from memory the fenced area is about twice what is shown in this photo (or maybe three times). There were usually three or four elephants chained there any time I visited. EDIT: have a look on page 5 of the Dusit gallery and my photos are there. There are three elephants, one of which is this same baby. It isn't chained, although the older ones are.
Wow, found it, pretty bad But what about this picture? http://www.zoochat.com/663/asian-elephants-158226/ Are there two different elephant exhibits in this zoo? I had a look on this gallery, and was very surprised by the signage - very good! And then the elephant exhibit.. it really looks horrific... what was your impression of this zoo as whole? Do you see it rebuilding the exhibit in near future?
as a whole the zoo is very good, in my opinion the second-best in southeast Asia (after Singapore), and it improved markedly between my first visit in 2006 and my second in 2009. There are some "bad" enclosures there but no more than would be commented upon at any western zoo. My 2009 visit: http://www.zoochat.com/320/dusit-zoo-11-november-2009-a-115860/ The little fenced area shown in this photo isn't what I would call an exhibit at all, its just a pen at the zoo entrance where a few elephants were being held at that time. I don't know how long they are there for, or even if the pen itself is temporary (they are just poles bolted onto the concrete after all). They are all tame elephants, and there are literally hundreds of these in Thailand, working the streets now the logging days are dwindling. Its no different to camels or llamas standing in pens at a childrens' zoo in any western zoo.
I was at the zoo yesterday and this elephant pen is no longer present, and the actual elephant enclosure has been part-demolished during a construction phase. All the elephants have been temporarily moved to another zoo.
