African Elephant Crossing, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, USA
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo’s African Elephant Crossing features two sprawl- ing outdoor elephant yards for roaming and foraging, a deep-water swim chan- nel, a waterfall, an interactive visitor centre, five African elephants, meer- kats, naked mole rats, African birds and an African rock python. The five-acre, US$25m (£15.6m,
Zoo guests and pinnipeds provide entertainment for each other at the new exhibit
Sea Lion Sound, Saint Louis Zoo, USA
Visitors to the Saint Louis Zoo now have dramatic underwater views of seals and sea lions in the new Sea Lion Sound attraction, created by PGAV Destinations. Opened in July 2012 to replace the
original sea lion pool built in 1915, the US$18m (£11.6m, €13.6m) exhibit was inspired by the rocky shores of the American Northwest coast. Guests can now watch the sea lions as they glide by a large flat acrylic panel or over a 37ft long (11m) walk-through acrylic
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tunnel. The site occupies 1.55 acres with a 6,000sq ft (557sq m) pool and a water system that comprises more than 250,000 gallons. The exhibit is designed to display up to 25 pinnipeds, or seals and sea lions, and aims to further guests’ understanding of the two lives of pinnipeds . Presentations by curators educate guests about the lives and behaviours of individual animals in an 850-seat amphitheatre and show pool. Design challenges included the coor- dination and construction of complicated components like an aquatic life support sys- tem that balances salinity, temperature, turbidity, ozone and clarity for animal health and public perception. As well as being better for the animals and guests, it is also good for the Earth’s water system, as it avoids dumping 215,000 gallons of water weekly.
€17.5m) exhibit opened in May 2011 and was inspired by a safari in Africa that the zoo’s director, Steve Taylor, had been on 10 years ago. One of the main themes of the ex- hibit is that people and elephants need to share space in Africa in order to survive. To symbolise this, the Crossing Gate was designed so that visitors and elephants use the same path at vari- ous times throughout the day. During most of the day, visitors use the cross- ing to go from the Welcome Plaza to the interior sections of the exhibit. At certain points though, the gates swing out to protect the guests and allow the elephants to migrate from one of the outdoor ranges to the other. The building from the old exhibit, a pachyderm house from the 1950s, was used in the new exhibit to rein- force one of the institution’s main goals – reduce, reuse and recycle.
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