Magdeburg Zoo - Pachyderm House (Elephant)

Part of the indoor exhibit for elephants inside the Pachyderm House in Magdeburg Zoo. This exhibit currently houses one Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and one South African elephant (Loxodonta africana africana).

The Pachyderm House in Magdeburg opened in 1967 and is a prime example of DDR zoo architecture. Originally it housed elephants, rhinos and hippos. Today only two elephants and one elderly black rhino remains (the rest have moved to the new Africambo exhibit).

In the near future this area will be turned into a new African elephant house + exhibit as part of the Africambo II project.

June 2012

Toddy
what if anything stops the elephants falling off the edge? do they have access to the lower section or is that the dry moat style barrier?

There is nothing stopping the elephants from going into the moat (except their own common sense) but there is a wire stopping them from putting their trunks out into the visitor area (as can be seen in this shot). My guess would be that if an elephant fell into the moat it would be able to climb back out on its own.