Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Zoo Elephant Crossing Review

team tapir

team tapir

Well-Known Member
After visiting this exhibit for the second time today we going to post our review.For starters this exhibit is a major improvement for the Elephants which is what is most important.
Elephant Crossing consists of two public yards,an off exhibit night yard and an indoor holding facility which also has public access.The first yard is the Savannah Range which is a fairly spacious yard featuring two pools,a waterfall,mud holes sand pits and a underground salt lick which the elephants have yet to find.This yard offers the best public viewing as there are two vantage points in front of the pools free from the wire barriers that surround both yards.The zoo's four girls Jo,Martika,Moshi and Shenga are currently on display in this yard.
The second yard is the Mopani Range which is a more rugged landscape with alot of large trees and brush as well as some uphill terrain that can provide the elephants some exercise.We really love the look of this yard again minus the wire fencing which surrounds it.The zoo's bull Willie is currently being displayed here.The two yards are separated by a crossing gate in which the elephants are going to be able to roam freely between the two yards hence the title Elephant Crossing.
Between the two yards is a visitor plaza which visitors can view both yards and leads into the indoor holding facility.The plaza also features a cafe,bathrooms,a gift shop and a meerkat exhibit.The only thing that belongs in the plaza in our opinion is the meerkats.Elephant Crossing is only about 50 feet from main entrance of the zoo which has the zoo's biggest bathrooms gift shop and food stands.We spoke with one of the zoo's head food service reps who told us that even they were against these amenities, but that the exhibit designers insisted on creating an African Village.The only thing the village setup creates is chaos on a busy summer day.Not at any point did we feel like we were'nt in Cleveland Ohio as opposed to somewhere in Africa.This space could have been used to enlarge either yard or simply not congest the plaza.
The plaza also features an average meerkat exhibit which does not yet house meerkats as they are not yet out of quarantine.We have no idea how in a exhibit that took nearly three years to build you could not have acquired the animals for your exhibits in a timely manner.I mean we are talking about meerkats here not polar bears.
Now to the indoor holding facility,to the left of the building entrance is a small aviary featuring a handful African birds.Once inside the public area features a lot of signage and a row of six pens in which visitors can watch keeper training demos.The size of the pens is not as big as we would have hoped but we have been told by staff that there is more to it behind the scenes including a night yard behind the building which eventually the elephants can come and in and out of as they please overnight.Upon exiting there are small exhibits for naked mole rats and an African Rock Python.
Could Elephant Crossing have been done better? The answer is probably yes, but its still a major improvement over the old exhibit.Overall we are going to give it a B-
Would love to hear some of your thoughts.

Team Tapir
 
I was waiting for a review on this exhibit. Now I can't wait for some pictures.
 
I really appreciate the review and I have hit-and-miss feelings in regards to Cleveland Zoo. Australian Adventure, Wolf Wilderness and the RainForest building are all excellent, African Savanna, Elephant Crossing (by the sounds of it) are both average, and then the Primate, Cat & Aquatics building and Northern Trek are hugely disappointing. As at many huge American zoos there are some excellent sections that are somewhat tainted by the outdated areas but I’d place Cleveland somewhere in the middle of the pack in regards to the 60 establishments in the book “America’s Best Zoos”. It is still my 2nd favourite zoo in Ohio and I'd place them in this order: Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Akron.
 
I thought Australian Adventure at CMZ to be grotesque in its themed cheesiness at a huge cost and much of it undermined zoological credibilty-at its price one of the worst things ive seen in over 500 zoos.The Rainforest Building was oddly piecemeal ,even a little dated already and i cant even remember Wolf Wilderness unless it wasnt there 4 years ago.Better than Cincy and Toledo eh?...well we are all different i suppose!
 
tim b said:
I thought Australian Adventure at CMZ to be grotesque in its themed cheesiness at a huge cost and much of it undermined zoological credibilty-at its price one of the worst things ive seen in over 500 zoos.The Rainforest Building was oddly piecemeal ,even a little dated already and i cant even remember Wolf Wilderness unless it wasnt there 4 years ago.Better than Cincy and Toledo eh?...well we are all different i suppose!
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Tim B we do not like The Austrailian Adventure either considering the glaring needs at the time it was built(2000).Pachyderms,Primates and Bears all were in need of major improvement and over ten tears later only elephants has been done.They spent a ton of money on a huge playground with a kangaroo walkabout and petting farm.We are not saying Austrailian Adventure is terrible just that there were and still are bigger needs.Wolf wilderness was built in 1997 and is a very nice exhibit.The Rainforest we feel to still be a very solid exhibit.Cleveland is our home, we grew up here therefore it has a special place for us but we agree that Cincy and Toledo both must be put ahead of Cleveland.

