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New digs for behemoths as zoo embarks on its largest expansion
Elephants might never forget, but the three behemoths at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo may be ready to cast off the memory of their current home when they get a look at their new stomping grounds.
This summer, the zoo will unveil the first phase of its Encounter Africa exhibit, which includes a massive expansion of facilities for the three – soon to be four – African elephants.
Wednesday, zoo officials invited donors and the media for a first look at the progress.
“We’ve embarked on the largest capital campaign in Cheyenne Mountain Zoo history, large because we’re talking about elephants, rhinos and lions,” zoo CEO Robert Chastain said.
And large for the price tag, $13 million, of which nearly $10 million has been given by 166 donors, about half of whom were there Wednesday.
The idea came from visitor surveys three years ago, in which many visitors were disappointed in the elephant facilities. Outside, visitors see them from above and a good distance away. Inside, they are confined relatively close together.
Jason Bredahl, the elephants’ keeper, called the project a “super-sized scale” of improvements for the elephants. Their outside area will increase from a quarter-acre to nearly 3 acres for their “vacation yard” alone, and their indoor domicile will be more than three times bigger, two-thirds the size of a football field.
The vacation yard, away from public view except during guided tours, will be a natural area where they can frolic, knock over trees, and do whatever. Their barn will have a warm water shower and splash pond they can activate with their trunks.
“They’re highly intelligent animals. They spend a lot of time foraging in the wild for food. Any time you can replicate this in captivity, it benefits them,” he said.
In the new exhibit, visitors will follow a suspension-style bridge over the giants, and can then climb to a platform to see inside the elephant barn and feed them.
The extra space will let the zoo acquire a fourth elephant from a private owner in Florida, to be delivered in about six weeks. The barn will be open sometime this summer.
The next phase, to be finished in the spring of 2012, will be the outdoor elephant exhibit, a new space for meerkats and a new exhibit containing two black rhinoceroses, a species the zoo had to send to another facility a decade ago for lack of space.
Said Chastain,” “Black rhinos are one of the most endangered animals in the world and to be able to incorporate them into the exhibit was a plus for us and black rhino conservation.”
In the spring of 2013, the lions, four females and a male, will be moved to a new exhibit also. All areas will have upgrades to mimic life in Africa, such as mud pits, pools and heated rocks.
The meerkats will get a termite mound. The lions will get a mock water buffalo carcass where they will be fed.
