Elephants of the Asian Forest

The new state-of-the-art facility Elephants of the Asian Forest is a purpose built enclosure for our breeding herd of Asian elephants as well as other threatened species of their habitat.

It immerses visitors into an Asian forest and focuses on a celebration of the forest community, seeking to explain ecological niches and relationships and the work of the Chester Zoo Asian Elephant Conservation Programme, the Assam Haathi Project.

The new facility, a large tropical house, is situated on the site of the old building, but is much more spacious. A number of design features have been included for the elephants' benefit. They include sand and rubber flooring throughout which aid foot care, a large behind the scenes facility for training and management of our elephants and overhead cargo nets to allow for more natural feeding behaviours.

Inside the house you will journey along a pathway through forest vegetation and live planting, supplemented with artificial trees and roots. The plants inside are all of south East Asian origin and chosen to represent the tropical rainforest vegetation. They include Paw-Paw, Mango, Star fruit, Bread Fruit, Teak and Ginger. Enclosures for other animals from the elephants' habitat, interpretation elements and models support the message of biodiversity with Asian elephants as flagship species. They include Great Indian Hornbills, monitor lizards and large Arowana and Probarbus fish. On leaving the building the visitors will also pass the noisy Derbyan Parakeets.

The elephants are also currently enjoying their newly refurbished outside enclosure which now provides a deep layer of sand and reduced slopes. A particular type of sand normally used for football pitches was chosen as it proved to be the most effective for the elephants and 1900 tonnes was needed to cover the enclosure. This allows them to utilize the area much better providing a more interesting exhibit for both animals and visitors alike.

Well what are you waiting for?