RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Jiyu died in November 2018 according to rhinos of the world, but not sure when Jeezan died. I'm also not sure how they lost 2 Indian rhinos recently at age 5 or 6.
San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo news 2022
- Thread starter Julio C Castro
- Start date
After the new exploration base camp area is complete, what area of the zoo is left that needs renovation the most for the next project?
I can name a few that should be next: the bear grottos, Urban Jungle, and reworking Tiger River trail to make it more accessible and revamp their once glorious tiger habitat.
I'd genuinely hope this entails maintaining the same great atmosphere that Tiger River currently has (minus the butchered tiger habitat, if it ain't broke, don't break it by splitting it in two and adding godawful rockwork/crossviews.)
Likewise, I’ve seen photos posted on here and it looked revolutionary for it’s time but unfortunately didn’t keep the same aesthetic
The bear grottos and Urban Jungle could be worked together to create a single precinct.
In my opinion all that needs replacing in the Tiger Trail is the Tiger enclosure. The enclosure should be redone while the rest of the area should mainly remain untouched.
They would certainly have to rework the rest of Tiger River to make it accessible and also update the habitats. Whether a complete overhaul of each individual habitat is to be done is a different matter, but at least updating what is there and who knows if based on the infrastructure that they’d to do the whole area. As it stands now, the walkway is so out of date and very difficult at times to traverse. The fishing cat and Malayan tapir habitats certainly should be update at least in my opinion. The one that I actually love how it’s built, actually two, are the Siamese crocodile habitat and large aviary next to fishing cat habitat
A new addition to the Hummingbird Habitat has been introduced and would make it the 19th specie: Red Pileated Finch It was a beauty to see, will upload photos by tomorrow of my visit. Seemed to have set up its territory near the tree on the left side by the exit.
It was a beauty to see, will upload photos by tomorrow of my visit. Seemed to have set up its territory near the tree on the left side by the exit.
They would certainly have to rework the rest of Tiger River to make it accessible and also update the habitats. Whether a complete overhaul of each individual habitat is to be done is a different matter, but at least updating what is there and who knows if based on the infrastructure that they’d to do the whole area. As it stands now, the walkway is so out of date and very difficult at times to traverse. The fishing cat and Malayan tapir habitats certainly should be update at least in my opinion. The one that I actually love how it’s built, actually two, are the Siamese crocodile habitat and large aviary next to fishing cat habitat
In my opinion, the Urban Jungle/Bear Grotto area should be converted into an African Grasslands area, mainly featuring Masai Giraffe, Grants Zebra, South African Cheetah, Red River Hog, Yellow Backed Duiker and then the rest of the hoof stock species San Diego plans to retain. I’d like to see an updated African Lion enclosure too, which could possibly be included in this precinct as well.
Meanwhile, the top right half of the zoo (now encompassing Polar Bear Passage and Horn and Hoof Mesa), should be transformed into an all American display consisting of Grizzly Bears, Andean Bears, Maned Wolf, Mountain Lion, Giant Anteater, Capybara, Mara ect. The Polar Bears should be phased out here in and replaced by the zoo’s Grizzly Bears which are more adequately suited to the climate.
The Lost Forest area shouldn’t really require much change, besides the upgrading of the some of the paths, especially the one part of Tiger Trail! New enclosures for Tigers, Fishing Cats and Malayan Tapirs would be preferred though.
Pretty sure he’s referring to the remaining hoofstock yards that weren’t demolished when Elephant Odyssey was built.This plan would involve getting rid of much of Elephant Odyssey then?
~Thylo
I know but he suggested moving a number of the species already present in EO, which would leave gaps there that are hard to fill given the theme.
~Thylo
Well only the lions and capybara, but I digress...
There are some good ideas of what the zoos future may look like, but how about we shift all of the fantasy discussion to another thread not to clog up this one. There is a thread that was made for this purpose that hasn't been utilized very much and I'll go ahead and link it below. I myself had an idea for what the zoos next project could hypothetically be so I may get around the posting that later on.
How would you improve San Diego Zoo? [San Diego Zoo]
On a completely unrelated note, according to a reply on the zoos instagram the prairie dogs and burrowing owls will be sharing the same exhibit. Has this mix ever been attempted before?
Lions are a pretty major one
But I thought the Maned Wolves and Cougars were technically part of it as well. Either way, yes I agree this thread shouldn't be clogged with fantasy discussions.As for the owl-prairie dog mix, it's certainly an interesting one! The owls don't eat adult prairie dogs but if the squirrels breed the owls will probably attempt to eat the young. I know the owls will utilize prairie dog burrows in the wild but I don't think they do so when they're still occupied? I'm not sure how comfortable either species would be sharing burrows like that. This strikes me as one of those combos that works in theory but one or both of the species won't exactly enjoy it most of the time.
~Thylo
Fort Worth Zoo mixes burrowing owl and prairie dog.
By sheer coincidence, I did ask the zoo via their Instagram account if the prairie dogs and owls were going to be mixed, and it seems that this will be the case after all. It also did surprise me that the zoo’s reply would cause such a conversation here on ZooChat, just to let you all know.
They were in court today and entered pleas of "not guilty":
Marines Accused of Stranding San Diego Zoo Ride Passengers Enter Pleas in Court
RhinoHippoElephantGiraffe
Well-Known Member
Has the zoo ever had any American Black Bears? If so, between 1987 and 2019, San Diego would have had all 7 bear species.
Yes, they displayed the “glacier” color morph of black bear. Seen in the photo below
Playbear audition
Playbear audition
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