Tulsa Zoo has finished the last piece of its Asian elephant complex. The Mary K. and John T. Oxley Family Elephant Experience opened on Monday, April 7, 2025, completing a build that now covers 17 of the zoo’s 124 acres.
The Elephant Experience is a gut renovation of the interpretive center, outdoor spaces and barn that first opened in 1995. It follows the 10-acre Elephant Preserve and the 36,650 square-foot Preserve Barn, which opened in spring 2024.
A hub for guests, and room for more elephants
The Elephant Experience works as the visitor hub for the whole complex. Guests can talk to staff and docents about the zoo’s Asian elephant program, work out where the elephants are across the 17 acres at any given moment, and watch live video from around the habitat.
“Tulsa voters generously approved an investment in our zoo’s Asian elephant habitat through Vision, an investment to make Tulsa home to one of the largest facilities in North America for this important, endangered species,” said Tulsa Zoo president and CEO Lindsay Hutchison. “Within one month of opening the Preserve Barn last year, we welcomed two elephants from Columbus Zoo & Aquarium, increasing our herd to five members. Completely gutting and rethinking our former elephant barn and viewing areas increases our flexibility to manage multiple herds and care for Asian elephants of all life stages.”
Hutchison said the building adds indoor and outdoor viewing, an interpretive center, and restrooms, with overnight experiences planned to return later.
Built around a welfare study
Joe Barkowski, vice president of animal conservation and science, said the expansion came out of a plan to support a larger, multi-generational herd.
“Our plans are driven in part by an elephant welfare study and evolving husbandry standards, as well as our desire to care for larger and more varied social groupings,” Barkowski said. “The result of our vision is 17 acres devoted to Asian elephants, including indoor and outdoor spaces with maximum flexibility for herd management and care around the clock.”
The herd is five: Sooky, Sneezy, Booper, Hank and Connie. Sooky is the protective matriarch, cautious about change and often seen guiding the others. Sneezy, a bull with no tusks, is the confident one. Booper, small-eared and deep-eyed, is the most subordinate and usually near Sooky. Hank, the larger bull, has big crooked tusks and a particular bond with Connie.
