WillyBorn: 1979, ZimbabweWeight: 13,300 lbs.

The most recent addition to the herd, arriving from Disney’s Animal Kingdom in Orlando.Also far and away the largest animal in the entire zoo.

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Meerkatenclosure

Food andgift shops

Water pool(One of two)

Crossinggate

Lecture/meeting area

Aviary

Educationaldisplays

Railing Elephant“parlours”

Scale

Safety line

Heated area

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A new elephant home, a new zoo centerpiece

Room to move …

… with constraints.

‘Target training’These aren’t circus elephants, but they still are carefully and rigorously trained to perform certain actions. Training stimulates the elephants’ brains, keeps them fit and builds trust between them and their keepers. The Cleveland Metroparks zoo employs a technique called “target training.”

J a m e s E w i n g e r a n d W i l l i a m N e f f | T h e P l a i n D e a l e r

Meet the residents

ShengaBorn: 1982, ZimbabweWeight: About 7,900 lbs.

The tallest female in the herd, recognizable by her curved tail, a pronounced hump on her back and very rough skin. zookeepers call her smart and social.

Barrierwall

VeVeVeterinarian

The trainer directs the elephant with a ball on the end of a long stick …

… and combines that touch with verbal

commands to get the elephant, for example, to

present its foot for a medical inspection.

The keepers also practice what’s known as “protective contact.” They interact closely with the animals — but behind the safety of heavy barriers designed to deflect trunks and tusks.

The eight most important moving parts in the exhibit are full-time elephant keepers Mitch Zverina, Meghan Sharp, Dave Winkler, Calvin Harpe, June Madamba, James Casteel, Rick Moxley and Mike Zinte.

Old elephanthabitat:about1 1/4 acres

Elephant Crossing:5 acres

The elephants’ new digs greatly expand the room they have to walk around. And elephants definitely do a lot of walking.But they’re not doing it for fun. When elephants in the wild walk long distances, they’re searching for food and water.

By using these needs to keep their elephants on the move, Cleveland’s keepers hope their five-acre habitat can approximate an elephant’s natural range.

The barrier fences that ring the Elephant Crossing’s ranges do not underestimate the strength of the animals they’re designed to restrain.

The ranges are ringed with tough steel-and-concrete posts threaded together with high-tensile-strength, woven-steel cables. The fence is designed to withstand the strain of two full-grown elephants shoving each other into it.

The cables can also carry an electric charge.

And trees within the compound are equipped with “hot vines” that can jolt an elephant who might crash into the tree.

Obviously, zookeepers do not want to shock their elephants. They are relying on these intelligent animals to learn quickly that it’s a good idea to avoid the fence.

Concrete

Cables

Steelpost

Buried at least 6 feet

JoBorn: 1967, MozambiqueWeight: 8,065 lbs.

Big, confident and the oldest of the zoo’s elephants, Jo is the current matriarch of the herd — although zookeepers say Shenga appears to want the job.

MeerkatsSuricata suricattaRange: Southern African deserts

MartikaBorn: 1985, Zimbabwe

Weight: 8,045 lbs.

MoshiBorn: 1976, Cape Provence, Africa Weight: 8,065 lbs.

You’ll recognize Moshi by her short tail — she lost part of it in a tussle with another elephant before she came to Cleveland. Martika has the unusual habit of tucking hay between her left tusk and trunk; she’s hoarding it for a later snack.

A very sociable relative of the mongoose. The zoo currently has two of them.

Naked mole ratsHeterocephalus glaberRange: Deserts of Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia in Africa

These strange rodents have an almost hivelike social structure, with a queen, breeding males and workers.

African birdsNine species will inhabit the aviary:

African rock pythonPython sabaeRange: Southern African grass-lands and savanna

They’re not venomous, but they are huge and famously bad-tempered.

If you can find it, you can eat itThe Elephant Crossing’s ranges lie on an east-west slope, and designers have built more ramps and slopes into the habitat.

Rather than simply feeding the elephants, zookeepers will place food strategically around the ranges — in corners, behind trees, in elevated baskets — so the elephants have to find it.Encouraging the elephants to forage for food in this way will approximate conditions in the wild, where elephants may walk for miles in search of their next meal.

The exercise of figuring out where zookeepers have put the food will also serve to stimulate the elephants’ large, complex brains.

Pass the saltOne way zoo officials are trying to make life interesting for the elephants is by burying a large boulder of salt on the Savanna Range. Elephants dig for this mineral in the wild, and it’s hoped they’ll do it here too.

Sydell L. Miller Elephant Care and Visitor CenterPatrons will be able to stand at the railings overlooking the “parlour” area and watch elephant handlers and veterinarians work with the animals from close proximity.

A bold, red line drawn on the floor of the enclosure area marks how far an elephant typically can reach with its trunk; zoo personnel will cross the line only when necessary.

The Elephant Care and Visitor Center will make it easy for veterinarians to pay close attention to the elephants’ health and give care where needed.

A heavy-duty scale is one innovation that will help: One major clue to the state of an elephant’s health is its weight and how that changes day to day.

Crossing gateThe elephant habitat takes its name from this focal point. Elephants will be free — indeed, encouraged — to cross between the Mopani and Savanna Ranges through this gate structure. As they do, heavy gates will close, keeping patrons at least 15 feet back from the animals as they pass through.

Patrons inside the African Village area will be stranded there during these interludes. But in exchange, they just may get the closest look they’ve ever had at an African elephant.

zoo officials hope that this everyday demonstration of humans and elephants sharing carefully managed spaces — with the implication that it can also happen in the wild — will stand as the basic theme of their new exhibit.

Sleeping under the starsAnother unusual feature — and big improvement for the elephants — is the Night Range. Elephants will be free to walk out into this enclosed, private area anytime they want during the night and even sleep here.

The range includes huge heaps of sand for the elephants to arrange to their liking, heated concrete pads and some radiant heat.

The Plain Dealer has a gallery of photos of the new Elephant Crossing at tinyurl.com/pdphotoblog

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The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s $25 million African Elephant Crossing does more than provide a spi�y and comfortable new home for the zoo’s herd of African elephants. The new habitat is carefully designed to keep the elephants

physically fit and healthy by keeping them moving around in a spacious, varied environment — while at the same time giving zoo patrons a closer look at these magnificent animals than they’ll get at almost any other zoo.

That’s the equivalent of about 65 people.

The average human consumes about 7 3/4 pounds of food on a typical day.

And while we might drink 8 glasses of water a day …

How big is big?Willy, the zoo’s newest addition, is an adult bull elephant weighing about 13,300 pounds.

Elephants will typically down 50 gallons — the equivalent of 800 glasses.

A full-grown elephant will put away about 300 pounds.

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AfricanElephant Crossing

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Rain Forest

Entrance gate

Primate,Cat &Aquatics

AustralianAdventure

NorthernTrek

Sarah AllisonSteffee Center(animalhospital)

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