. A lot of great enclosures in the country for this species.Woburn's is over a hectare bigger...
Click to expand...
Did not realise Woburn was bigger, my mistake. Whipsnade still edges it though I think.
 
Tarli must not leave Woburn - female elephants stay with their mothers and extended family for life and separating them causes severe suffering and trauma to all elephants involved. But she indeed needs to breed, and to archieve that, Woburn needs to let go of bull Raja and bring in a new, unrelated bull who will hopefully breed naturally. That‘s the way to manage elephants in the 21st century. But they are so so so attached to Raja that so far they refused to do that. But the only way they can keep Raja is to send Tarli with her mom and auntie to another zoo and they don‘t want that either.


Rosie183 said:
Woeburn have a young female in Tali who need to leave to breed as she is at the perfect age but when speaking to keeper they refuse to let her go! But is very important for breeding as her parents aren’t well represented elsewhere! They have the older female Yen zin who was suppose to encourage breeding and be a aunty as apparently was a mother before she came woeburn but now is separated now more than ever from the 2 females cow one who now hasn’t had a calf in 10yrs so is unlikely to become pregnant again. And the other female who hasn’t ever had a successful pregnancy! So it’s just an aging herd with no future .. despite having alot of space to grow xx
Click to expand...
 
For me Whipsnade achieves the balance of good housing and facilities, outdoor space and visitor experience meaning everyone is having a pretty positive time all round.

The outdoor and indoor facility for the male isn’t as good and he is hard to see however viewing is not the priority for care and in general terms it’s a really well put together place with a lot of stimulation and activity. The herd do very well in it. If there was a change I’d make it would be to extend the facility for the bull.

Asian elephants are well catered for generally in the U.K. and the standard of elephant care appears high, as it should be.
 
Yes well said I did wonder if they would do AI with Tarli and whiosnade bull Ming Jin like they did with whipsnade female Donna and woeburn bull Raja but the baby was born stillborn :( only solution I could think may work!
 
Poll closed. Congratulations to Whipsnade for retaining its title as the Best Asian Elephant enclosure in the UK. Though there had been no change in actual holdings, the extra threat of the safari park enclosures still didn't stop them from racking up most of the votes. It seems as if they might do it again with the rhinos too. A mention to Blackpool for being the runner up again with a good enclosure.

Whipsnade: 67.6%
Blackpool: 21.6%
Chester: 5.4%
Longleat: 2.7%
Woburn: 2.7%
 
I really don't get how Woburn was last in this poll.
Their exhibit is large, they have access 4 days a week to a massive woodland and lake, and rotate between public exhibits and non public exhibits. In terms of space, Woburn's exhibit is miles bigger, and what other collection gives their elephants a natural lake to swim in?

Is the poor best exhibit for the public to view, or what's best for the animals?
 
Alwaysevergreen said:
I really don't get how Woburn was last in this poll.
Their exhibit is large, they have access 4 days a week to a massive woodland and lake, and rotate between public exhibits and non public exhibits. In terms of space, Woburn's exhibit is miles bigger, and what other collection gives their elephants a natural lake to swim in?

Is the poor best exhibit for the public to view, or what's best for the animals?
Click to expand...
I do agree about the polls, for me I can sometimes be conflicted about how good an exhibit is for animals v humans on these, and also how the polls are meant to be deciding the best exhibit out of a group and then occasionally tend to seem as ranking them based on the results, in this case Woburn certainly don't have as bad of an exhibit as this poll shows in ranking. Perhaps this poll is more to be taken for its name with less people being convinced it is the best (possibly due to lack of breeding success/attempts at that despite the exhibit as you have stated definitely not being lackluster, the off show indoors not being convincing compared to the other modern and spacious areas some of the competitors have, maybe the viewing for the exhibit as a whole is also a factor), rather than Woburn being definitively the joint 4th best exhibit, which I wouldn't agree with.
 
Alwaysevergreen said:
I really don't get how Woburn was last in this poll.
Their exhibit is large, they have access 4 days a week to a massive woodland and lake, and rotate between public exhibits and non public exhibits. In terms of space, Woburn's exhibit is miles bigger, and what other collection gives their elephants a natural lake to swim in?

Is the poor best exhibit for the public to view, or what's best for the animals?
Click to expand...
As @Rajang-GOAT says, that just isn't how polls work.

Hypothetically, it is possible that all 36 members who voted against Woburn had it as their second favourite, while all 35 members that voted against Chester (random example) had it as their least favourite, with only its two voters disagreeing. Woburn would clearly be the more popular of the two, but Chester would perform better in the poll. Of course, it isn't that extreme (I had Chester as my second choice and Woburn as my third), but the point is that these polls only tell you the individual most popular exhibit, and should not be taken to provide an overall ranking of the results. I doubt anyone actually had Woburn as their least favourite, even though the results would suggest that some do (although to nitpick your initial post, Woburn did not come last - Belfast didn't get a single vote!).

I suspect the lack of breeding success discussed upthread, poor viewing from a car only and the fact that Woburn isn't nearly as often visited by members of this forum as Chester, Whipsnade or Longleat, and possibly not Blackpool either, were all factors in it underperforming here.
 
Kalaw said:
Woburn is also excellent. The outdoors for the cows are fairly equal, but the bull facilities at Woburn are what impressed me most on my visit, at 1.4 hectares (3.5 acres) to Whipsnade's 0.3 (0.7), with a sizeable pool, multiple feeders, and a multitude of enclosures, presumably for the introduction of cows. However, yet again it was the indoors, which are entirely offshow and, judging from the external view, appear to be substantially smaller than Whipsnade's that let it down.
Click to expand...

I have found there are videos online showing the elephant house if anyone wants to have a look, and it definitely doesn't seem to be letting the rest of the exhibit down, described as being able to hold 12 elephants in this video from when it opened.
Woburn Safarai Park and the Elephants (youtube.com)
 
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