North Carolina Zoo - New Exhibits » North Carolina Zoo

North Carolina Zoo - New Exhibits
01-02-2008

Elephant & Rhino Construction:

Big things are coming in Spring 2008!

The Zoo is expanding its elephant and rhinoceros exhibits, improving their off-exhibit holding facilities and creating a new multi-exhibit complex called the Watani Grasslands Reserve. When completed in Spring 2008, the complex will give the Zoo some of the largest and most technologically advanced facilities in the zoo world for the exhibit and care of elephants and rhinoceros.

The changes will give both species separate off-exhibit holding facilities along with larger and more interesting habitats. By enriching the animals’ lives, the renovations will also make a Zoo visit more interesting and educational.

Currently, the Zoo’s three African elephants share an off-exhibit holding barn with the three resident Southern white rhinos and six new ones that arrived in May. The barn is being altered and improved to house only rhinos and a new 12,500-square-foot elephant barn is being constructed nearby. Plans also call for the existing 3.5-acre elephant exhibit to be combined with the adjacent 3.5-acre rhino exhibit to create a 7-acre habitat just for elephants. The rhinos will be combined into one herd, then mixed with antelope in an improved 37-acre African Plains exhibit next door to the elephants. Elephants, rhinos and antelope will be on exhibit during the summer of 2007 with construction continuing into 2008.

The $8.5 million project will enable the Zoo to increase the number of African elephants and Southern white rhinoceros it exhibits to 10 animals of each species. Visitors will also benefit from a new immersion walkway, also available to visitors by the Memorial Day Weekend, that will bring them even closer to these terrestrial giants. The N.C. Zoo Society, the Zoo’s private, non-profit, support organization, is raising over $7 million to fund the project through contributions from corporations, foundations and individuals. The remainder is being provided by the state.

The Zoo staff also hopes that these improvements will result in some elephant and rhino births and contribute to nationwide efforts to maintain healthy, vibrant populations of these species. In the wild, African elephants are endangered and Southern white rhinos are threatened. To add to the problem, North American zoos have not been very successful in breeding either species. But within a decade, the Watani Grasslands project could place the N.C. Zoo among a handful of U.S. zoos with large elephant collections and greatly improve its ability to breed these highly social pachyderms for future generations to enjoy.

01-02-2008

10 African elephants + 10 white rhinos

7 acres for elephants and 37 acres for rhinos/antelope

This is a zoo that appears to be ahead of the competition...has anyone on ZooBeat actually visited the collection?

01-02-2008

OMG this is my favourite zoo over seas. Though i have never been, i have followed the pachyderm progress religiously for 3 years, and am lucky enough to ahve the roginal plans, which the zoo emailed me. The wantani grasslands will give NCZ the second largest ele exhibit in the united states (in a zoo), only to DAK at 9 acres. Carn't wait for new photos to apear of the new exhibit!

01-02-2008

The Zoo received i think 6 new rhinos from White Oak sanctuary (i think) and 4 new eles from the AZA Afri SMP.

01-02-2008

@Zoo_Boy: what do the plans look like for the African Plains project? What species of antelope will be there to share space with the rhinos? Which are the largest elephant enclosures in the U.S.?

01-02-2008

Image:NCZooelephants.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The old habitat. ! male, 2 females.

NC Zooâ„¢ - North Carolina Zoo : Elephant & Rhino Construction

NC Zoo Society: Elephant & Rhino News

NC Zoo Society: February Z-mail

01-02-2008

Thanks Zoo Boy! North Carolina's elephant enclosure puts to shame many other celebrated exhibits like Taronga, Melbourne and Chester. Elephants need space to roam, and perhaps the NC Zoo will be a place where captive pachyderms won't have a long list of foot ailments. We can only hope...

01-02-2008

Google Image Result for http://wwwcache.wral.com/asset/news/local/2007/09/30/1878102/1878102-1191165038-220x165.jpg

russlings: 7 Elephants!

ELE arivals

Started 2007 with 3 eles, now has 7!
Started 2007 with 3 rhino, now has 9!

01-02-2008

Wow! That elephant in the google pic is giant compared to the keeper...

01-02-2008

Well i defence of those 3 zoos, they dont have any room. BUT LOOK WHAT ROOM CAN DO!!!!!!!!!! MAN i love this zoo!

01-02-2008

New elephant barn on Flickr - Photo Sharing!

BEST BARN EVER!!!!!!! (imo that i ahve seen) Looks great! lol i really really love this exhibit!

THE Zoo North Carolina Zoo - a photoset on Flickr

01-02-2008

I see that the North Carolina Zoo is only divided between North American and African animals...but I have to say that it certainly appears to be a progressive and rapidly expanding zoo. Thanks Zoo Boy once again for all of the links. You really are crazy about this place!

It is interesting that the 37 acre rhino/antelope exhibit is larger than the entire London Zoo! Mightily impressive.

07-02-2008

The North Carolina Zoo has a massive edge over both Melbourne and Taronga. The plans for their elephants and rhinos (highlighted at the beginning of this thread) are impressive. Allocating 7 acres just for elephants and 37 acres for rhinos/antelopes beats most zoos around the globe. It's these kind of large-scale exhibits that are badly needed by any zoological collection planning on maintaining elephants.

07-02-2008

I'm gonna be a real stirrer here and say that Taronga's new elephant exhibit (after patrick convinces us to ship the elephants off to the bush) would be great for hippos
(big ones, not pygmies.)

Lots of water, a great waterfall and sufficient room for hippos, which after all don't need as large an enclosure as elephants.

What else are we going to use it for?

NC Zoo
07-02-2008

North Carolina has at least 3 different climates due to its geography .
I have been in NC in early Autumn , although I was about 100 miles from the zoo . The weather was quite warm at that time of year
From looking at average weather patterns of the cities that are nearest to the zoo , it appears to have a climate that has a few snowfalls each year , but apart from that has similar climate to , say , Christchurch in NZ .( or maybe Hobart ? )
Maybe an occasional blizzard once in a while , but generally speaking the winters there appear to be milder than Northern states .
Although the Zoo is not near the sea , NC is on the Atlantic Coast , and this will have a moderating affect on potential extremes of weather/climate .
I have my doubts that for the majority of the time the elephants are kept indoors over Winter .