Zoo Knoxville Knoxville Zoo

Elena said:
Amara the African lion gave birth to a female cub on June 16. The father is Upepo. The cub is the younger sibling to 6 month old cubs Magi and Anga who had to be hand-reared.

Officials celebrate birth of endangered lion cub at Zoo Knoxville

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On July 15th, the zoo announced that the (0.1) African lion was fatally injured and passed away on the afternoon of July 14th. She was posthumously named Zuri.

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On August 22nd, the zoo announced that their (1.2) African bush elephants named Tonka, Jana, and Edie will be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee sometime in the future. The females will move first then Tonka, and the zoo will be without elephants by the end of 2023.

The zoo also announced they will be sharing a new master plan soon, which teases "the future of elephants at Zoo Knoxville."

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Smaggledagle said:
On August 22nd, the zoo announced that their (1.2) African bush elephants named Tonka, Jana, and Edie will be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee sometime in the future. The females will move first then Tonka, and the zoo will be without elephants by the end of 2023.

The zoo also announced they will be sharing a new master plan soon, which teases "the future of elephants at Zoo Knoxville."

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Well there’s goes their plan to breed Tonka with their girls, and it’s a serious shame and a waste that he won’t be able to participate in the breeding program. Having said that it will be good to see them go; the zoos elephant enclosure is way too small by current standards and with the African savanna and other exhibits surrounding it, there’s no empty space for expansion without taking something away. I do hope that the zoo keeps elephants again in the near future as they imply, they were the first in the US to successfully breed them and it would be wonderful if they could be part of the breeding program they essentially started.
 
A lot of their property is really steep. Unsure if African elephants can even be kept there. Feels like they’d have to tear out the bulk of the savannah area to keep them on the zoo’s current plot. Idk if I like elephants that much. Also weird how they’re sending their current elephants to a sanctuary if they still plan to keep them in the future. That’s either a really distant step on a master plan or a relatively unserious fundraising ploy.
 
Persephone said:
A lot of their property is really steep. Unsure if African elephants can even be kept there. Feels like they’d have to tear out the bulk of the savannah area to keep them on the zoo’s current plot. Idk if I like elephants that much. Also weird how they’re sending their current elephants to a sanctuary if they still plan to keep them in the future. That’s either a really distant step on a master plan or a relatively unserious fundraising ploy.
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I'd say the latter scenario given the fact that there aren't many spare elephants to go around - given their legacy in Knoxville, and given community support of the zoo, they could pull something in the same vein as Omaha/Dallas/Sedgwick County...
 
Persephone said:
A lot of their property is really steep. Unsure if African elephants can even be kept there. Feels like they’d have to tear out the bulk of the savannah area to keep them on the zoo’s current plot. Idk if I like elephants that much. Also weird how they’re sending their current elephants to a sanctuary if they still plan to keep them in the future. That’s either a really distant step on a master plan or a relatively unserious fundraising ploy.
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Well their herd is old, and sending them to a sanctuary is a good choice, as they'll have more companions there.

Reading between the lines, it seems Knoxville aren't entirely sure whether they want elephants in the future. It seems they may reconsider elephants ten/twenty years down the line, but for now, they're happy with sending their elephants elsewhere and redeveloping the space where they are for other species. Zoo Knoxville is 53 acres, so adding the steep terrain to that, they don't have a lot of space to work with. It would be much better to dedicate the large amount of space taken up by the elephants to smaller, more suitable species.
 
Tonka is infertile so that's why they've never been able to breed him with the girls. Also, both cows are too old to breed now since neither have ever had a calf.

I would also like to see them bring elephants back in the future with a new plan. Maybe they could house an all bachelor group like Denver is doing with Asian elephants.
 
Christopher81 said:
Tonka is infertile so that's why they've never been able to breed him with the girls. Also, both cows are too old to breed now since neither have ever had a calf.

I would also like to see them bring elephants back in the future with a new plan. Maybe they could house an all bachelor group like Denver is doing with Asian elephants.
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Yes, both cows are now about 40, so they're post reproductive considering they've never had a calf.

I would like to see Knoxville bring them back to. Although i'd prefer for them to hold Africans. Considering the success of zoos such as Omaha, a bachelor facility like Denver with Asians will be needed for Africans and I think Knoxville's definitely an option for this.
 
Smaggledagle said:
On August 22nd, the zoo announced that their (1.2) African bush elephants named Tonka, Jana, and Edie will be transferred to The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee sometime in the future. The females will move first then Tonka, and the zoo will be without elephants by the end of 2023.

The zoo also announced they will be sharing a new master plan soon, which teases "the future of elephants at Zoo Knoxville."

Log in or sign up to view
Click to expand...

As unfortunate as it is to phase out elephants, I do agree with and understand the decision to move them. When I visited almost a decade ago, Stokely Elephant Preserve was one the Zoo’s least impressive areas, particularly for opening in 2002.

It’s nice they are considering bringing elephants back at some point though. I know finding a proper location has been discussed on here, but here’s an idea. Down the hill past Valley of the Kings, there is a relatively flat area with the huge former African wild dog and empty circular cage (formerly grizzly bear). I don’t recall exactly how large it is, but assuming nothing is currently there/already planned for that location, could this be a potential location for a new elephant habitat?
 
Milwaukee Man said:
As unfortunate as it is to phase out elephants, I do agree with and understand the decision to move them. When I visited almost a decade ago, Stokely Elephant Preserve was one the Zoo’s least impressive areas, particularly for opening in 2002.

It’s nice they are considering bringing elephants back at some point though. I know finding a proper location has been discussed on here, but here’s an idea. Down the hill past Valley of the Kings, there is a relatively flat area with the huge former African wild dog and empty circular cage (formerly grizzly bear). I don’t recall exactly how large it is, but assuming nothing is currently there/already planned for that location, could this be a potential location for a new elephant habitat?
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Depends on how much acreage it is. Would you be able to map it out on Google Maps and measure the area? This would also have to take into account space for holding, service roads, LSS systems, etc.
 
I know they have also discussed purchasing more acres directly behind the former African wild dog habitat so I am sure that could be used as well.

I think it is anywhere from 10-25 acres.
 
Christopher81 said:
I know they have also discussed purchasing more acres directly behind the former African wild dog habitat so I am sure that could be used as well.

I think it is anywhere from 10-25 acres.
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tschandler71 said:
25 acres could give you a nice 10-15 acre elephant habitat and 3-5 acre Bull yard
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That would be a fairly large complex then. If we were looking at Africans; a three enclosure complex would be nice, a large enclosure for females, a medium sized enclosure for young bulls (or separation of the matriarchal herd if needed) and a small enclosure for the breeding bull. This set up could easily be accommodated over 15-20 acres, so seems very do-able.

It will seem though, if they do want a breeding group like this, they'd need to import a herd from Africa, similar to what other US zoos have done in the past.
 
That would be way to big, I was just speculating the size. For a given plot of land roughly 40-60 percent will be usable exhibit space. (because of keeper and guest infrastructure)

Full on fantasy zoo territory for me would be 25 acres of multiple exhibits for a multi Bull + family group + Hoofstock complex. Could do zebras because they don't get along with anything else or Impala they seem to get along with elephants.
 
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