San Diego Zoo I visited the San Diego zoo for the first time in ten years a few weeks ago...

I feel like some of the negatives listed here are some of the very reasons I like the zoo. The heavy vegetation is a strength more than a hindrance, to me anyway. I think they do a excellent job of taking advantage of their climate and geography.

I kind of agree about the capybara exhibit. Elephant Odyssey is always a point of contention, as is Urban Jungle to some extent.

I've been to this zoo five times. I used to love it for the sheer volume of animals and rarities. The collection may have declined, but it's still a really incredible zoo to walk around on a nice day.
 
TinoPup said:
It's closer to the OP than San Diego is.
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That's not the point of my post, but since you mentioned it, it's basically equal. I have lived in Socal my entire 50 years of life and have been a zoo nerd for 45. I visit each major facility in Socal roughly 2 times a year or more and I would consider Hyenas to be rare in Socal. I can count maybe 8 to 10 times I've seen a Hyena of any species at a Socal zoo in that time frame regardless of the animals being in their collection. I agree with OP and I can't understand why people are nitpicking this hyena thing. My guess is some weird gatekeeping/white knighting thing going on. The person was let down by their visit to San Diego and as a long time, big check writing member, I understand most of OP's perspective.
 
timmychompchomp said:
That's not the point of my post, but since you mentioned it, it's basically equal. I have lived in Socal my entire 50 years of life and have been a zoo nerd for 45. I visit each major facility in Socal roughly 2 times a year or more and I would consider Hyenas to be rare in Socal. I can count maybe 8 to 10 times I've seen a Hyena of any species at a Socal zoo in that time frame regardless of the animals being in their collection. I agree with OP and I can't understand why people are nitpicking this hyena thing. My guess is some weird gatekeeping/white knighting thing going on. The person was let down by their visit to San Diego and as a long time, big check writing member, I understand most of OP's perspective.
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Because they aren't rare! It doesn't matter if a species is uncommon in a small area - that applies to nearly every species out there. There are 70+ zoos in the USA with spotted hyena. Other species they mentioned, like tasmanian devils, are in just a few zoos across the entire country. Hyenas do not belong in that group.
 
@BenFoxster I'm sorry to hear your trip was disappointing. I've been to zoos where I missed many of my personal target species too, so I can sympathize.

Re: what some have been saying about researching or preparing beforehand: I think it's good that you found this forum, it's probably the best resource for doing that kind of thing (as said, zoo websites can be very incomplete or outdated). The news threads and gallery can be a lot to comb through, but we also have a lot of knowledgeable locals that are more than happy to answer questions about animals you want to see - even down to the showiness of a particular individual oftentimes. We regularly have people ask about chances to see target animals, or make threads asking for tips on zoo visits. Food for thought next time you make a rare, high-price trip like this :)

Did you get a chance to go through any of the aviaries, or walk around the outdoor reptile habitats? It seems like you're more interested in mammals, but those are my favorite parts of SDZ and where I think it shines the most.
 
Just a tip from someone who also has had that dread of really, really wanting to see an animal very badly:

When I go to a zoo with my main goal being to see a specific animal, I often loop through the facility several times to increase my chances of seeing it out and active. Maybe a keeper is servicing the exhibit one time when I go by, or it's hiding a second, or it's shifted off habitat for training - almost always, eventually, I see it. If the habitat is closed for construction or the animal is sick and being kept in the back, that approach won't help you, but there are many times when this constant circling back has paid off very well. It also, I admit, means that a lot of folks don't enjoy visiting zoos with me because they find my frantic FOMO zipping around to be not entirely conducive to a peaceful zoo visit, but I've got my priorities.
 
Aardwolf raises a great point -- while at Denver, I missed hyenas on my first trip through the zoo, but spotted one on the wait out popping into Predator Ridge again. Even locally, I've developed a habit of making a few second stops on long zoo trips, allowing me to see previously missed echidna at Brookfield or langurs and slow loris at Lincoln Park, etc.

I've considered for trips to the bigger zoos trying to make trips over multiple days if affordable - even when it can all be done in one day, just in case the experience changes.
 
Coelacanth18 said:
@BenFoxster I'm sorry to hear your trip was disappointing. I've been to zoos where I missed many of my personal target species too, so I can sympathize.

