Zoo København Copenhagen Zoo - Architecture

It's such a coincidence that you brought up this topic today! I have just come home from the grand opening of the Elephant House in Copenhagen. Pictures will follow in a short while, and I will post a link to them in this thread. Please let me know if you have any questions regarding the house.
 
@Toddy,
Are the indoor areas as small as the pictures make them appear?
The building looks beautiful, but he is a world renowned architect.
 
I really feel that, while a lot of european zoos are really ahead in terms of indoor housing for their elephants, the outdoor space is still what one could describe as a standard zoo enclosure in terms of size. Sure, the pool is deep and there's lots of soft sand, but the cost of adding a summer grass paddock surely wouldn't have been much more?
 
@Toddy: since there are some great photos on that link that I provided, and I'm sure that you will post some equally terrific shots...how about a short review of the new elephant house? How big is it? How long is the pool?
 
Zooplantman: That depends on what you define as "small", but your right that they look quite small in the photos. The indoor enclosure for the females is about 900 square meters in size. Take a look at my photos once i post them.

johnstoni: The outdoor enclosure is great but I agree with you that it could be bigger. The issue here wasn't money, but space. Copenhagen is a typical city-zoo, and was already expanded into the nearby royal gardens of Frederiksberg for the new enclosure. We simply don't have the room.

snowleopard: Good idea. I will post a review with some photos within the next 2-3 hours :)
 
@Zooplantman: nice link, and it's interesting how there are always acres and acres of space in the artist's interpretation of proposed enclosures. Then the final exhibit is unveiled and there is often more space devoted to the public than the captive animals.

@Toddy: if you say that the Copenhagen Zoo simply doesn't have the room for a large elephant habitat, then why did they spend millions building one? Maybe they still adhere to the antiquated policy that elephants are needed to entice vistors to come and see the zoo...
 
Toddy, a question: is the outdoor area for the bulls finished too? Can the bull yards be connected with the female paddock? Are both bulls on exhibit?

Thanks!
 
900 m² is a good size for an indoor enclosure for a herd of elephants, but I agree that the outdoor enclosure is too small (less then 1 acre...). If there is no possibility to give the elephants more room, the Copenhagen Zoo should have stopped keeping them instead of wasting more then 30 millions of €€ on an enclosure that is already outdated and too small at the time of the opening. It`s pretty much the same sh** like what the Taronga Zoo has done, just that Taronga is even worse (= smaller).
 
@Yassa: I couldn't agree with you more. If the Copenhagen Zoo's elephant outdoor paddock really is less than an acre then it's a disgraceful size. The Taronga Zoo's elephant paddock has a lot of enrichment, but it is also far too small. To top it off, they are expecting a baby in Sydney and that will only increase the pressure on such a tiny exhibit.

It's interesting to see many North American zoos planning to open 2, 3, 4, or even 7 acre elephant enclosures, and the 7-acre North Carolina Zoo's enclosure just opened to the public a few months ago. There are countless zoos across the U.S. that wouldn't dare open a brand new elephant exhibit that is smaller than an acre, and even the Seattle Zoo's 1.5 acre enclosure has been heavily criticized for simply being too small. There are only 3 pachyderms and they don't even utilize the entire habitat, and yet it is regarded as being past its due date.

The Copenhagen Zoo's multi-million euro enclosure looks as if it will draw many visitors to the zoo, but will it be regarded as a world famous exhibit or something that is already past its prime? Of all the elephant exhibits found across Europe, can anyone here at ZooBeat name 5 of them that are actually world class? I know that in North America there are approximately 85 elephant exhibits, and perhaps only 5 are worthy to be called world class. Maybe only 2 or 3 are actually great habitats for elephants. Sad, sad, sad.
 
World class?
Cabarceno
Knowsley safari park
Koln
Whipsnade
Poznan (still to open)
Think this list may get a reply.
 
The New Elephant House

The new Elephant House in Copenhagen opened today, on June 10th. The elephants however have lived here since the beginning of March.

Facts
Total size: 100.730 m2
Female outdoors: 2800 m2
Female indoors: 900 m2
Male outdoors: 550 m2
Male indoors: 460 m2

The new elephant house consists of two huge glass domes and a middle section. The elephants live under the domes, and this is perhaps the best thing about the house. The domes lets so much natural light into the building, creating a very elephant-friendly enviroment. The females have one large indoor enclosures, plus extra boxes in the back. The two males share a smaller dome, and their enclosure is spilt in two. The middle section is for the visitors, and has the greates elephant exhibition I have ever seen (I know that it's not the important thing here, but still). The floor is covered with sand in the elephant's indoor enclosures.

The outdoor enclosure for females is the biggest one. The best part about it is the large pool (the elephants didn't have access to water in the old enclosure) where the elephants spend a lot of their time. The males also have two outdoor enclosures, however, I think that these are too small. As a small bonus, the males are allowed to use the females' enclosures when they are not using them (both indoors and outdoors).

Following here are 8 quick pictures showing the enclosure and house.




 
What's with the huge piles of sand inside? Sandcastle competition? Seriously though, thanks for posting the review and photos Toddy!!
 
Answering time

Now to answer your questions:

snowleopard: I said that the enclosure could be bigger, but now that it was too small. I think it is big enough for a small herd such as the one we have in Copenhagen.

kiang: It will look better when some of the plants start to grow. But you are right, and I would have tried to get more plants in and around the enclosure if it was up to me. And you are right, we do have some world-class enclosures in Europe as well.

Yassa: See my reply to snowleopard.




 
snowleopard said:
What's with the huge piles of sand inside? Sandcastle competition?
Click to expand...

Actually, you should have seen the young male Tonsak play in those piles of sand:) He rolled around in them and tossed himself into them. I woulden't have thought that elephants would enjoy sand so much, but there you have it ;).
 
Toddy said:
The middle section is for the visitors, and has the greates elephant exhibition I have ever seen (I know that it's not the important thing here, but still).
Click to expand...

What do you mean by this? Can you say more?
Do you mean graphics about elephants or something else?
What did you like about it?

And let me add, it's GREAT to get a first hand review of this important new exhibit the very day it opens!!!!!!
 
Do you also have pictures of chieng Mai and the other male Tonask?

greetings
 
You can see that a great deal of attention was paid to making this building as invisible as possible, also to provide the best conditions for the animals possible with the space available. This is state of the art design for urban zoos with elephants. Is it sufficient? Will the animals be physically and mentally healthy? I suppose that depends on more than square meters.
 
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