If syracuse's exhibit still look like this http://www.zoochat.com/833/wildlife-trails-elephant-day-yard-86932/ then it is probaly the best Asian Elephant exhibit in the U.S.
San Diego Safari Park has the best exhibit as far as I'm concerned because it's the most entertaining herd to watch due to the size and age range. DC is good for Asians, and like Otter Lord said earlier, SD is good for the elephants and I think it's quite good for the visitors too. I'm not saying it's great, but I think it's better than its reputation on here.
The AZA's cut off for first time mothers in its zoos is supposedly 24, but an elephant in Memphis was AI'd in 2010 at age 28. So I really think it depends on the animal's condition, rather than the age. It does I have an aversion to enclosures that have only sand substrate (SD and Toledo)... LA had sand, but now I'm seeing pictures of grass growing in it, so I would rank LA up there as well. African: 1.) Disney's Animal Kingdom 2.)North Carolina 3.)Nashville 4.)Dallas 5.)Birmingham Asian 1.)Smithsonian 2.)St. Louis 3.)Oklahoma City 4.)Columbus 5.)Los Angeles 6.)Syracuse 7.) Denver I think it's evident that there are several exceptional Asian elephant enclosures in the U.S. in terms of space and amenities for the animals and keepers. But the only one that truly replicates their habitat in the wild would be St. Louis.. It is the only zoo I've been to that can provide a semi-forest/forested environment.
Denver, Cleveland, and LA zoos all have great new elephant exhibits. Out of those 3 I think Cleveland's is the best because it has big yards, a nice large barn, and an authentic African village theme to it with meerkats, mole rats, and lots of African songbirds. LA's isnt that natrualistic and only has one extra species. I think Denver has to much going on with tapirs, rhinos, cranes, fishing cats, and gibbons added with the elephant exhibit. I love all the new exhibits though!
Beco was born March 27, 2009 so he is 3-years-old. The Columbus Zoo has done very well with breeding elephants (Bohdi in April 2004 and Beco in March 2009) lately for just having two female elephants. I hope the have some calves soon with the new male.
St. Louis has a very naturalistic family unit of a 40 year old cow, and her teenage daughter. Then together they have three female calves between the ages of 6 and 1. Columbus is predicted to be receiving Calgary's female elephants including their calf when it's born.. They also want their new bull Hank to breed with both of their cows Phoebe (Beco's mother) and Connie. Lowry park's six year old Tamani has already been transferred to Birmingham I think... Also where did you hear about Busch Garden's elephant expecting?? That's quite exciting
Blackduiker Just one minor correction, LA has two additional species; Chinese Water Deer and Sarus Crane.
I would only count Disney Animal Kingdom if visitors could actually see the exhibit (for more than 20 seconds). Since they cannot, I personally would not count it. Birmingham I really know nothing about but it seems worth a deeper look.
Well I'll be darned, Tamani is at Birmingham! Lowry Park never said anything about it, so I didn't know. I got the BG elephant news from some elephant photos in the Busch Gardens gallery.
North Carolina, Nashville and Dallas are simply outstanding African elephant exhibits, but there are zero youngsters at the moment and it might well remain that way for some time to come. Reid Park has an exciting herd in a large, brand-new exhibit, and DAK has 9.5 acres but of course visitors can only view the elephants for approximately 60 seconds on the Kilimanjaro Safaris tour. One could certainly make the case that those are the 5 premier elephant exhibits in American zoos, and all for African elephants. San Diego Zoo Safari Park had 17 elephants less than a year ago, and the mixture of young and old makes that herd (now somewhat depleted) fascinating to watch as they interact with each other. One zoo that folks on here seem to be forgetting is Indianapolis, as that exhibit is very large, lush, and features 7 African elephants. There are 4 elephants that are 30 years of age or older but also a 7 year-old bull and two females 6 years or younger. The successful pregnancies there in the past decade have made for an interesting and popular habitat. Also, Oakland (6 acres), Birmingham and Kansas City (4.5 acres) all have modern and spacious African elephant exhibits. Cleveland, Cheyenne Mountain (4 acres when complete) and Rio Grande don't have the most scenic exhibits, but those three are all many acres in size and that now equals 13 African elephant exhibits that are all impressive in their own way. In terms of Asian elephants there are above average habitats to be found at these 8 zoos: Saint Louis, National, Houston, Rosamond Gifford (7 elephants), Los Angeles, Columbus, Oklahoma City and possibly Denver. With African elephants being represented in almost double the number of top-notch exhibits I do fear for the future of Asian elephants in major American zoos. Perhaps an importation will be forth-coming in the future... The future is bright for a few zoos, as Oregon has solid plans already in place for a 6-acre Asian elephant exhibit that is due to open in 2015 and since there is not a lot of competition I will go on record to say that I fully expect Oregon Zoo (which already has a famous history with pachyderms) to have the #1 Asian elephant exhibit in all of North America. That zoo is also tentatively arranging a 100-acre off-site breeding facility near the zoo but finances will determine if it ever sees the light of day. Sedgwick County is attempting to raise funds for a multi-acre African elephant exhibit, and if Omaha ever gets around to building its African elephant habitat there have been rumors that it will be at least 10 acres in size.
Good summary, although Houston Zoo actually exhibits Asian elephants. The fairly recent Omaha Zoo master plan depicts a large African elephant area, but not the 10 acre complex that was described several years ago. Oregon Zoo does seem to be on track to develop an excellent exhibit, although the point and likelihood of the off-site holding area are indeed questionable.
Disney's Animal Kingdom has a great African elephant exhibit in that it is very lush and the animals seem to have lots of space. However, it's drawback, as others have mentioned, is the fact that there is not nearly enough to time to view the animals as the vehicle barely stops. The North Carolina Zoo's enclosure looks like it's on par with that, but having never been there I can't say if it is good or not. The Hogle Zoo actually has a decent exhibit although it would be nice to see them get a little more space. I haven't seen an Asian elephant enclosure since I was at Point Defiance Zoo in 1995 and that one was flat out depressing.
Nashville is my personal favorite. It's very large and also well-designed and pleasant to look at. Lowry Park is another I haven't heard a lot about here. It wasn't the prettiest, but it was quite large. They also had some impala mixed in, which was cool to see.
Birmingham is eventually going to put a quick antelope species ie Impala or Springbok in with the four bulls. If you haven't been to Birmingham pre trails I would suggest getting a chance to go. It is very nice.
Actually I meant if you haven't been since pre trails but thats what I get for posting when I was half asleep this morning haha.
Here is my top five for African Elephants: 1) North Carolina 2) Dallas 3) Nashville 4) Birmingham 5) Reid Park The one I am most excited for is Brookfield Zoo's elephant exhibit that will have 4 individual exhibits (the master plan also shows an area that says future elephant expansion) and in the middle of those exhibits will be mixed ungulates. It will be in the same complex as a new lion exhibit and a new hippo exhibit. Also the very good existing giraffe and wild dog exhibits will be incorporated.
