The proposal for Europes largest elephant sanctuary, offering improved welfare standards to a herd of endangered Asian elephants.Noahs Ark Zoo Farm Development Committee (2011)

Introducing the proposal for Europe's largest elephant sanctuary at Noahs Ark Zoo Farm (NAZF), Bristol.

Elephant Eden

Artists impression of the proposed 20 acre elephant complex at Noahs Ark Zoo Farm, Bristol.

Elephant keeping in zoos has been openly criticised by welfare organisations and by DEFRA,including recent national calls for significant improvements in the welfare of UK elephants. Our plans at Noahs Ark Zoo Farm for a revolutionary new sanctuary have been extensively researched with these concerns in mind and, for the first time in Europe, we will be working to Best Practices made by the Coalition for Captive Elephant Wellbeing (2005). The result will see a spacious, enriched environment created where natural breeding will be a healthy behaviour encouraged.

Noahs Ark Zoo Farm is an award-winning 100 acre visitor attraction in Wraxall, Bristol whichholds the Learning Outside the Classroom Quality Badge, the Silver Award in the Green Tourism Business Scheme and Visit Englands Quality Rose. We have spent the past 10 years investing all available funds from within the zoo, farm and from external sources into building up a unique setting for zoo animals in the best possible educational environment for children and adults. NAZF also gives 100 young people training opportunities annually, with several students recognised with regional awards from City & Guilds.

Improved welfare and freedom to breedAsian elephants, with only 25,000 left in the wild (compared with 150,000 WL Gorillas for example), are under extreme threat from habitat loss, poaching and human conflict. A few hundred have been kept in Europe for decades with the educational role of showing their importance as the worlds biggest land mammal and the threats to them in the wild. However keeping elephants in captivity has come under serious criticism because of their generally shorter lifespan in such environments compared with elephants in the wild: almost all animals live longer in captivity, but not elephants. A huge step forward in elephant management needs to be taken to address a number of health issues. Noahs Ark Zoo Farm has targeted these concerns in detailed plans for Elephant Eden, which would see 20 acres of grazing land and the largest elephant house in Europe provided to animals in need of a new home. We are confident this would quickly become an internationally recognised zoo exhibit and breeding sanctuary, for all the right reasons.

Highlighting current welfare issuesIssues concerning elephants in captivity are: poor diet leading to obesity, consequential bad feet, lack of provision of space for locomotion and lack of stimulation within a whole herd. In addressing these problems, our enclosure is set to provide the largest area and biggest building yet given to elephants in Europe. To provide the right browse diet, we have already planted 11 acres of willow coppice woodland for up to half their ration in branches to be fed each day. We are dedicating a further 20 acres for grass, arable crops and woodland to provide natural grazing and browsing areas.

Meeting Best Practise recommendations .... and green innovation Elephant Eden provides facilities for the large elephant herd in the future that Best Practicesrecommends; but we would begin with three females and a bull. All field fencing is hot-wired cables, designed to be strong enough to withstand a 7 tonne bull elephant in musth. Making all structures bull -proof and allowing natural breeding behaviour increases the project cost by over 50%. The house is three times larger than the minimum allowed by European standards, so for the first time in Europe, an elephant house is big enough to satisfy Best Practices. We provide indoor and outdoor sand yards and good indoor daylight, training walls for Protective Contact training and a training chute with weighbridge, enriched and timed feeders for night and day feeding and maximum visibility for keepers, including CCTV and electric door opening. Solar panels are planned for the elephant house roof to provide electricity and rainwater will also be harvested from the 1700sq m area. There is a large bathing pool for stimulation and skin care, and further water recycling through a reed-bed drainage system. Revolutionary enriched feeding regimes are built in throughout the enclosure to encourage a level of migration and interaction within the herd. Natural breeding will be encouraged, to ensure all 5 Freedoms can be met. We will be operating a Protective Contact system, whereby the ankus (a goad used in free contact, seen by many as cruel) will not be used. Instead training will be done on modern training walls.

Developing excellence and ensuring success Elephant Eden would be a new bench-mark by which all European elephant keeping would bemeasured. The whole operation is the biggest step forward taken by this Zoo Farm, providing extra employment, both short term in its construction and long-term in newly recruited, experienced zoo staff and in training and support roles. Britain is a country of animal lovers, so it is appropriate that a new facility to house the worlds largest land mammal should be the best possible. Excellence comes at a price, even though the prices we have achieved through quotes are low, due to highly motivated contractors keen to see the project to completion. The total cost for this project is markedly lower than for many of the elephant enclosures built in the UK in recent years, partly because it is cheaper to start from nothing than to demolish and alter existing complex sites. To make this ground-breaking project a success, Noahs Ark Zoo Farm is looking for funding contributions to work in combination with a Rural Development grant. Such fundraising is imperative if this project is to become possible and to allow us to provide this revolutionary step-forward in elephant husbandry which the industry so needs. Meanwhile, thousands of visitors will get the chance to learn about these important, specialized mammals, for the benefit of the species in terms of public education, appreciation and future interest in their conservation.

