OPENED: 1968
Pachyderm Hill was originally a baseball diamond for Riverview Park. Now it is now home to African elephants and white rhinoceroses. The elephants and rhinos are displayed in their outside yard, if temperate is at least 40 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. When it is colder, the elephants and rhinos are moved into their indoor behind-the-scenes management area. This structure was built in 1967-1968.
The Building
The management facility which holds the elephants and rhinoceroses during the night and the colder days of the year is located in the middle of the elephant yard and the rhino yard. Many of the doors in the facility operate by hydraulics for safety, allowing keepers to keep a safe distance when moving the large animals in and out of the building. The building is designed so keepers can have both protective contact (a bar between the animal and the keeper) and free contact (no needed barrier between the animal and the keeper) with the animal. Recent modifications include a thick, seamless, heated rubber floor providing both a warm and a dry place for the animals. The elephants and rhinos get natural light through windows and skylights.
The building comes complete with a "squeeze." The squeeze is a device that moves the walls in toward the animal to hold them in place. Medical and physical exams can be preformed more safely and efficiently with the squeeze system.
African Elephant
The African Elephant is the largest land mammal. It is muddy gray or dark brown in color with sparse bristly hairs. The tallest point on the elephant is its back, not the head. Skin is thick, in some areas it is one to six inches thick; however the skin on the ear is extremely thin. An elephant's hearing and smell are good, but eyesight is poor.
The trunk is specialized with an elongated nose and upper lip, extending eight feet in length. It is very sensitive, with 40,000 nerve endings and muscles and can hold three gallons of water. The tip of the trunk has two finger-like projections. The trunk is covered with ridges and grooves. The lower lip is long and shovel-shaped for catching food pushed in by trunk.
Both male and female elephants have tusks, one-third of which is embedded under their skin. The tusks are ivory, reaching up to 10 feet in length and weighing up to 200 pounds each. Omaha's Zoo may cap the elephants' tusks to prevent from cracking and hurting their mouth.
An elephant foot is made of a great pad of elastic tissues with the bones cushioned within the skin. An elephant actually walks on the tips of its toes. Keepers at Omaha's Zoo trim the elephant's toenails for comfort.
White Rhinos
Rhinos are the second largest land mammal. White Rhinos are the largest of the rhinos and are not actually white. The name is believed to come from a mistranslation of the Afrikaans word "weit", meaning "wide". The animal's name has nothing to do with its skin color, but instead describes its extra wide mouth that facilitates grazing and distinguishes them from other rhinos. Rhinoceroses have a massive, powerful body and a short neck supporting a large head. There are two horns on the head of the white rhino that consist of hardened strands of keratinized fibers, much like the fibers in human fingernails. White rhinos have skin that is very thick and almost hairless. They keep their skin protected and cool by wallowing in mud.