Ah, I didn't know there were bathrooms there. Thanks for the information! I posted some pictures from my visit to the gallery and to Zoo Tails blog.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo Cleveland Zoo Elephant Crossing Review
- Thread starter team tapir
- Start date
team tapir
Well-Known Member
They are sort of easy to miss as there is a wooden gate in front of the bathroom entrance giving one the impression that they either are no bathrooms or that they are closed.
Team Tapir
Team Tapir
JBZvolunteer
Well-Known Member
Kallie
It will be interesting to see once she is out of quarantine if they might try putting her with Willie instead of the girls at first because they have such along history together.
It will be interesting to see once she is out of quarantine if they might try putting her with Willie instead of the girls at first because they have such along history together.
Now my review will be unbiased because I won't base it off the politics of it all -- what the area used to be, what it could have been, and how much money was spent on it. I'm basing it entirely on the experience I had visiting it.
Entry Plaza: It is the immersion part of the exhibit where you feel like you've stepped into an African village. There is a small exhibit for meerkats (off exhibit due to the season) and off to the side of the barn is an aviary for African birds (off exhibit as well besides some guinea fowl). From this area you are able to view the main yard on one side and the secondary yard on the other side.
Barn: This was a miss after seeing the beautiful, lighted Elephant Community Center at the Smithsonian National Zoo. There are a few stalls for each elephant and they have name labels to help visitors identify them. They also added sand to their floor for extra comfort. I am not going to trick myself into thinking the elephants at the National Zoo don't have holding stalls for the night time. However, that zoo only allows you to see the open indoor exhibit, which is quite spacious. Here I look at the stalls and the wall and they already look like they've aged. I wouldn't look at it and think, well this is a modern barn for an elephant! However, on the visitor side, they do a nice job with graphics to get us interested in elephants. Visitors are allowed to flap an elephant's ear to experience what it feels like to get breeze that way. You can also look into a small hole to see the vision of elephants. There's a big diagram of the inside of an elephant. Once again, there is a scale for visitors to see how much they weigh compared to an elephant. With all my zoo trips recently and walking around, I'm happy to say I lost two pounds in a week! There is also an indoor exhibit for naked mole rats and a python (off exhibit).
Secondary Yard: What I appreciated about this yard was all that was in it. There are trees, fallen limbs, a small hill to climb, etc. A lot to enrich the elephant and it gives a nice view for visitors. Does it depict what an African savanna may look like? Probably not, but it's so much better than dusty, barren yard. The male bull was in this yard, separated from the females in the main yard. You are able to wrap around about 3/4 of this exhibit.
Main Yard: What I appreciate about this yard is the many vantage points! From the entrance area you see the exhibit from the side, with cable barriers. If you go in front of the huge pool, you have an unobstructed front view of the exhibit. If you walk along the side of it, you do have the basic cable obstructed view. The kopje rock section is a nice touch. Visitors are allowed to look into the exhibit through windows. During parts of the day, guests can put in quarters and food will fall down for the elephants in this area. I was fortunate enough to see one of the females right above me. It was amazing to look up and see her mouth and underside of her trunk! The back viewing section of this exhibit also gives you an unobstructed view.
Now keep in mind I have not seen the top African elephant exhibits in the country like Dallas, North Carolina, Nashville, etc. However, from all the African elephant exhibits I have seen (Lowry Park Zoo, Maryland Zoo, Pittsburgh Zoo, Seneca Park Zoo, Toronto Zoo) this exhibit is by far the best!
Entry Plaza: It is the immersion part of the exhibit where you feel like you've stepped into an African village. There is a small exhibit for meerkats (off exhibit due to the season) and off to the side of the barn is an aviary for African birds (off exhibit as well besides some guinea fowl). From this area you are able to view the main yard on one side and the secondary yard on the other side.
Barn: This was a miss after seeing the beautiful, lighted Elephant Community Center at the Smithsonian National Zoo. There are a few stalls for each elephant and they have name labels to help visitors identify them. They also added sand to their floor for extra comfort. I am not going to trick myself into thinking the elephants at the National Zoo don't have holding stalls for the night time. However, that zoo only allows you to see the open indoor exhibit, which is quite spacious. Here I look at the stalls and the wall and they already look like they've aged. I wouldn't look at it and think, well this is a modern barn for an elephant! However, on the visitor side, they do a nice job with graphics to get us interested in elephants. Visitors are allowed to flap an elephant's ear to experience what it feels like to get breeze that way. You can also look into a small hole to see the vision of elephants. There's a big diagram of the inside of an elephant. Once again, there is a scale for visitors to see how much they weigh compared to an elephant. With all my zoo trips recently and walking around, I'm happy to say I lost two pounds in a week! There is also an indoor exhibit for naked mole rats and a python (off exhibit).
Secondary Yard: What I appreciated about this yard was all that was in it. There are trees, fallen limbs, a small hill to climb, etc. A lot to enrich the elephant and it gives a nice view for visitors. Does it depict what an African savanna may look like? Probably not, but it's so much better than dusty, barren yard. The male bull was in this yard, separated from the females in the main yard. You are able to wrap around about 3/4 of this exhibit.
Main Yard: What I appreciate about this yard is the many vantage points! From the entrance area you see the exhibit from the side, with cable barriers. If you go in front of the huge pool, you have an unobstructed front view of the exhibit. If you walk along the side of it, you do have the basic cable obstructed view. The kopje rock section is a nice touch. Visitors are allowed to look into the exhibit through windows. During parts of the day, guests can put in quarters and food will fall down for the elephants in this area. I was fortunate enough to see one of the females right above me. It was amazing to look up and see her mouth and underside of her trunk! The back viewing section of this exhibit also gives you an unobstructed view.
Now keep in mind I have not seen the top African elephant exhibits in the country like Dallas, North Carolina, Nashville, etc. However, from all the African elephant exhibits I have seen (Lowry Park Zoo, Maryland Zoo, Pittsburgh Zoo, Seneca Park Zoo, Toronto Zoo) this exhibit is by far the best!
TeamTapir223
Well-Known Member
@Blospz-We really appreciate your review because there is no doubt that for us it is certainly hard to put aside our own biases.We grew up with this at the the old Pachy house and had very high expectations for the new exhibit.That being said we don't hate Elephant Crossing but its just not quite what we would have liked.There is no doubt its the best of the zoos you mentioned having visited but cannot be compared to any of the big 3.The secondary yard (Mopani Range) is by far the highlight of the exhibit we like to think of it as a african scrub forest.The Kopke is a cool feature too.We have said it before and are going to stand by this if you combined Toledo's new barn with Cleveland's two yards you would have a very nice exhibit.Too bad that the aviary and meerkats was closed but glad you enjoyed Elephant Crossing.
Team Tapir223
Team Tapir223
Elephant Crossing is much better than the old building, but compared to some of the other zoo elephant exhibits I've seen, its not so great. Yes, I do like the heated sands, but to me, the crossing is junk. First off, you can't see the animals, second off, if the elephant doesn't want to cross, then you just wasted 10 mins looking at an iron gate.
Are you judging visibility purely on the crossing barrier between exhibits? Because for actual outside exhibits I found they had very good visibility and a lot of vantage spots.
Yes, I've found good veiwing of then crossing, but it all depends on where you are when they cross
Yeah, I hoped it would expand to the amiptheater