Research into exhibit designs, enrichment and training practises: UK CollectionsElephants are kept at 14 out of the 350 British and Irish zoos. Beginning in 2008, NAZF has visited 13 of the newer of these elephant herds, researching sizes and designs of various enclosures and housing structures, methods of enrichment and the different types of contact training. Conversations with experienced elephant keepers at these locations have proved invaluable in the planning of the proposed complex at NAZF, as has been seeing the successes and weaknesses of the different exhibits firsthand. The affection and dedicated care for elephants at all these collections has been impressive, often struggling with accommodation which was deemed appropriate when built, though now public opinion and attitudes are moving on. Working with renowned elephant consultant Alan Roocroft and coupled with research into relevant academic and industry literature on captive and wild elephant welfare; Noahs Ark has been able to produce an informed new proposal for elephant keeping, which when completed would see an important step forward in the standard of care provided for elephants in the UK.

The 5 Freedoms:These freedoms were advanced by Bristol-based welfare expert Prof. John Webster. Noahs Ark has designed Elephant Eden to allow all essential 5 welfare freedoms to be expressed. Freedom from 1) Hunger and Thirst, 2) Discomfort, 3) Pain/Injury/Disease, 4) Freedom to Express most normal behaviour (including breeding), 5) Freedom from Fear and Distress.

Dublin ZooAn impressive new enclosure and house for female elephants provides continuous enrichment day and night, on sand yards and with a bathing pool, and using protective contact (PC) techniques.

Sand yard daily maintenance and an Asian elephant standing beside the handling chute, Dublin Zoo.

Blair Drummond Safari ParkTraining wall showing willing cooperation by a formerly anti-social elephant from another collection, which became sociable over 6 months.

Knowsley Safari ParkElephant house with separate bull and cow yards, attached to large grass field.

Woburn Safari ParkThe new elephant house positioned beside extensive fields. The interior has different enclosures for male and for females, all strongly built.

Howletts ZooHolds the biggest herd of African elephants outside continental Africa on a non-contact system, with the herd running together with its bull (shown) outside, on large grass fields whenever possible.

What the experts say about Noahs Ark animals:Professor John Webster, renowned international expert in animal welfare visited us in 2010 to see our current animals. He wrote afterwards: My approach to animal welfare is based on a professional understanding of what is meant by quality of life, as perceived not by us but by the animal itself.. In the worst of zoos, animals have simply been put in cages so that we can watch them fade and die. However we can do it properly. We need to provide them with a rich social and physical environment wherein they can get what they want, food, comfort, companionship (as appropriate to their species), so far as possible through their own natural actions. This is the art of good zoo husbandry and it requires a lot of skill and a lot of understanding. The aim, in short, should be to make each day a pleasant experience for every animal. I believe that you are succeeding in this aim. Alan Roocroft, elephant consultant to NAZF and 40 other collections worldwide.Alan first pointed us to Lord Henley & DEFRAs recent letter to BIAZA, instructing urgent monitoring and assessment of elephant welfare standards in the UK. Commenting on our project he wrote:

I believe you have a very good foundation for the keeping of elephants correctly at Noah's Ark following recommendations from myself that we discussed during my visit. Letting the world know now that you are designing, planning and ultimately building an elephant sanctuary where elephants will have space and a high standard of welfare, I think you have a very good chance of attracting attention towards your goals.

A trio of Asian elephants, including a young calf.

Elephant Eden FeaturesELEPHANT EDEN will be the largest elephant sanctuary in Europe - a total of 20 acres of grazing and browsing land. It will become home to a starting herd of 3 females and a bull elephant which will have the freedom to breed naturally to the recommended herd size of 5-10 over time. This new venture will create employment for 4 - 6 staff, including well-trained keepers and will cost approximately 1.2 million.We are dedicating 20 acres of grassland, arable crops and woodland to provide natural grazing and browsing. We have already planted a further 11 acres of willow coppice woodland, to ensure the elephants have the correct ration in branches each day. Annually grown arable crops to strip-graze. Raised viewing platform with access over an existing reed bed, for the public to observe the elephants as they browse the woodland, use the mud wallows and migrate around their home. Roof-mounted solar panels for power Elephants will have access to indoor and outdoor sand yards for comfort and to minimise foot problems.

Artists impression of Elephant Eden

Large bathing pool for stimulation and skin care. Revolutionary enriched day and night feeding routine to prevent obesity and a planned feeding system to encourage migration, foraging and interaction within the herd. 3 m high 6-cable electric fence, with stand-off barrier to protect the public. Reservoir of harvested water from the 1700 sq m roof to be used for a pool, drinking and washing water. All water to be recycled through a reed-bed cleaning system.

GREEN FRIENDLY FEATURESAlmost all the elephants food will be grown at Noahs Ark Zoo Farm in the form of tree browse and hay or haylage from grass fields and coppiced woodlands. The environmentally friendly enclosure will include: 1.Growing grass and crops within it including 2 acres of edible woodland and 3 acres of annually planted, strip-grazed arable crops for, uniquely in any elephant enclosure, the animals to migrate round and eat at will. 2. Dung collection to recycle through farm crops 3. Washed sand yards for cleaning economy 4. Mud wallows in two places, fed by harvested water, for elephant skin care. 5. Harvested water from the 1700 sq m roof and further yard run-off for the bathing pool, for elephant drinking water and for elephant washing will be cleaned through an eco-reservoir reed-bed drainage system and a water pumping and recycling facility. 6. Solar panels on the roof of the elephant house to provide electricity. 8. Half hidden, below-ground-level building in a green belt site.