Re: what some have been saying about researching or preparing beforehand: I think it's good that you found this forum, it's probably the best resource for doing that kind of thing (as said, zoo websites can be very incomplete or outdated). The news threads and gallery can be a lot to comb through, but we also have a lot of knowledgeable locals that are more than happy to answer questions about animals you want to see - even down to the showiness of a particular individual oftentimes. We regularly have people ask about chances to see target animals, or make threads asking for tips on zoo visits. Food for thought next time you make a rare, high-price trip like this :)

Did you get a chance to go through any of the aviaries, or walk around the outdoor reptile habitats? It seems like you're more interested in mammals, but those are my favorite parts of SDZ and where I think it shines the most.
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Thanks, I'll be sure to do research or ask questions on the forum every time before I visit any zoos in the future. I thought I'd done enough research as I'd downloaded and analyzed the zoo map, planned out my path and looked at the (now I know) inaccurate website. I'd planned out the route I'd take and everything. I guess I assumed that the point of zoo trips was to go and be pleasantly surprised, rather than looking up every minor detail beforehand. Also didn't expect so many of the mammals to be moved or off-display. Yeah like you said my goal was to prioritize the mammals (as well as the harpy eagle and gharial, neither of which were on display). My prioritization of mammals as well as running out of time (arrived at one, left at six-thirty) led to me not entering a single aviary, skipping the children's section, and skipping the reptile house.
 
Aardwolf said:
Just a tip from someone who also has had that dread of really, really wanting to see an animal very badly:

When I go to a zoo with my main goal being to see a specific animal, I often loop through the facility several times to increase my chances of seeing it out and active. Maybe a keeper is servicing the exhibit one time when I go by, or it's hiding a second, or it's shifted off habitat for training - almost always, eventually, I see it. If the habitat is closed for construction or the animal is sick and being kept in the back, that approach won't help you, but there are many times when this constant circling back has paid off very well. It also, I admit, means that a lot of folks don't enjoy visiting zoos with me because they find my frantic FOMO zipping around to be not entirely conducive to a peaceful zoo visit, but I've got my priorities.
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Great to know, I actually did loop through the Australia section and lost three times, but each time the tasmanian devils, male gorillas, and bonobos were still out. I went back to the Ibexes and pronghorns twice, but they were off still too that I could tell. The rest I mention had "off display" signs on them, so I doubt they would have released any of them out midday. Yeah I have FOMO at zoos too, I've noticed in the past when I used to go to zoos as a kid, probably increased because my parents always liked being as slow as possible on zoo trips, plus wanting to leave asap.
 
JVM said:
Aardwolf raises a great point -- while at Denver, I missed hyenas on my first trip through the zoo, but spotted one on the wait out popping into Predator Ridge again. Even locally, I've developed a habit of making a few second stops on long zoo trips, allowing me to see previously missed echidna at Brookfield or langurs and slow loris at Lincoln Park, etc.

I've considered for trips to the bigger zoos trying to make trips over multiple days if affordable - even when it can all be done in one day, just in case the experience changes.
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Being there more than one day would have been nice, assuming the animals would have been on display by then. Most of the enclosures had off-display signs on them unfortunately.
 
BenFoxster said:
Thanks, I'll be sure to do research or ask questions on the forum every time before I visit any zoos in the future. I thought I'd done enough research as I'd downloaded and analyzed the zoo map, planned out my path and looked at the (now I know) inaccurate website. I'd planned out the route I'd take and everything. I guess I assumed that the point of zoo trips was to go and be pleasantly surprised, rather than looking up every minor detail beforehand. Also didn't expect so many of the mammals to be moved or off-display. Yeah like you said my goal was to prioritize the mammals (as well as the harpy eagle and gharial, neither of which were on display). My prioritization of mammals as well as running out of time (arrived at one, left at six-thirty) led to me not entering a single aviary, skipping the children's section, and skipping the reptile house.
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People have different ways of going about their zoo visits. Wanting to be pleasantly surprised means you have to accept not so great surprises, too.
 
BenFoxster said:
Being there more than one day would have been nice, assuming the animals would have been on display by then. Most of the enclosures had off-display signs on them unfortunately.
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Some of those signs are only up for one day or sometimes only for a few hours.

In fact, on a recent visit to Lincoln Park Zoo, they had a sign up about the lions being off-display at 10am; by noon, the sign was gone (well, moved out of the way and folded) and the animals were out.
 
I visited the San Diego Zoo for the first time In almost two decades and my experience was also somewhat mixed. My main issue was the small size of many of the exhibits.

The Cheetah, Maned Wolf and Bear exhibits (minus polar bears) are all way too small and outdated. I'm shocked that so many new exhibits have gone up all over the zoo, and yet the bears have been left in 1930's-era grottos that probably barely pass aza standards.
But even many of the newer exhibits are too small. Nearly all of the enclosures at the Elephant Odyssey Exhibit were too small (especially the Lions!), the leopard enclosures, Pygmy Hippos, Aye-ayes, Fishing Cat (only half the exhibit is dry land) and most of the Lost Forest enclosures (the Mandrill exhibit is very vertical and not as much horizontal space). The tapir, giraffe and African hoof stock exhibits were also a bit on the small side. The great ape exhibits were all decent, but I feel they could've been a bit larger (also, the Bonobos should have more climbing structures).
The being said, most the rest of the zoo was very impressive. The Aviaries are amazing. The Africa Rocks exhibit was wonderful; especially the Baboon, lemur and fossas. So was the Reptile Walk, Wildlife explorers basecamp, Australian Outback and Polar Bear exhibits.
The Zoo also does a very good job at making the exhibits naturalistic. Being in the Lost forest exhibit does feel like you're deep in the jungle and is beautifully planted.
The zoo should send it's cheetahs to the Wild Animal Park, temporarily re-home most of its bears and Make plans for new bear exhibits. Maybe the temporary hippo exhibit at urban jungle could be renovated/rebuilt as a home for one of the bear species?)
 