Team Tapir
 
The book "America's Best Zoos" rates Cleveland as the #2 zoo in the United States for Australian animals and exhibits, with the only zoo ahead of it Fort Wayne Children's Zoo in Indiana. Also, in all honesty there isn't much to choose from between Cincinnati, Toledo and Cleveland. Akron Zoo is quite small and different while Columbus is rock-solid in just about all areas.
 
I'd still give Cincy the nod over Cleveland. Cincinnati is improving at a steady rate every year. There may not be leaps and bounds, but I get the feeling that in 10 years or so, Cincinnati will be a vastly improved zoo.

Cleveland was an odd zoo for me. I really liked the Rainforest, but it had some spots that were way overdue for an update. Looking at the Primate, Cat and Aquatics bldg felt like a trip back to the 1970s, and I think that's a generous asessment. It might have been the most clinical-feeling zoo building I've been in. The area of the zoo with the cold weather animals (Northern Trek?) didn't do much for me either. The wolves had the only decent exhibit of the group.

Lastly, that stairway to nowhere at the edge of the zoo that leads up to the PCA building was a nightmare on a hot summer day. It felt like we were climbing that thing forever with no exhibits in view.
 
Im not too sure that anywhere in the u.s. would rate too highly on Australasian fauna these days but i seem to remember that Columbus,yet again,was pretty nice.The Nyhuis book is useful but perhaps places a rather different priority on exhibits ,indeed zoos in general, than i would[and i have,in turn,written a book on UK zoos].I couldnt use it as any kind of arbiter.I thought the CMZ australian area to be a horrible combination of playground,theme park and mini-zoo but at a simply unwarranted cost,hence my rating it so poorly.
 
And yes groundskeeper24 that haul up to the PCA building at CMZ-you reminded me,its a nightmare in warm weather.But Cleveland is still a major zoo and you folks in the U.S.have so many of these.I was at a zoo meeting once when the CEO of a UK zoo said to another zoo pro "You know Brian we must have the best zoos in the world in Britain".Nearly choking on my sandwich,i told him he must be joking."Where then?" was the response,"Well america of course" was my reply to be greeted with quizzical looks.Its true.Germany,Holland and then the UK would follow.
 
Columbus does have an excellent Australasian collection with decent exhibitry to boot. It's pretty kid-oriented as well, but not hideously over the top like Cleveland.

Negatives aside, it's commendable to see zoos like Cleveland putting such a priority on improving elephant exhibits. It's an expensive undertaking that's long overdue. I'd venture to guess that aside from perhaps ursids and primates, elephants have had some of the most atrocious enclosures imaginable in zoos. This seems to be changing for the better on both fronts.
 
@ TeamTapir - thank you for the review. As someone who volunteers at a zoo that is currently constructing a new elephant exhibit, I always like to hear what others are doing in this regards. Doubt I will ever get to Cleveland, so it's nice to be able to visit through your reports.

@ TimB - can you send me a PM with a link to your book?
 

Here is a good video showing the exhibit. Cleveland Zoo is so busy to do they had to close the parking lots and for those of you who have been there the parking lot is huge so this means record breaking crowds for the zoo!
 
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I think alot of you on here are quick to judge on an exhibit you have never been to. First of all its Cleveland and the growing season is not very good as it doesn't really get warm here until the middle of May so the yards will grow in more as the summer progresses and other vegetation will grow more to better disguise the buildings. I don't really know how you call it average, and everyone I know who isn't a zoochatter as said it is amazing. The elephants are definitely a lot more active since moving in, and the yards are very spacious. They definitely encourage the elephants to roam around and the one yard (Mopani Range) already has numerous vegetation. The only thing you can really complain about besides some of the congestion is the sight lines. All indoor holding areas for elephants are pretty much the same, and the only thing that be done to make them better is enlarging them and adding substrate, etc. so in my opinion the indoor holding is really no different than Dallas, Nashville, North Carolina or other good elephant exhibits. So overall I would definitely not say the new exhibit is just average... its most definitely Cleveland's new flagship exhibit and one of the better exhibits in Ohio.
 
BlackRhino said:
I think alot of you on here are quick to judge on an exhibit you have never been to..
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You raise an important point.
I haven't seen it, although the plans look very promising, and I completely agree that it is unrealistic to judge a zoo landscape on opening day. I have looked at all the video and pictures and I can't get a clear idea of what the entire site really feels like. Snap shots are not the same for me as experiencing an exhibit. I need to feel the space and see what the animals, visitors and landscape are "doing" together.

But beyond that, there is a tendency here (and across the internet) for posters to become the "fashion police" sniping at how the celebrities are dressed without any regard to the real world. Do zoos really need a hundred "Mr. Blackwells" opining about whether a thirty year old exhibit appears dated or a new one is not among the top 2.5 in America? So many ESPN commentators, so few athletes.

