Elephants have long played an important role in the cultural, artistic, and religious heritage of many Asian cultures.  For centuries, they have been revered in Thailand, India, China, and Cambodia.  Elephants of Asia is designed to increase appreciation, amazement, and wonder for these great animals and to familiarize guests with the challenges Asian elephants face in the wild, including their shrinking natural habitat. 

Saving elephants against this backdrop is an uphill struggle, and Elephants of Asia draws attention to their plight and encourages their protection by exposing guests to elephants and the excellent care they receive at the Los Angeles Zoo.

Elephant Plaza serves as the gateway to the new habitat.  Life-size metal statues introduce guests to the natural history of Asian elephants.  Graphics and sculptures compare and contrast Asian elephants and their African cousins.  The gateway serves as the visitor’s first view into the elephants’ habitat with an overlook into the Deep Water Pool, a Gift from Patti & Stanley Silver, which can be used by the elephants for bathing.

In the Thailand area, the Wasserman Family Thai Pavilion educates visitors about the working and unemployed elephants of Thailand.  Elephants in Thailand face the challenge of a changing economic climate, which was once heavily dependent upon the labor of elephants.  Now these elephants have been replaced by construction equipment, leaving many former working elephants unemployed.  The Thailand section of Elephants of Asia features a demonstration yard with a shade structure, an enrichment log where keepers can hide food items, and water-spray fountains.  Within the Thai Pavilion, Zoo guests not only learn about the care that elephants receive at the Los Angeles Zoo but also have the opportunity to make a donation, with proceeds going toward in-house elephant program needs.

Behind the Thai Pavilion and located within the center of the exhibit is the Elephant Barn.  Modeled after a Thai structure, the barn encompasses 16,600 square feet and provides infrastructure to support the Zoo’s exceptional level of veterinary care and animal husbandry.  A specialized ultrasound unit and walk-through articulated sling squeeze ensures keeper and animal safety as the animals undergo medical examinations.  Overhead walkways in the elephant barn enable the keeper teams and behavioral researchers to observe the animals without intruding on their natural socialization.  The barn is capable of holding up to eleven adult elephants of any age or herd composition including bulls, cows, calves, and aged animals. 

The Clayton H. Winthrop Elephants of India Plaza, a gift from the MacDonald Family Foundation, focuses on the impact that fractured forests have on wild elephant populations.  Scientists estimate that as many as 10-15,000 elephants live in India, more than any other country in Asia.  Despite these numbers, elephants in India are only found in reserves, and their numbers are threatened by habitat loss and human-elephant conflict. The Zoo’s India section features a waterfall that elephants can use to shower themselves.  In addition, the rock wall of the waterfall features holes and crevices in which zoo keepers can place food for the elephants to discover and explore.

The Elephants of China, a Gift from the Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, addresses the decline of elephant populations in China.  Despite being a huge nation, China’s elephant population is estimated to be less than 250 individuals restricted to southern Yunnan. The Zoo’s habitat highlights the unique, respectful relationship between elephants and the Dai people of China. The habitat features graphics detailing this relationship as well as a replica of a Dai well.  Zoo patrons view the elephants from a boardwalk over a marsh with adjacent habitats for the sarus crane and the Chinese water deer, two additional species of Chinese wildlife.  At nearly six feet tall, the sarus crane is the world’s tallest flying bird.  The Chinese water deer is a small antler-less deer that has long tusks stemming from the top of its jaw.  This shy, solitary species is rarely displayed in zoos. Please see the animal highlights below for more information on these two species.

Guests journey to the Cardamom Mountains in the Fritz B. Burns Foundation Cambodian Pavilion.  The pavilion offers sweeping views of the elephant habitat with a view of mountains and forests of Griffith Park in the background.  The habitat includes several features dedicated to the elephants including the Elephant Lake, a Gift from the Winnick Family Foundation, an enrichment tree for feeding, and a forested exploration trail.  The Cambodian Pavilion tells the story of the elephants that live in the Cardamom Mountains of Cambodia. These mountains are one of the last wild refuges for elephants in Cambodia.  The Los Angeles Zoo has supported conservation efforts within the Cardamom Mountains for the past decade, contributing more than $50,000 toward the goal of addressing the human-elephant conflict within this region.  Zoo visitors have the opportunity to directly contribute with proceeds going to various conservation projects in the Cardamom Mountains. 

Sarus Crane, Grus antigone

The sarus crane is the world’s tallest flying bird, standing up to six feet tall with an eight-foot wingspan. In many Asian cultures, the bird is the symbol of a happy marriage because it performs elaborate courtship dances and mates for life.

Conservation Status: These birds are classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) due to a rapid population loss caused by the widespread destruction and pollution of their habitat. They have few natural predators because of their large size, but unprotected eggs may be stolen by jackals and birds of prey. While humans sometimes hunt adult birds and collect eggs and chicks, local traditions and religious beliefs have protected the species in some areas.

Habitat: The three sub-species of sarus cranes live in northern and central India, Nepal and Pakistan; Cambodia, southern Laos, south Vietnam, and Myanmar; and north and east Australia. They have widely varying habitats including seasonal marshes, floodplains, high-altitude wetlands, man-made ponds, fallow and cultivated fields, and rice paddies. The birds are generally non-migratory in India, but may travel short distances between wet and dry season habitats in southeast Asia and Australia.

Diet: The sarus crane is omnivorous, eating insects, aquatic plants and crustaceans, seeds and berries, small vertebrates like frogs, invertebrates, and even water snakes!

Chinese Water Deer, Hydropotes inermis

The Chinese water deer is the only deer species in which the male doesn’t have antlers. Instead, they have curved, sharp upper canine teeth extending up to three inches from their mouth. Oddly, these tusks can move in their sockets, enabling the animal to move them out of the way to eat, as well as allowing the him to thrust the canines out to become effective weapons.

Conservation Status: Classified as Vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Chinese water deer is heavily hunted in the wild for its meat and colostrum (milk secreted by a female deer shortly after giving birth and used in folk medicine). The animal also faces habitat loss due to encroaching agriculture and aquaculture.

Habitat: Formerly widespread in eastern China, the Chinese subspecies of water deer now lives primarily in the lower Yangtze River Valley, coastal Jiangsu Province, and Zhejiang islands. As their name implies, these deer are commonly found in well-vegetated river valleys and lake shores, wetlands, and coastal plains where tall reeds, rushes, and grasses provide them with food and shelter. There is also a sizeable population that was introduced into deer parks in France and England; some of whom escaped and established feral populations.

Diet: The Chinese water deer has a four-chambered stomach that is under-developed so it must eat tender, easily-digested herbs, shoots, young leaves, grasses, and reeds.