Best Elephant Park in Europe?

08-02-2008

@pertinax re: photos.
Example is Berlin zoo. Barriers are not noticeable. Sight lines are carefully followed. Pool, sand bath and enrichment are subtly exposed - so you have a feeling that elephants have comfort. Photos don't convey it. I guess ZooPlantMan knows how to do it.

About grass - several zoos have grass even on small elephant paddocks. One example is Krakow. I guess it is more a custom to keep elephant on sand. BTW, it is concrete, not sand which destroys elephant feet.

08-02-2008

The problem with the elephant enclosure in Berlin Zoo is that the barrier is a dry moat, which looks very nice and is hardly visible for the visitors but it`s dangerous for the elephants. A better example for good-looking barriers in Leipzig, the barriers are either dry moats with gentle slopes so that no elephants can fall in and break their legs, or the big pools.

08-02-2008

Although Whipsnade's outdoor elephant is very flat and rather featureless, it is very spacious and has a 'hidden' dry ditch surrounding it so visitors get a clear and direct view. The bull facility, sand paddock and indoor cow barn are modern but traditional with strong steel dividing fences. But overall its a pretty good enclosure.