I am possibly planning a visit to the zoo in a couple weeks but after looking at my travel schedule for the trip I realized that the time I will be able to arrive at the zoo would be 11AM instead of 9:30AM. Another person travelling with me needs to visit a store that opens at 10AM the same day that is 1.5 hours away and we can’t accommodate another time to go to the zoo otherwise. This is a huge factor in planning my visit as I am/was hoping to see the elephants up close indoors inside the elephant care center. I don’t know if Pittsburgh is like a lot of other zoos where the elephants will stay inside while the keepers get their outdoor habitat all ready for them or they can come in whenever they want. I’m guessing by 11AM they all would be outside??? I’d really like to visit the zoo to see the elephants close up indoors, especially since they have that viewing glass wall room but if there’s no gurantee that I can see them up close than maybe I’ll ditch my trip. The only other reason I was planning on going would be to see their Blue Monkeys. If someone could give me some advice/the honest truth I’d really appreciate it. Thanks!
This time of year it's really hard to predict as it's more weather dependent than anything. The zoo still pushes the one way path, and I've never really seen guests going the wrong way, so that might a time factor for leaving the zoo (they're about 1/3 of the way in).
Indoors isn't super close viewing either, there's a bunch of space between the guest area and where the elephants are kept.
It still looks a lot closer than what you’d get outside and I’d be using my iphone 13 pro max’s 1x or 3x zoom lens. What is the distance inside between guests and the elephants and how tall are the elephants so I can get a sense on the dimensions of the area? Thanks for your help!
I also like how you’re not above the elephants like in Cleveland’s indoor area. I had to ask a keeper there the height distance of where the public is vs the elephants to get an accurate view crouching down to film at what would’ve been my standing height.
I got the schedule fixed so I can get to the zoo at opening time! Elephants are going to be first! Any ideas on what exhibits I should see next to guarantee active animals? What time are the Blue Monkeys and Nyala antelopes most active?
It's at least 10 feet given the length of the elephants trunk. The glass viewing is actually outside this area. Also, given some aggression issues, there's usually two groups. One gets the inside, one the outside and it switches midday.
As I said previously, it's a one-way path. It makes a big loop. You can do the loop multiple times, but there aren't any cross-paths or anything, except to bypass the aquarium. You will see the nyala before the elephants. The blue monkeys are indoors, in a building just past the elephants.