Chimpangeek said:
I visited the San Diego Zoo for the first time In almost two decades and my experience was also somewhat mixed. My main issue was the small size of many of the exhibits.

The Cheetah, Maned Wolf and Bear exhibits (minus polar bears) are all way too small and outdated. I'm shocked that so many new exhibits have gone up all over the zoo, and yet the bears have been left in 1930's-era grottos that probably barely pass aza standards.
But even many of the newer exhibits are too small. Nearly all of the enclosures at the Elephant Odyssey Exhibit were too small (especially the Lions!), the leopard enclosures, Pygmy Hippos, Aye-ayes, Fishing Cat (only half the exhibit is dry land) and most of the Lost Forest enclosures (the Mandrill exhibit is very vertical and not as much horizontal space). The tapir, giraffe and African hoof stock exhibits were also a bit on the small side. The great ape exhibits were all decent, but I feel they could've been a bit larger (also, the Bonobos should have more climbing structures).
The being said, most the rest of the zoo was very impressive. The Aviaries are amazing. The Africa Rocks exhibit was wonderful; especially the Baboon, lemur and fossas. So was the Reptile Walk, Wildlife explorers basecamp, Australian Outback and Polar Bear exhibits.
The Zoo also does a very good job at making the exhibits naturalistic. Being in the Lost forest exhibit does feel like you're deep in the jungle and is beautifully planted.
The zoo should send it's cheetahs to the Wild Animal Park, temporarily re-home most of its bears and Make plans for new bear exhibits. Maybe the temporary hippo exhibit at urban jungle could be renovated/rebuilt as a home for one of the bear species?)
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Hi Chimpangeek (great username btw). The exhibits you mentioned were all ones I had a problem with on my visit too, particularly the bear, cheetah, and lion enclosures. I agree that the fishing cat and bonobo enclosures may have been insufficient, though I hope you got to see them at least. When I went it felt like half of the zoo was nothing but "off exhibit" signs. There were signs on the Tasmanian devil, fishing cat, bonobo, orangutans (both orangs and siamangs were off exhibit), giant anteater, harpy eagle, aye-aye, binturong, and quite a few others were entirely off exhibit. I hated the aye-aye's enclosure, when I went they were (supposed to be) displayed in one of the 1930's rust cages by the bear grottos. And because of avian flu the flamingoes were off exhibit, with tasteless flamingo lawn ornaments being displayed in the empty, drained out flamingo exhibit. The penguins weren't in their main exhibit either, instead being exhibited by the bear grottos in an old otter exhibit (I'll upload a photo to the thread in a moment), so I was shocked when I saw what was supposed to be one of the "greatest penguin exhibits in the world." I unfortunately avoided the reptile house, walk-through aviaries, Wildlife explorers camp, and even avoided Africa Rocks (minus the Geladas and Hamadryas baboons, which I loved). The Geladas and Hamadryas were the first exhibits I saw when I entered the zoo (I went straight to the t-devils first things, but it was empty so I'm not counting it), so when I saw those, I was expecting the entire zoo to look like that, not realizing those exhibits were new. I avoided the walk-through aviaries and reptile walk because I was prioritizing seeing as many mammals as possible, and I assumed explorers camp was the "lame kiddie section" so I avoided that too. I didn't bother going to see the lemurs and fossa, since I've already see those at so many zoos anyways. I unfortunately couldn't appreciate Lost Forest, as it felt more troublesome to navigate than it should have been and derailed me from my schedule. Even if I hadn't skipped those areas I mentioned I wouldn't have had time for them anyway, I arrived at 12:30 and by the time I finished with everything else it was already 6:30. Knowing that they made the extravagant recent Africa Rocks, knowing that the bears and many other large mammals needed major exhibit upgrades really gets to me. They chose to bring in cute charismatic species like penguins and lemurs when they should have prioritized giving the animals they already had the most adequate exhibits possible.
 
BenFoxster said:
Knowing that they made the extravagant recent Africa Rocks, knowing that the bears and many other large mammals needed major exhibit upgrades really gets to me. They chose to bring in cute charismatic species like penguins and lemurs when they should have prioritized giving the animals they already had the most adequate exhibits possible.
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By building Africa Rocks, San Diego did not ignore the fact that many of their animals "needed major exhibit upgrades". Dog and Cat Canyon was just as low quality (if not moreso) than the outdated bear exhibits, and so replacing Dog and Cat Canyon with Africa Rocks was in fact a major improvement from an animal welfare perspective.
 
