Gone are the days when it was practically a necessity for all the best zoos to have at least one elephant. Young children would collect pennies and donate them to zoo fundraisers in order to gather enough money to buy a single pachyderm. Zoos have evolved tremendously since then, to the point where many great zoos of the world don’t even have elephants in their collection.
The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 54 out of the 80 zoos that currently display elephants. The zoos with elephants are overwhelmingly in warm climates, mainly located in the southern half of the United States, although there are still a few zoos with elephants in colder latitudes.
The 54 zoos with elephants:
ABQ BioPark – Asian
Atlanta – African
Audubon – Asian
Birmingham – African
Bronx – Asian
Busch Gardens – Asian
Caldwell – African
Cameron Park – African
Cheyenne Mountain – African
Cincinnati – Asian
Cleveland – African
Columbus – Asian
Dallas – African
Denver – Asian
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – African
El Paso – Asian
Fort Worth – Asian
Fresno Chaffee – African
Honolulu – Asian
Houston – Asian
Indianapolis – African
Jacksonville – African
Kansas City – African
Knoxville – African
Little Rock – Asian
Los Angeles – Asian
Louisville – African + Asian
Maryland – African
Memphis – African
Miami – African + Asian
Milwaukee County – African
Montgomery – African
North Carolina – African
Oakland – African
Oklahoma City – Asian
Omaha – African
Oregon – Asian
Phoenix – Asian
Pittsburgh – African
Point Defiance – Asian
Reid Park – African
Roger Williams Park – African
Rosamond Gifford – Asian
Saint Louis – Asian
San Antonio – Asian
San Diego Zoo – African + Asian
San Diego Zoo Safari Park – African
Sedgwick County – African
Smithsonian’s National Zoo – Asian
Tampa – African
Toledo – African
Topeka – African + Asian
Tulsa – Asian
Utah’s Hogle – African
28 zoos exclusively have African elephants
22 zoos exclusively have Asian elephants
4 zoos have both African and Asian elephants (Louisville, Miami, San Diego, Topeka)
There are 26 zoos in the book that do not have elephants:
Akron
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Binder Park
Brookfield
Buffalo
Central Park
Como Park
Detroit
Fort Wayne
Gladys Porter
Great Plains
Henry Vilas
John Ball
Lincoln Park
The Living Desert
Minnesota
Nashville
Philadelphia
Riverbanks
Sacramento
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Virginia
Wildlife World Zoo
Woodland Park
What is interesting is that during the writing process of the book, between 2015 and 2019, there was a growing total that ended up including 6 zoos that phased out elephants during that time period. Buffalo, Nashville, Riverbanks, Santa Barbara, Virginia and Woodland Park are those zoos that all got rid of elephants in the span of a few years.
Now, the question is which zoos will be next to phase out elephants? I think that legitimate candidates would include these 14 zoos: Bronx, Cameron Park, El Paso, Honolulu, Knoxville, Little Rock, Louisville, Montgomery, Point Defiance, Roger Williams Park, San Antonio, Toledo, Topeka and Utah’s Hogle Zoo.
How many of those 14 zoos will still have elephants by the year 2031? Already almost all of those zoos are down to only one or two elephants, below the AZA minimum. If those 14 zoos all phase out elephants in the next decade, which is entirely believable, then that will leave only 40 out of the 80 zoos in the book with elephants. I honestly cannot see a zoo without elephants willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to add those animals to their collection, and so unfortunately the great elephant exodus from modern American zoos will continue.
The good news is that for the zoos that have committed to elephants, there has been a long list of superb exhibits built in recent memory for thriving, larger herds. Also, some zoos (Cincinnati, Tulsa) have ambitious plans for the future that are very exciting. For anyone wishing to visit great elephant exhibits in American zoos, I’ve created a couple of lists below.
A list of what are arguably the Top 10 Asian elephant exhibits in the USA (alphabetical ranking):
Columbus
Denver
Fort Worth
Houston
Los Angeles
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Rosamond Gifford
Saint Louis
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
A list of what are arguably the Top 10 African elephant exhibits in the USA (alphabetical ranking):
Birmingham
Cheyenne Mountain
Dallas
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Fresno Chaffee
North Carolina
Omaha
Reid Park
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sedgwick County
The book that I cowrote, titled America’s Top 100 Zoos & Aquariums, contains reviews and photos of 80 zoos and 20 aquariums. There are 54 out of the 80 zoos that currently display elephants. The zoos with elephants are overwhelmingly in warm climates, mainly located in the southern half of the United States, although there are still a few zoos with elephants in colder latitudes.
