The aim of this study is to overview the objectives and outcomes of an ongoing structural health monitoring campaign for a novel structure, namely the newly built elephant shelter at the Zurich Zoo. The structure comprises a complex geometry featuring a wooden free form cupola spanning 80 m, which is supported by a post-tensioned concrete ring. The monitoring framework employs strain measurements acquired by a series of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensors embedded into critical locations of this ring, and output-only methods identified for fitting these data. The methods used to this end are based on the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique and Vector Autoregressive (VAR) models. The corresponding models are estimated from records coming from a phase in which the structure is undamaged, while the misfit between the model predictions and future measurements may be used as an indicator for the onset of damage.