Elephant Houses

Recently I've been thinking about elephant houses, more specifically the lack of great ones. Many zoos have invested in elephant exhibits in recent years, but the indoor housing always feels like they leave much to be desired. Off the top of my head, Zurich's elephant house seems pretty great, but otherwise I really can't think of an elephant house that has really reinvented the wheel. Are there any others that really stand out?

Zurich's Elephant House:

 

Both Noah's Ark and Blackpool Zoo in the UK have fantastic barns.

 

Tbh Paignton's always seemed pretty good to me (albeit now ele-less!), Chester's is of course good.

 

Omaha Henery Doorly Zoo and Oregon Zoo's barns are likely one of the better North American ones I can think of.

 

The best I've seen is at Columbus. It may not be ascetically pleasing (quite the opposite, in fact), but there sure is a lot of space!

 

Copenhagen's indoor Elephant House are rather big and spacious, as far as I remember.

 

These two look oddly similar from the photos I've seen. Like, it looks like whichever one was built first was copied by the other. They certain provide a lot of space, though they both appear to be extremely industrial. That is a recurring theme with most elephant houses that is always a major turn off for me. An example of an elephant house with a great aesthetic would be the one at Dresden (though even it is a bit on the small side). A larger version of that would make for a fantastic house.

A few years back I heard Columbus has the largest elephant house in America. Is this still true?

 

Haha yes, that's because they were designed (and i think built) by the same company

 

I believe Omaha has the largest Elephant house, could be wrong though. Nevertheless, Columbus probably has the best Elephant house I've personally seen.

 

Cologne's elephant house is also huge (IIRC it's comparable to Zurich in surface area), but is probably a bit too bare, just like the outdoor exhibit. It doesn't replicate the rainforest/tropical feeling the same way that Zurich's house seems to do.

As mentioned above, Copenhagen's elephant house is also spacious, but it especially stands out for its contemporary architecture, being designed by Norman Foster.

 

To build on from my previous point: Blackpool has the largest house in the UK, and one of the largest in Europe. Then with Noah's, they certainly have the largest outdoor exhibit in the UK, and it must be a top contender for the largest in Europe at over 20 acres??

 

The largest Elephant House in North America is located at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo:



Columbus Zoo has a large Elephant House as well:



Oregon Zoo:



Cheyenne Mountain Zoo (showing the middle section):



Cheyenne Mountain Zoo:



The vast majority of North American zoos with elephants do not allow visitors inside the barns, which European zoo nerds find astonishing because in Europe the opposite is true and visitors are allowed into practically every elephant barn on the continent.

Cologne Zoo in Germany:



Tierpark Hagenbeck in Germany:



Zurich Zoo in Switzerland:



Blackpool Zoo:



Copenhagen Zoo:

 

Another good contender would be Amersfoorts indoor exhibit! Much like Dresdens, it's not particularly massive, but very nicely done up!

 

Zurich
Cologne
Omaha
Blackpool
Copenhagen
Noahs Ark
Dresden
Amersfoort
Magdeburg
Hellabrunn (#1 in design)

No particular order other than Zurich

 

Noahs Ark Zoo Farm: really world class in size both indoor and outdoor. Sure its certainly lacking in style or immersion but in terms of pure welfare its one of the best IMO, and often overlooked.



Amersfoort:

 

Some more examples:

Amersfoort Zoo in the Netherlands (small but full of enrichment):



Planckendael Zoo in the Netherlands:



Enormous indoor pool at Planckendael:



Noah's Ark Zoo Farm in the U.K.:



Tierpark Hellabrunn in Munich, Germany:



Dresden Zoo in Germany:



Opel Zoo in Germany:



Magdeburg Zoo in Germany:



Poznan in Poland:

 

Lets not forget as well bull elephant indoor areas, many of the best elephant houses neglect the space needs of the largest inhabitants.

 

Noah's Ark was built first. Blackpool's was built later. Noah's Ark problem is despite its size they still only have 3 elephants living in it. It was built originally for either 'rescued' elephants, or possibly to house an Asian breeding group but neither transpired and instead it has become a spare African bull holding facility, but seems very under-used so far.

Whipsnade's extension to their previous house is along similar lines too.

 

Sorry snowleopard but Planckendaell is still located in Belgium !

Nobody under the impression of Wildlands - Emmen Zoo enormous indoor enclosure for their elephants ?! ( for me one of the best elephant indoor enclosures I've seen sofar ).

 

I feel like all the nice, modern elephant houses are in Europe whereas we NA bois don't got much.