Elephant Habitat at the OKC Zoo

[Praedura]

Note: I was going to post this in the 'Oklahoma City Zoo' thread, except that there doesn't appear to be one (at least, I couldn't find it). So, I'll give it one here.

The new elephant habitat looks quite impressive. It opened in March 2011 and covers 9.5 acres.

It's comprised of:

• Elephant Barn: 15,600 square feet, 8 separate stalls with different configuration opportunities plus a large community stall with sand surface. Radiant floor heating system, raised office with 360 degree view of interior, ambient lighting through windows and skylights and hydraulic-operated animal gates.

• Bull Yard: ½ acre with 8 foot deep, 30,000 gallon pool.

• Center Yard: ½ acre between bull and cow yards with the capability to open into the bull yard includes a 4,500 gallon, 2 foot deep pool.

• Herd Yard: 2.6 acres with a twelve foot deep, 214,000 gallon pool. Waterfall off of barn flows into stream leading into pool.

• Elephant Pavilion/Amphitheatre: seats 400+ people. Daily routines such as baths, foot care and training sessions will be seen from the pavilion, allowing for interaction with the elephant keepers.

source: New Elephant Habitat - Oklahoma City Zoo

I came across some wonderful pics for this...














source: Oklahoma city zoo visit « gorgeousingray


also...
















source: https://foursquare.com/v/elephant-ha...f7721e205fcf25

and finally...



source: The Circus "NO SPIN ZONE": Oklahoma City Zoo's New Elephant Exhibit

[Praedura]

Btw, I wanted to use an 'Adventure District' icon for this post, but we don't seem to have one.

[BBatesokc]

I'm pretty sure I posted this somewhere on here before (another thread), but here it is again (from our visit).

[zookeeper]

Elephant habitats are controversial to say the least. Our zoo has one of the best open-habitat zoos in the country. Houston is another in the region that has a quality elephant program. The new gold standard for elephant habitats in America is being developed in Portland, OR.

[Dustin]

Does anyone know if the Asia Exhibit is postponed? On their website it says "on the horizon". There is no date posted next to it like the other projects.

[boscorama]

We visited the zoo recently, first time in 20+ years. The habitats are much improved for most animals. Elephant Pavilon was amazing.

[OKC Heel]

I was not impressed. What i saw was a whole bunch of fancy crap for people but not much for the elephants. Zoos should take a minimalist approach to everthing outside of the actual exhibit. All that's needed is enough room to view the animals in something that should resemble a natural habitat, as opposed to seeing them in something that looks like a mix of a circus animal training exhibit, a putt putt course, and a military obstacle course.