Does anyone know about any particular plans for the future of elephants at this zoo? Are they planning on doing any exhibit renovations? Can the youngest female still breed, or is it too late? I may be uninformed, since I have not been to this zoo, but from pictures it looks like the inside barn's floor is really hard and probably uncomfortable for them. Also, it seems like the yards are kind of smallish. Again, this may just be from seeing it in videos and not experiencing the zoo in person.
After renovations to Gorilla World are complete, the historic elephant house will be renovated. They already added a sand floor to the interior. I believe that at least one female as it at breeding age. @Moebelle and/or @Kudu21 should be able to better at giving answers to your questions.
Thane Maynard has made the statement that "the zoo is committed to exhibiting and caring elephants long-term," and their next major project after the completion of Gorilla World will be "to see a complete renovation and expansion of the elephant outdoor and indoor exhibit space and holding areas, providing the elephants with a much larger and more stimulating environment year-round." That said, I imagine we will not hear much more about the details of the project until the Gorilla World expansion and renovations are closer to being completed. "Jati" the zoo's youngest cow would theoretically be of breeding age; however, having not had a calf since 1998, even with being regularly bred to bull "Sabu" since 2008, I doubt that she ever have a calf again.
The Cincinnati Zoo is very much committed to their elephant program but the facility requires renovations to enlarge the outdoor enclosures, to revamp the indoor space, and to enable the acquisition of breeding elephants. Even though upgrades were made to the facility, significant renovations are needed to properly accommodate a breeding bull and a matriarchal herd. The habitat is currently divided into two enclosures with one for the females and one for the male. With the construction of the bull exhibit that enabled the Cincinnati Zoo to reestablish the breeding program. Since the bull can only inhabit the male portion of the facility, that restricts where the bull can reside. Rather than isolate the breeding bull to his own exhibit, the Cincinnati Zoo should construct two sizable enclosures that can accommodate a bull and a matriarchal herd. By building these two enclosures that will enable the breeding bull to move around the facility and to interact with the matriarchal herd. The following pictures are from the Cincinnati Zoo map of the Elephant Reserve. Left: The current diagram of the Cincinnati Zoo elephant facility Right: The personal rendering of the potential renovations to the Cincinnati Zoo elephant facility Understandably, radical changes cannot be made to the Elephant House as the building is a historic structure but significant renovations are needed to suitably accommodate a matriarchal herd. The addition of sand to the indoor space was a beneficial upgrade but had minimal impact on the facility. The Cincinnati Zoo should take a similar approach as the Smithsonian National Zoo where the building can serve two purposes. For the Cincinnati Zoo Elephant House, half the building should be dedicated to the socialization of elephants as a herd while the other half should be dedicated to the husbandry of elephants. By renovating the Elephant House, that will enable a matriarchal herd to socialize in an indoor setting and the facility to operate in an updated setting. Even though the Cincinnati Zoo has tried to breed Jati and Sabu for over a decade, nothing has resulted from the breeding attempts. Because Jati has not produced a calf since 1998 with the birth of Ganesh, it would be reasonable to presume that Jati is post reproductive. Due to the circumstances, it would be in the best interest of the Cincinnati Zoo to relocate the current elephants to other institutions and to acquire new breeding elephants. As a recommendation from the thread North American Asian Elephant Reproduction, Sabu should be transferred to the Albuquerque Zoo to breed with Rozana. As a recommendation from the thread North American Asian Elephant Institutions, My Thai, Schottzie, and Jati should be transferred to the Woodland Park Zoo to enable the Cincinnati Zoo to develop its breeding program. As a recommendation from the thread North American Asian Elephant Population, Johnson from African Lion Safari and Alana, Asha, and April from the Center for Elephant Conservation should be transferred to the Cincinnati Zoo to establish a breeding matriarchal herd.
The woodland park zoo no longer has elephants or an elephant habitat, so why do you think that is where Cincinnati’s females should move?
In the thread it’s mentioned that this is hypothetical on the condition that Woodland Park builds a new elephant facility.
This rendering is actually presumed how they're going to renovate the area. Although I've only heard that Sabu's expansion will be the main focus.
The future of elephants at the Cincinnati Zoo are definitely looking brighter after the recent announcement. More Home to Roam - The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden & Australia Exhibit, New Elephant Yard Coming To Cincinnati Zoo The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is launching a $150 million capital campaign for the new master plan. The jewel of the campaign will be a next generation habitat called Elephant Trek which will be nearly five times the size of the current elephant yards and will feature naturalistic trees, mud wallows, grasses, pools and streams. The effort to build a better home for them demonstrates its continued commitment to care for this magnificent species. The new habitat demonstrates the type of design that is ideal for all zoological institutions that are committed to their elephant program. A large expanse of land for the elephants to roam and the opportunity to explore different components of the habitat. What are your thoughts and opinions on the new elephant habitat?
I will cover a breakdown of the entire master plan for Friday's video and I will discuss all the little hidden surprises within Elephant Trek's concept art. They have been discussed in the zoo's news page but see if you can find all four. My opinion on this is obvious, but what I do what to bring up, is the fact that Elephant Reserve will be renovated as well. Unlike the Elephant Trek, there are no specific details as to what this plan will entail. No closeup concept art, no dates revealed. The Master Plan map shows that Sabu's yard, the plaza, and the cow yard will all be combined to make one large exhibit. With a completely new elephant complex along the way, will Elephant Reserve remain home to elephants? I cannot imagine the zoo dedicating the area to any other species mainly due to the historic name and reputation the 'Elephant House' holds.
Maybe they'll go left field and bring in African Forest Elephants for Elephant Reserve? (Wishful thinking). Or more realistically, they could devote that yard to "retirement elephants", essentially elephants like Ambika at the National Zoo or Bamboo at OKC.
My thought is that it would be space for solitary males. However, while it isn't proof of anything since it mixes things up, but Sabu is represented in Elephant Trek. My next guess is that the current elephants will remain in the Reserve while a new generation of elephants takes over Trek.
Do you think Cincinnati would obtain new elephants from Ringling Bros (like Rudy and Sunny in Columbus) or pull a move like Miami and obtain elephants from Australia or Europe? (Ongard in Miami, Budi or "Billy" in Denver)
They were going to receive a female last year but must've quickly realized it wouldn't have been wise to add another with such little space.
So my question is will we have access to the new elephant barn or not considering the weather around Cincinnati or like during the festival or lights??
Can you specify your question? Are you referring to the renovated current elephant barn or the new one in Elephant Trek? Also, welcome to ZooChat!
I discuss this in my master plan video. Because of a depicted complete glass structure placed on the elevated viewing platform, some of us suspect that's where the barn will be located - under the platform. So people will look at them from above. Just a somewhat idealistic theory though. In the rendering, there is a small barn located behind the two elephant habitats. The initial plans don't show it but the path will loop around the entire exhibit, so there may be visitor access to that barn. Regardless, it is far too small for giant animals. In a secondary rendering, in the left corner, there will be a Wild Sheep (or possibly Takin) habitat - so it isn't known if that indoor space will be reserved for the sheep of the elephants.