One day, perhaps a few years from now, Cincinnati’s beloved elephants Schottzie, Mai Thai and Jati may find themselves doting aunties.
Aunties, their caregivers say, because the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is embarking on a venture that will welcome two new elephants – sisters or mom and daughter – in 2023, who may mate with Sabu, the zoo’s bull.
Doting, because, well, female elephants dote on their herd’s calves.
Just about everything in Elephant Trek, for which plans were unveiled Tuesday, is about letting elephants do what they do naturally.
“What we’re looking to do and have started to do already is give our elephants a 24-hour experience,” said Christina Gorsuch, the zoo's curator of mammals. The elephants will have access all day and all night to both the outdoors and their new barn.
Elephant Trek will afford the elephants an area that’s nearly five times the size of their current space, to be accomplished with about $50 million in construction.
It's important because the animals need protection and conservation: Asian elephants are endangered, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. Their population is decreasing. The zoo's commitment to the species, and to the people of the Cincinnati area, officials said, is the biggest project it has ever undertaken.
They're calling Elephant Trek the "crown jewel" of a five-year effort to grow the zoo. In time, the habitat could host a herd of as many as 10 elephants. For those who adore the current Elephant Reserve's habitat, including the historic, Taj Mahal-inspired Elephant House, no worries, zoo officials said. The space will eventually become a habitat for a different species, or mixed species, and the grounds around it will be beautified by the zoo's horticulture department.
The new construction is about doing the right thing for not only the elephants and visitors, but for the environment, zoo officials say. Elephant Trek and its amenities (and even what's around and underneath the habitat) will decrease the zoo’s environmental footprint, moving it toward a self-sustaining entity.
All of the goals fall under the zoo’s biggest-ever capital campaign, More Home to Roam, which was announced in 2018. Officials said Harry and Linda Fath donated a $50 million matching gift to kick off the campaign. To date, about $106 million of a goal of $150 million has been reached.
Where will you find Elephant Trek?
Elephant Trek will be located at the northern tip of the zoo (now a parking lot). Visitors will be able to observe the elephants from several points. They will get to see the largest mammals of Asia go about their daily activities, from strolling to eating (and eating some more) to swimming (in a pool deep enough for them to submerge themselves) to splashing in streams or a waterfall and cooling off in mud wallows, or relaxing in shade.
Prepaid human groups of up to about 250 who come to the zoo for special occasions will have a venue on the exhibit’s east side with glass windows that will provide a view inside the elephant barn, said Mark Fisher, the zoo’s senior director of facilities, planning, and sustainability. The building will also have a patio that offers a view of the entire exhibit, he said.
Project to help 'green' the zoo
Underneath about half of Elephant Trek will be a million-gallon rain collection and cleaning system. The water will be used to hose down stalls, flush toilets and provide all other nonpotable uses of water at the zoo. It's another self-sustaining, environmental amenity, Fisher said.
There are plans for feeding sustainability for elephants and other animals, with Bowyer Farm in Warren County growing alfalfa and Timothy grass as one example.
There are plans, too, for elephant waste. It will be among all organic waste that is collected and placed in an aerobic digester that cleans and heats and dehydrates the waste. Some of the resulting fertilizer will be used for the zoo's needs, and some will be sold as "Fiona" fertilizer, though elephant dung will contribute in a big way. Because 10 elephants, Fisher says, “is a lot of food, a lot of water, a lot of poop."
Through its building, solid waste management, renewable energy with solar panels, water conservation, stormwater management, energy efficiency and community outreach, the zoo will lessen its environmental footprint on the planet. The goal to become "net-zero," or self-sustaining, by 2025.
So what will the elephants gain?
The development plan considers the elephants’ physical, emotional and social health, Gorsuch said.
To get ready for the undertaking, elephant caretakers studied the elephants’ behavior – tracking their steps, just as humans track theirs – and closely watching where they like to go and what's there, Gorsuch said. "We want to create as many complexities as is helpful for them," she said.
"It's a fun, dynamic space," Fisher said.
The full-time nature of the habitat is capped off with its big barn that will shelter the elephants when they’re not roaming. The zoo recently received a $10 million gift from the Farmer Family Foundation to fund the Elephant Barn. Its design will allow the elephants to continue their elephant lives as day turns to night or warm to cold.
“We’re trying to create the indoor experience just like the outdoor experience, as much as possible, Gorsuch said, with play features for elephant enrichment, feeding devices at heights to which elephants would naturally gravitate and skylights to bring in natural light.
And although the elephants will be mostly independent, their human helpers will maintain relationships with them, because that’s essential for the animals’ care, she said.
The Asian elephant population has declined by an estimated 50% over the past 75 years, according to the conservation union, so the zoo's investment in a related family group to breed is an especially important conservation endeavor, officials said.
The caregivers are confident that the new pair of elephants, to be brought in from another zoo , will get along just fine with veterans Mai Tai, Schottzie, Jati and Sabu. First, the elephants will be able to see each other, though distanced, and after they adjust, they'll be ready to live together.
"They’re very smart and very curious animals," Gorsuch said.
Spend a little time watching them during a visit even now, and you might see one swing her trunk over another’s shoulder in a gentle embrace, offering a reassuring hug, Gorsuch noted. When they sleep, they sometimes spoon, or one may stand watch over another, stoically guarding her. They smell each other, cuddle, squeak and squeal and communicate through subsonic rumbling.
And once an elephant calf or two are in the mix? That’s where the emotional manners of elephants will become more obvious to observers, because elephant moms are vigilant in their care for their calves, and all the females of a herd take part in providing safety and care of the young. This is why Gorsuch is calling the zoo's current female elephants' future "aunties."
What's next for 'More Home to Roam'?
More Home to Roam, which started with a $50 million matching gift, has a completion date of 2025. A parking garage was excluded indefinitely from the plan, Fisher said, stepping up the development of Elephant Trek.
To date, the zoo has completed:
- Roo Valley, a world-class habitat for kangaroos and little blue penguins.
- African Penguin Point, which is three times larger than the previous penguin habitat.
- Hops Craft Beer Garden, which sells locally brewed and national favorite beers.
- Kanga' Klimb Aerial Adventure Course, the first Americans with Disabilities Act-accessible ropes course in the United States.
- A new entrance, calming rooms, adult changing tables, and a wheelchair-friendly area on its train.
Source link