The 54 zoos with elephants:
ABQ BioPark – Asian
Atlanta – African
Audubon – Asian
Birmingham – African
Bronx – Asian
Busch Gardens – Asian
Caldwell – African
Cameron Park – African
Cheyenne Mountain – African
Cincinnati – Asian
Cleveland – African
Columbus – Asian
Dallas – African
Denver – Asian
Disney’s Animal Kingdom – African
El Paso – Asian
Fort Worth – Asian
Fresno Chaffee – African
Honolulu – Asian
Houston – Asian
Indianapolis – African
Jacksonville – African
Kansas City – African
Knoxville – African
Little Rock – Asian
Los Angeles – Asian
Louisville – African + Asian
Maryland – African
Memphis – African
Miami – African + Asian
Milwaukee County – African
Montgomery – African
North Carolina – African
Oakland – African
Oklahoma City – Asian
Omaha – African
Oregon – Asian
Phoenix – Asian
Pittsburgh – African
Point Defiance – Asian
Reid Park – African
Roger Williams Park – African
Rosamond Gifford – Asian
Saint Louis – Asian
San Antonio – Asian
San Diego Zoo – African + Asian
San Diego Zoo Safari Park – African
Sedgwick County – African
Smithsonian’s National Zoo – Asian
Tampa – African
Toledo – African
Topeka – African + Asian
Tulsa – Asian
Utah’s Hogle – African
28 zoos exclusively have African elephants
22 zoos exclusively have Asian elephants
4 zoos have both African and Asian elephants (Louisville, Miami, San Diego, Topeka)
There are 26 zoos in the book that do not have elephants:
Akron
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum
Binder Park
Brookfield
Buffalo
Central Park
Como Park
Detroit
Fort Wayne
Gladys Porter
Great Plains
Henry Vilas
John Ball
Lincoln Park
The Living Desert
Minnesota
Nashville
Philadelphia
Riverbanks
Sacramento
San Francisco
Santa Barbara
Tanganyika Wildlife Park
Virginia
Wildlife World Zoo
Woodland Park
What is interesting is that during the writing process of the book, between 2015 and 2019, there was a growing total that ended up including 6 zoos that phased out elephants during that time period. Buffalo, Nashville, Riverbanks, Santa Barbara, Virginia and Woodland Park are those zoos that all got rid of elephants in the span of a few years.
Now, the question is which zoos will be next to phase out elephants? I think that legitimate candidates would include these 14 zoos: Bronx, Cameron Park, El Paso, Honolulu, Knoxville, Little Rock, Louisville, Montgomery, Point Defiance, Roger Williams Park, San Antonio, Toledo, Topeka and Utah’s Hogle Zoo.
How many of those 14 zoos will still have elephants by the year 2031? Already almost all of those zoos are down to only one or two elephants, below the AZA minimum. If those 14 zoos all phase out elephants in the next decade, which is entirely believable, then that will leave only 40 out of the 80 zoos in the book with elephants. I honestly cannot see a zoo without elephants willing to spend tens of millions of dollars to add those animals to their collection, and so unfortunately the great elephant exodus from modern American zoos will continue.
The good news is that for the zoos that have committed to elephants, there has been a long list of superb exhibits built in recent memory for thriving, larger herds. Also, some zoos (Cincinnati, Tulsa) have ambitious plans for the future that are very exciting. For anyone wishing to visit great elephant exhibits in American zoos, I’ve created a couple of lists below.
A list of what are arguably the Top 10 Asian elephant exhibits in the USA (alphabetical ranking):
Columbus
Denver
Fort Worth
Houston
Los Angeles
Oklahoma City
Oregon
Rosamond Gifford
Saint Louis
Smithsonian’s National Zoo
A list of what are arguably the Top 10 African elephant exhibits in the USA (alphabetical ranking):
Birmingham
Cheyenne Mountain
Dallas
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Fresno Chaffee
North Carolina
Omaha
Reid Park
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Sedgwick County
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