The exhibit was two and a half years in the making and will be the home for the zoo's five elephants. On 90.3's Around Noon, Zoo executive director Steve Taylor said updating the elephant habitat was vital if they wanted to someday have an elephant breeding program.
Steve Taylor: In order to keep elephants long term in zoos, we needed to have bulls and most exhibits from the '50's and '60's didn't have facilities strong enough to keep bull elephants.
The Cleveland Zoo's new African bull elephant 'Willy' who arrived from Orlando's Disney Animal Kingdom last month weighs about 13,000 pounds. Taylor said Willy and four other elephants are adapting to the new habitat well.
The exhibit is the zoo's largest expansion since the Rainforest was added in 1992. The elephants have four times more room now than in their previous Cleveland home.