You may no that bristol used to hold elephant(s) The only one i can remember is wendy. Unfortunately she died in 2002. But if she were still alive would they still keep her in the okapi enclosure were she used to live or would they have moved her to another zoo?
Quite a hypothetical thread, no? Looking at previous examples of Bristol's seemingly excellent management and the resources on their current site, then surely the zoo would've sent the elephant away if she was in her prime but still living in her old accomodation. As I understand it, Wendy was an old elephant, so it would've been easier for animal and organisation to keep her at Bristol until her death. A young or mature elephant would (theoretically) be easier to transfer and integrate into an existing herd elsewhere. The site hasn't got the room for facilities which could cater for even a handful of elephants and Bristol wouldn't have kept a solitary mature elephant so a new enclosure on the current zoo would most probably be implausible
before she was kept in the okapi enclosure she was kept in the current 'Gorilla Island' with another elephant, and african called Christina. Before them there was a asian female named rosie. as of elephants before them i am in the dark, allthough im sure there were elephants at the zoo before rosie.
Apparently she was going to be moved onto Whipsnade, but due to the bad arthritis she had she was put down.
And so joined the mass movement of urban zoos going out of elephants, with London sending there's to Whipsnade in the year before and Dudley's going to Planete Sauvage soon after. Though I'd like to eventually see elephants at the NWCP whenever that gets done.
As I understood it , the final enclosure for Wendy - on the site of the current Okapi enclosure but quite different - was built as a 'retirement home' for her to live out her final years , which she did . She was a much loved resident of Bristol Zoo - for visitors and staff - and I would have been surprised if there were plans to move her at her advanced age .
I think I read somewhere that Bristol decided not to move Rosie because of her age. It was believed that moving her to unfamiliar surroundings would not have been in her best interests.
