Zoo København Wonderful but mysterious elephant news from Copenhagen Zoo

[Dan]

O Boy, was I glad when I read these news about the elephants in Copenhagen Zoo at the zoo´s web page:

"Hanelefanten, Chieng Mai, har nu flere gange været alene inde i hunnernes indeanlæg, hvor han har indtaget området som sit eget. Hunnerne har efterfølgende reageret med en typisk adfærd, som en hunflok vil gøre i naturen, når der har været en han i området. Vi vil fortsætte, indtil vi på sigt kan have Chieng Mai og hunnerne i samme anlæg."

Oh, you don´t read Danish? Sorry, here is my attempt at translation into English:

The male elephant, Chieng Mail, have now many times been let out alone in the herd enclosure, where he has claimed the area as his own. Afterwards, the females have reacted just like they would do in nature, when a male has entered their territory. We will continue this approach, until - in time - we can keep Chiang Mai and the females in the same enclosure."

Can you shed any light on this, Toddy? Do they really mean to tell us that they expect to keep the old male together with the herd at all time?

Also, for all of you who are not familiar with Copenhagen Zoo, I would like to tell you a little bit more:

The old male, before being transfered to the new elephant house, spent some 40 years or so in a small indoors prison cell, with a perhaps 350 square meters barren outside enclosure to spend his few outside hours in (remember it is cold in Scandinavia). Basically, I have felt sorry for this guy the last 30 years, since I got old enough to become aware of his predicament. Now he has moved to the new elephant house and the new elephant exhhibit, which is a huge improvement in general - but especially for the herd, not for the males. (Theres is a young male, Tonsak, as well). Some of you may have read my critisism of the male outdoor quarters. Not very much better than the old one. Therefore I have been SO excited about the thought that Chiang Mei (and Tonsak) would be let out into the herd enclosure, now and then!

And finally this has happened! The new herd enclosure is in itself nothing compared to all the new elephant exibits opening up in America, it is only about half an acre big- some 2000+ square meters (but the old enclosure was about 1/5 of an acre, some 500 square meters).

But still, it contains lots of sand, mudholes and a water pool. These amenities have been unknown to Chiang Mai for all his life! I would be so fascinated by any first-hand reports about how Chinag Mai reacted when he was let out into this, relatively speaking, "paradise"!

Have you seen it for yourself, Toddy? DID HE DARE TO GO INTO THE WATER AND HAVE A BATH????!!!!

 

[Toddy]

I knew that introductions had been made but I thought that it was just for breeding purpouses when the females was in heat. It is news to me that they plan to keep them together all the time. If you look in the text it also says "indeanlæg" meaning indoor enclosure.

However, I can say that I know he has been alllowed out into the main herd enclosure a number of times. The females were indoors at the time letting him enjoy the new enclosure alone. And yes he has already enjoyed a dip in the moat I have not seen it myself though, only heard about it from some of the keepers.

He will presumeably be let out in the main enclosure more in the future, when the weather gets warmer. I believe the plan is to have him and Tonsak take turns spending the hot summer evenings in the herd enclosure. I will dig around a bit and see what else I can find out

 

[snowleopard]

@Dan: you mention that Copenhagen's new elephant exhibit is only half an acre in size...is that really true? In the U.S. there will soon be around 15 elephant enclosures that are 3 acres or larger in size. Copenhagen is already behind the times.

 

[Dan]

@Toddy:
Thanks a lot for the additional info, and - yes - a bit over-enthusiastically I did not notice that the zoo´s note was about Chiang Mai being in the indoor enclosure for the herd! All the better then, when you still inform me that he has indeed been in the herd outside enclosure as well and enjoyed baths in the pool! I can´t tell you how happy that makes me. Since Copenhagen Zoo is partly open at night in the summer, I may get the chance to see this with my own eyes this summer. Great!

@snowleopard:
I´m afraid I am right concerning the size of the Copenhagen exhibit, yes. I have seen slightly different measurements, but this is the current official information at the zoo´s web site:

The total size of the outdoor enclosures is 3 350 sq. meters. An acre is 4046 sq.meters so that means a little more than 3/4 of an acre. The male enclosure is 1000 sq. meters, 1/4 of an acre.

That leaves 2 350 sq. meters for the herd outdoor enclosure, in other word just a little over half an acre. Though in another article at the web page the herd enclosure is said to be 2 500 sq. meters so there appears to be a slight confusion about the actual exact size...

And as for the male outdoor enclosure we must keep in mind that it can be divided into two enclosures, since the zoo keeps two bulls. In that case they have 500 sq. meters each, or 1/8 of an acre each. And most of the male enclosures are surrounded by a tall concrete wall so they don´t even have anything to look at.

