Probably wouldn’t work, would it? But where exactly can a four-ton mammal stay while her room is being renovated?
The question of where—and how—to relocated elephants and rhinos is one the Zoo has had to consider during construction of the new Pachyderm Forest. The hippos will be moving to their temporary yards at the former Indian rhino exhibit, where the pool in the center yard is being made deeper to accommodate the new residents. Keepers are currently training the hippos to walk into giant crates that will be trucked across.

No such shuttle service for the elephants: the females—Ruby, Gita, and Tara—will walk from the elephant barn to their temporary home, an off-exhibit barn located behind the World of Birds Show Theater, in an area known to Zoo insiders as the Boneyard. (There are no actual bones in the yard, which was once used to store construction equipment.) The barn in the Boneyard is being refurbished and redesigned. It will have open walls just like the current elephant barn, and while not quite as luxurious, will make a comfortable short-term abode. It does not, however, offer as clear a view as the elephant barn, and visitors may find their viewing of the elephants somewhat obstructed.

Billy, the Zoo’s 17-year-old Asian bull elephant, is staying closer to home. More powerful than the cows, and a little less predictable, Billy requires stronger restraint, so he will stay in his current, heavily fortified yard while construction crews work on the yards around him. Once they finish, Billy will temporarily move into one of the new yards while work proceeds on his current one.

Though he’ll be in the midst of construction, his keepers don’t expect any problems. In fact, Billy’s something of an old hand when it comes to renovations: Because his yard faces the Red Ape Rain Forest, and is down the hill from Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Billy has had a front-row seat for construction off-and-on since 1996.

“I don’t think he’ll be stressed. If anything, I think he’ll find it interesting,” says Principal Animal Keeper Jeff Briscoe. “We’ll have someone with him at all times while construction is going on, and we’ll try to maintain as much of his routine as we can. We’ll keep up his exercise and work with him just like we always do.”

Keeping the same routine with the cows will be a little more difficult because the Boneyard is smaller than the elephant yards.

“Our biggest challenge will be to keep them stimulated physically and mentally within the confines that we have,” says Briscoe. “We’re hoping that somewhere behind the bird show theater, we’ll be able to find an area where we can get them out of the enclosure for some R & R.

Fortunately, keepers have spent years developing trusting relationships with the elephants and already spend time with them outside of the yards. They walk Gita, a 44-year-old Asian elephant, around the Zoo before it opens on Saturday mornings, and plan to maintain this routine during renovation. Ruby, a 41-year-old African cow, can be unpredictable, and keepers have not walked her outside of the elephant enclosure in some time. They do, however, walk her up and down the access road behind the exhibit, which keeps her in a contained space, while letting her browse on trees around the yard.

Tara, a 36-year-old African cow, does not go on walks. An elephant who might be described as “cranky,” Tara is handled through protected contact, meaning keepers don’t go into the same enclosure with her. This protected contact will be maintained at the Boneyard. Tara will also maintain her favorite activity: playing with tires, which she likes to carry around on her tusks and throw into her pool. Her collection of tires, from large to small, will be making the move with her.

Keepers hope to start practicing the elephants’ walk to their new home soon. The social dynamics of this walk through the Zoo are more complex than one might imagine: whereas Tara and Gita get along, Ruby and Tara do not.

“Gita and Tara will likely walk together, with a truck escort,” says Briscoe, adding that, so long as Tara brings along one of her favorite tires, she should manage the walk just fine.or