I mean no personal criticisms of anyone who has posted here: I think most of you know that we are very often in agreement about exhibits. It's the general (and way too popular!) tendency to sit on the sidelines and lob snipes that I am reacting to. Let's face it: the opportunity for a "dream exhibit" comes along very rarely. It's insane to judge every zoo or every exhibit as to whether it is as good as, say, "Congo Gorilla Forest" or whatever your favorite is.

I certainly enjoy a well done exhibit or a brilliant detail, but that's my quirk. In the end I feel the question is, Is this a good experience for animals and visitors?
If it is, then I'm OK with it. If it isn't, then I'm sad about that. Simple stuff.

(Full disclosure: I had no part in this exhibit.)
 
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There are only a handful of exhibits one can compare to the scope Congo Gorilla Forest. I am not saying African Elephant Crossing is one of them, I just don't think it is an exhibit one should just deem average. Certain things could have been done better, yes but with the space they had to work with they did a great job. It has everything you would want in an elephant exhibit (large open space, multiple enclosures, lots of trees/vegetation, two pools for wading and swimming), and there really wasn't more space to have barriers like in Nashville or North Carolina. There are many close viewing opportunities for guests and the elephants seem very happy/active so id say that makes it more than average. So yes it is a good exhibit, but no I wouldn't say its comparable to something like Congo Gorilla Forest.
 
BlackRhino said:
YouTube - African Elephant Crossing at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Here is a good video showing the exhibit. Cleveland Zoo is so busy to do they had to close the parking lots and for those of you who have been there the parking lot is huge so this means record breaking crowds for the zoo!
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The video link is not showing up on my screen, so I am hoping it will show up in the quote above. This is a quirk of ZooChat, where certain computers do not see video links until the post is quoted.
 
Ok I can see the video link now, I have watched the video, and I must admit it does look pretty good. In summer with the foliage in bloom it will look even better. (When I went to Dallas over New Year's, even the excellent GOTS was a bit barren due to winter and the leafless trees).

I still can't get over construction costs in other parts of the country. $25 million for this exhibit, $44 million each for San Diego and Los Angeles. I guess we are lucky here in the southwest - only $13 million for the one that just opened in Oklahoma City and only $9 million for the one currently under construction in my home zoo in Tucson. (Obviously I am biased, but I am pretty sure ours will be superior to all of the above mentioned except perhaps Dallas).
 
We gave Elephant Crossing a B- because we felt that as a whole the exhibit is slightly above average.I completely agree that the elephants seem very active and without a doubt are enjoying their new exhibit.Its the sight lines and the plaza that bring down the exhibit as a whole,from the elephants perspective the exhibit is outstanding and that is whats most important.

@Black Rhino I asked a friend of mine on the inside for some of his thoughts and one the things he said which stood out was that he would have liked to have expanded into the Ampitheater and I laughed and said that I have thought of that before too.I think that that extra space could have really put the exhibit over the top.What are your thoughts on that

Team Tapir
 
As a devoted Cleveland zoo fan and elephant connoisseur, I'm personally divided.

@team tapir, I agree the central village area is unnecessary. It takes away space that the exhibit could certainly use. I've been against it since day one. The location of the original Pachyderm building made spacing more difficult, and a large area for food and a gift shop doesn't help. It does give a very nice view of the elephants in both yards, and it allows for more education displays which CMZ emphasizes very heavily.

On the meerkats: its not that they are still in quarantine. Far from it. The AZA has yet to declare the exhibit capable of holding them, since they're such a risk of escape. An oversight on the zoo's part, admittedly, but one they couldn't have foreseen at this point.

@Black Rhino, I really love what they've done with it. Its a beautiful exhibit and will really up the caliber of Cleveland Metroparks Zoo. Its not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but its close.

I love the crossing itself. I think thats an aspect of the exhibit that will make it unique to all other elephant exhibits. THe CMZ has done a great job with built in enrichment for the elephants. Elevated feeders, a buried salt lick, natural browse, treats at varying times of the day, going through the crossing . . . it shows how dedicated Cleveland is to its animals. Maybe this is commonplace and I'm just ignorant, but its still impressive.

And one MAJOR point I want to bring up: The first large animal exhibit in North America to be LEED certified. Regardless of the issues i have with the exhibit, this is an incredible feat for any zoo. Building a whole new exhibit with that kind of green efficiency? Go Cleveland! Let it be known that Cleveland was the first to do this.

Cleveland Zoo is a relic of the past in many ways. Northern Trek and PCA are perfect examples. But African Elephant Crossing shows just how committed the zoo is to modernizing with the greatest attention to detail and animal care possible. I am excited to see where they go next.
 
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