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BenFoxster said:
And because of avian flu the flamingoes were off exhibit, with tasteless flamingo lawn ornaments being displayed in the empty, drained out flamingo exhibit. The penguins weren't in their main exhibit either, instead being exhibited by the bear grottos in an old otter exhibit (I'll upload a photo to the thread in a moment), so I was shocked when I saw what was supposed to be one of the "greatest penguin exhibits in the world."
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Why are you still griping about this? The zoo pulled the birds for their own safety during the avian flu epidemic. I would far rather not see them than have the zoo leave them unprotected and lose them to disease.
As far as the penguins go, same deal and you've been told already that it was temporary as an avian flu safeguard. The penguins are back in their normal exhibit now and there's zero reason to hold it against the zoo.

BenFoxster said:
I unfortunately avoided the reptile house, walk-through aviaries, Wildlife explorers camp, and even avoided Africa Rocks
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Which is many of the newest parts of the zoo and also among what has made the zoo famous among zoo-goers...

BenFoxster said:
Knowing that they made the extravagant recent Africa Rocks, knowing that the bears and many other large mammals needed major exhibit upgrades really gets to me. They chose to bring in cute charismatic species like penguins and lemurs when they should have prioritized giving the animals they already had the most adequate exhibits possible.
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As someone else already pointed out, Africa Rocks replaced a whole long trail of exhibits like the ones you're complaining about. Urban Jungle and Center Street are the main remnants of what the zoo used to be, and it wouldn't surprise me to hear of planned renovations to those areas in the next year or two. San Diego has been very conscientious of welfare, and many larger species that used to be at the zoo were shunted to the Safari Park once Elephant Odyssey began construction.
If you think it's terrible now, you would have absolutely hated it back in the 2000's when Horn and Hoof Mesa & Cat and Dog Canyon were still intact, and there were elephants, rhinos, and tapirs in the exhibits along the Urban Jungle loop. The zoo is making a lot of effort to update its exhibits and maintain welfare, and at a pretty solid pace too.

BenFoxster said:
As previously mentioned, not a fan of the bear grottos, over-vegetated and weed-filled exhibits preventing viewing, or countless cages.
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Yet grottos are still rather prominent and far from gone - I've seen similar exhibits that still exist at SF, Oregon, Sacramento, Woodland Park, for example. Often they've seen some upgrades over the years and look a great deal better than they used to.
Woodland Park comes to mind in terms of lots of vegetation, and they're even famous for it. Personal preference for less vegetation is fine, though an animal having naturalistic surroundings and easy hiding places is a plus for the animals. Personally I like having to search a bit.
 
the zoo made a mistake in keeping elephants as part of its collection and main species of elephant odyssey. Rhinos would've been a better replacement... Several species of prehistoric Rhino once roamed North America so it would've fit well into the exhibits concept. Given how critically endangered most Rhino species are, it would've been a great way to highlight their plight in the wild. Also, Rhino's are comparatively much easier to manage in captivity than elephants. I'm also just not crazy about confining elephants to such a small area.
 
Chimpangeek said:
the zoo made a mistake in keeping elephants as part of its collection and main species of elephant odyssey. Rhinos would've been a better replacement... Several species of prehistoric Rhino once roamed North America so it would've fit well into the exhibits concept. Given how critically endangered most Rhino species are, it would've been a great way to highlight their plight in the wild. Also, Rhino's are comparatively much easier to manage in captivity than elephants. I'm also just not crazy about confining elephants to such a small area.
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Hard disagree, mate. The Safari Park's got much better resources for rhinos, and the zoo's elephant exhibit is actually one of the best in the nation, especially for geriatric elephants or for bachelors.
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
By building Africa Rocks, San Diego did not ignore the fact that many of their animals "needed major exhibit upgrades". Dog and Cat Canyon was just as low quality (if not moreso) than the outdated bear exhibits, and so replacing Dog and Cat Canyon with Africa Rocks was in fact a major improvement from an animal welfare perspective.
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I'm glad the old Dog and Cat Canyon is gone for sure, but most of those exhibits were already empty by the time they were demolished anyway. I would have preferred that they had first demolished Cat Canyon and used the space for new and improved enclosures for the bears and other grotto residents, then later on made new exhibits for introducing new species. Instead the bears stayed in the grottos and they brought in new species that would be more charismatic and marketable like the various primates and penguins. The African Rocks Penguin exhibit is absolutely gorgeous (and I'm still disappointed I couldn't see it) but considering the amount of space dedicated to the little guys, I similar space for bears would have been more beneficial.
 
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