Elephant housing & enrichment

[Molybdeus]

Woodland Park zoo is one of my favorite zoos (after the Bronx and San Diego) but their elephants are pretty sad. Between herpes, one of them being antisocial, the small (for elephants, of course) habitat area and the fact that the climate in the Northwest is the wrong kind of rainforest I can't help but feel sorry for them.

Why don't zoos in climates like Seattle and London build conservatories/greenhouses to house their tropical species? Is it just the expense, or is there some reason it wouldn't work for animals instead of plants?

Which of the following enrichment ideas could work for elephants?
1. a (heated) wallowing pond
2. a huge ball (durable and themed to a boulder)
3. tether ball (themed to something African or Indian)
4. sprinklers (with heated water)
5. blocks

I know that giving the animals toys would undermine the appearance of a wild environment. But that's less important to me than the mental health of the animals that have at least some semblance of self-awareness.

 

[tschandler71]

Birmingham and Dallas were both designed by the same firm and they have a few common enrichment items. The barns have heated floor tiles and misters in the the walls. Also, There are wallows and full immersion pools for the elephants. Denver was designed later by the same firm but I do not know many details about it.

 

[elefante]

Woodland Park zoo is one of my favorite zoos (after the Bronx and San Diego) but their elephants are pretty sad. Between herpes, one of them being antisocial, the small (for elephants, of course) habitat area and the fact that the climate in the Northwest is the wrong kind of rainforest I can't help but feel sorry for them.

Why don't zoos in climates like Seattle and London build conservatories/greenhouses to house their tropical species? Is it just the expense, or is there some reason it wouldn't work for animals instead of plants?

Which of the following enrichment ideas could work for elephants?
1. a (heated) wallowing pond
2. a huge ball (durable and themed to a boulder)
3. tether ball (themed to something African or Indian)
4. sprinklers (with heated water)
5. blocks

I know that giving the animals toys would undermine the appearance of a wild environment. But that's less important to me than the mental health of the animals that have at least some semblance of self-awareness.

Elephants are frequently housed in climates that are unsuitable for them. I agree, it would be nice to see a big building that would at least give them some room and enrichment. The holding quarters for many elephants are cells.