The Future Of Zoos Is Being Nice To The Animals—Not Making It Easy To Watch Them

Zoo exhibits are being redesigned for the animals’ physical and psychological well-being. As the trend continues, zoos may one day be unrecognizable.

For a decade, Winky and Wanda were the Detroit Zoo’s only Asian elephants. In the summer months they would kick around in the dirt of their limited outdoor enclosure. During Detroit’s long winters, they were confined indoors, their soft feet rarely leaving the hard concrete.

Then in 2004, during the early stages of a 20-year renovation plan, the Detroit Zoo made a difficult decision that was unusual at the time: Zoo officials decided to give up their prized elephants for the animals’ own good. “The resources we would need to do what elephants would require here just didn’t make sense,” says Scott Carter, the zoo’s chief life sciences officer. Off went Winky and Wanda—two of the zoo’s top attractions—to a wildlife sanctuary in California.