 

[snowleopard]

Thanks for the sad news Dan. The brand new elephant enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark would place it perhaps 70th in terms of overall size out of the 80 or so zoos that hold elephants in the United States. I am Canadian and thus I am not attempting to be patriotic, but I have to admit that the U.S. is making fantastic strides with the multi-acre elephant paddocks that are constantly being enlarged in that country. The Copenhagen exhibit would be frowned upon in the U.S., and yet it is being praised in Denmark and throughout other European countries. Hugely disappointing.

 

[CZJimmy]

Thanks for the sad news Dan. The brand new elephant enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark would place it perhaps 70th in terms of overall size out of the 80 or so zoos that hold elephants in the United States. I am Canadian and thus I am not attempting to be patriotic, but I have to admit that the U.S. is making fantastic strides with the multi-acre elephant paddocks that are constantly being enlarged in that country. The Copenhagen exhibit would be frowned upon in the U.S., and yet it is being praised in Denmark and throughout other European countries. Hugely disappointing.

The exhibit itself isn't really being praised, moreso the engineering feats of the house and it's glass roof (from what i understand)

 

[Dan]

Yes, CZJimmy, basically that is it. And I suppose that the indoor quarters for the herd is really good in comparison to most zoos on the planet: 900 sq meters (almost 1/4 of an acre), sand floor under a glass roof - although no indoors pool, which I think was included in the first sketches.

Still, a huge improvement for the herd compared to the old, dark and damp prison from 1914.

 

[Dan]

I knew that introductions had been made but I thought that it was just for breeding purpouses when the females was in heat. It is news to me that they plan to keep them together all the time. If you look in the text it also says "indeanlæg" meaning indoor enclosure.

However, I can say that I know he has been alllowed out into the main herd enclosure a number of times. The females were indoors at the time letting him enjoy the new enclosure alone. And yes he has already enjoyed a dip in the moat I have not seen it myself though, only heard about it from some of the keepers.

He will presumeably be let out in the main enclosure more in the future, when the weather gets warmer. I believe the plan is to have him and Tonsak take turns spending the hot summer evenings in the herd enclosure. I will dig around a bit and see what else I can find out

There seems to be a bit confusion about this. A couple of weeks ago I e-mailed the zoo, asking if Chiang Mai had ever been let into the herd´s outdoors enclosure but recieved the answer that this has not yet happened. My e-mail was answered by one of the zoologists. He said the zoo is planning to do so, depending on when the keepers feel the time is right, but that it has not happened yet.

Strange........... some contradicting stories here.

I also asked if there was any truth to the rumours (that I have read somewhere) that the zoo might attempt to reunite the young male Tonsak with the herd, if only for a few more years. The answer was no.

 

[Dan]

Yes, CZJimmy, basically that is it. And I suppose that the indoor quarters for the herd is really good in comparison to most zoos on the planet: 900 sq meters (almost 1/4 of an acre), sand floor under a glass roof - although no indoors pool, which I think was included in the first sketches.

Still, a huge improvement for the herd compared to the old, dark and damp prison from 1914.

Actually, I have to rethink this, too. I thought a lot about this measurement especially when I visited the zoo a couple of weeks ago. I stood there for a long time and tried to "measure" it with my own eyes. Having done so, I think it is safe to say that there is no way that the general herd enclosure is 900 sq. meters big. This "official" measurement simply must include "backstage" training boxes, corridors and whatever.

My new approximation would be something like 600 sq. meters. Still good, in comparison with most zoos; herd kept free while inside; no chaining but instead the soft sand floor, feeding stations etc.

great! But the "900 square meter" argument simply must be a "PR measurement", that is for sure.

 

[condor]

... elephant enclosure at the Copenhagen Zoo in Denmark would place it perhaps 70th in terms of overall size out of the 80 or so zoos that hold elephants in the United States

Sorry for reopening this old thread, but the above isn't quite true. The problem is that many zoos provide total exhibit size, while the figures provided by Copenhagen is space available to the elephants. The total size of Copenhagen's elephant section in 10,730 m2 (2.65 acre). However, total size is rather misleading, as it typically includes sections unavailable to the elephants (visitor trails, maintenance, fencing, etc). If sticking to the more accurate outdoor space available to the elephants, the 0.85 acres places Copenhagen below average for exhibits in North America, but only slightly (uszoo's interesting list of available space at AZA zoos; Copenhagen would be #18-19 out of 34 for Asian; #37-40 of 68 if including both elephant species). If adding indoor space available to the elephants, larger in Copenhagen than most zoos, the total is 1.15 acre.

However, regardless of all this juggling of numbers, I think the Copenhagen outside exhibit is acceptable, but at the lower border (as I've also mentioned elsewhere). Unfortunately, I doubt this will change due to the limited overall size of the zoo, and big expansions are complicated due to its city location.