Challenge

It is recommended that large bull elephants, like Jums at Howletts Wild Animal Park, require an area of at least 50 square metres for a bedroom or stall, so when staff realised that the bull elephant had outgrown his stall and there wasn’t enough space for him to lie down properly, they decided it was time for action.

Ron Kent, Maintenance Project Manager at Howletts contacted Jacksons Fencing regarding two requirements:

1. To double the size of the bull elephant’s existing sleeping quarters, adding automated sliding gate and safety access corridor.

2. To extend the perimeter security fencing on the outside corral to prevent contact between elephants and visitors.

Ron approached Jacksons as they had fulfilled many fencing projects for the animal park in previous years.

Solution

The wall between two old smaller stalls was demolished to create one large room so the elephant would have plenty of room to lie down.

Jacksons then began to build a safety cage structure within the building. A hefty steel framework was installed and 75x12mm flat bar was welded onto the framework. The bars were spaced at critical intervals of no more than 70mm apart, to stop Jums fitting his trunk through the gaps and undoing nuts and bolts. Elephants are able to interfere with equipment, and it was a possibility that he could undo vital fastenings on the door of the new quarters.

The doorway is 3m high with an opening of 2290m. An automatic sliding gate capable of withstanding 8–10 tons of force has been installed.

An access corridor at the rear of the stall runs the full length of the stall and is accessed by doors in the back wall. It has a gate in the steel bar wall so keepers can get in and out safely.

Nine extra skylights were added to the roof of the new room to increase natural light and providing an important visual safety aid to the elephant keepers.

Along with the work on the bull elephant’s quarters, Jacksons was tasked with extending the height of the steel barricade in the corral in front of the elephants’ houses.

The barricade comprises heavy-duty steel beams, bolted and welded together to create a high-strength safety barrier in front of the fence, separating the visitors from the elephants.

Jums had grown, so he was been able to rest his front feet on the lowest rail of the barrier and reach right over the space and over the fence, so an additional section has been added to avoid this.

Outcome

All works were completed on target and Neil Spooner, Animal Director at Howletts said:

“The Jacksons welders that have been carrying out this work on site have been amazing.

They have been so enthusiastic in their approach to the work; they set daily targets on jobs to be completed, and took a real pride in ensuring they hit them.

Nothing stopped them, not even bad weather. I’ve come past late into the evening and found them still working, determined to not let the schedule slip. They are a credit to Jacksons.”

jacksons-security.co.uk