San Diego Zoo Will late February a good season to visit SD Zoo

Lucas Lang

Lucas Lang

Well-Known Member
Hi everyone
I just plan to visit SD Zoo and Safari park in late February for my last Spring break during my postgraduate (may go back to China in May). But I'm not so sure about several questions:
1: I wish I could see some fancy bird species in SD Zoo, such as Blyth's Tragopan and some bird-of-paradise species, but will they be on exhibit during winter season?
2: Is the Siberian Musk Deer still live in the zoo?
3: Is the wildlfe safari worth in SD Safari Park? I wish I can see the Sambar, Sika(especially Indochinese) and Eld's deer, but I'm not so sure about their population in exhibit and which price should I choose in case to see more species, also, I'm afraid they will shed their antler in this season. Besides, will I need to wait for long time for the African Tram?
4: Is it easy to observe and picture the Platypus in SD Safari Park?
Thanks a lot!
 
The birds are on exhibit all year long. Winter is variable. It could be cool and rainy or it could be sunny and 80 degrees F. Cooler weather is actually better for animal viewing in my experience because the animals are more active than when it is hot.

In the winter I wouldn't think that the wait for the Africa tram would be very long. If you go first thing in the morning when you get there you could probably walk right on it. That has been my experience.

The platypus has been active and relatively easy to see every time I go to see it (a few times a year). Photographing it - good luck. It is very fast in a very dark room, and there are usually other people crowding in to look for the platypus too. Maybe one of our resident photographers has some advice about how to get a photo of it.
 
Lucas Lang said:
Hi everyone
I just plan to visit SD Zoo and Safari park in late February for my last Spring break during my postgraduate (may go back to China in May). But I'm not so sure about several questions:
1: I wish I could see some fancy bird species in SD Zoo, such as Blyth's Tragopan and some bird-of-paradise species, but will they be on exhibit during winter season?
2: Is the Siberian Musk Deer still live in the zoo?
3: Is the wildlfe safari worth in SD Safari Park? I wish I can see the Sambar, Sika(especially Indochinese) and Eld's deer, but I'm not so sure about their population in exhibit and which price should I choose in case to see more species, also, I'm afraid they will shed their antler in this season. Besides, will I need to wait for long time for the African Tram?
4: Is it easy to observe and picture the Platypus in SD Safari Park?
Thanks a lot!
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1. They should be on exhibit, barring HPAI doesn’t come back and feel the need to put birds away. I’ve not had trouble seeing birds aside from when they had them quarantined to safeguard against HPAI. As David mentioned, cooler weather will allow you to see animals more active :)

2. If it’s the deer species underneath the walkway of the Owens Aviary, it may be hard to spot. I haven’t seen it in a while so perhaps go in mind not being able to see it :/

3. For the Wildlife Safari, it’s a caravan ride into the field exhibits and you can see Asian hoofstock. The unfortunate part is when you schedule a Wildlife Safari tour, they alternate which caravan goes into which field exhibits when you check in for your time slot. It can be a toss-up between East Africa, South Africa, and/or the Asia field exhibits. I’ve done the deluxe Wildlife Safari twice in the last year, they took us into East and South Africa both times. As for the Africa tram, you shouldn’t be waiting too long since you’re visiting during the non-peak hours of the year.

4. And just as David said, it’s fairly easy to spot the platypus. The bigger issue is photographing them. They’re one of the rarer animals I’ve seen out here being the most active, I’ve seen them hunt for crayfish :p Unless you’re taking a very fast lens and full frame camera, it will be quite hard to photograph them.
 
wild boar said:
I thought the Dakota Zoo was the last remaining Siberian musk deer holder.
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I’m not sure if they still have the deer or not, hence why I mentioned if it’s the deer species held slightly BTS from the public under the Owens Aviary. Perhaps Dakota Zoo is currently the only holder.
 
Julio C Castro said:
3. For the Wildlife Safari, it’s a caravan ride into the field exhibits and you can see Asian hoofstock. The unfortunate part is when you schedule a Wildlife Safari tour, they alternate which caravan goes into which field exhibits when you check in for your time slot. It can be a toss-up between East Africa, South Africa, and/or the Asia field exhibits. I’ve done the deluxe Wildlife Safari twice in the last year, they took us into East and South Africa both times. As for the Africa tram, you shouldn’t be waiting too long since you’re visiting during the non-peak hours of the year.
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Thanks for your information!
 
Julio C Castro said:
2. If it’s the deer species underneath the walkway of the Owens Aviary, it may be hard to spot. I haven’t seen it in a while so perhaps go in mind not being able to see it :/
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wild boar said:
I thought the Dakota Zoo was the last remaining Siberian musk deer holder.
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The San Diego Zoo no longer houses Siberian musk deer. The yards beneath the walkway by the Owens Aviary are now only home to tufted deer.

Julio C Castro said:
3. For the Wildlife Safari, it’s a caravan ride into the field exhibits and you can see Asian hoofstock. The unfortunate part is when you schedule a Wildlife Safari tour, they alternate which caravan goes into which field exhibits when you check in for your time slot. It can be a toss-up between East Africa, South Africa, and/or the Asia field exhibits. I’ve done the deluxe Wildlife Safari twice in the last year, they took us into East and South Africa both times. As for the Africa tram, you shouldn’t be waiting too long since you’re visiting during the non-peak hours of the year.
Click to expand...
From what I understand, the caravans go into the habitats at specific times every day. You might be able to contact them ahead of time and see what time the caravans go into Central Asia/Asian Plains and book your tour for one of those times. You could also book a Cart Safari which goes along the old monorail path and looks into Asian field exhibits from above, while also giving you a better look at the hillside habitats, where the intact male Malayan sambar and Indochinese sika (the last Mandarin sika passed earlier this year, so they are all that remain) live, as well as the Nubian ibex, Kordofan aoudad, Arabian oryx, and Przewalski's horses.

The sika and Eld's deer herds are both in Central Asia, and they are both very small -- 0.4 and 2.2 + the 0.1 sika x barasingha hybrid, respectively, so they can be a little difficult to spot. The intact male Eld's deer is in Asian Plains. The Malayan sambar herd in Asian Plains is a little bit bigger at 0.6 and are usually much easier to spot. All of the deer at the park are in hard antler right now, but some of the species will hold their antlers longer than others, so you might get lucky and still see some of them in hard antler.
 
Kudu21 said:
The San Diego Zoo no longer houses Siberian musk deer. The yards beneath the walkway by the Owens Aviary are now only home to tufted deer.
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Thanks, that's a sad story, I wish I can find some individual in the conservation area I'm going to work.
Kudu21 said:
The sika and Eld's deer herds are both in Central Asia, and they are both very small -- 0.4 and 2.2 + the 0.1 sika x barasingha hybrid, respectively, so they can be a little difficult to spot. The intact male Eld's deer is in Asian Plains. The Malayan sambar herd in Asian Plains is a little bit bigger at 0.6 and are usually much easier to spot. All of the deer at the park are in hard antler right now, but some of the species will hold their antlers longer than others, so you might get lucky and still see some of them in hard antler.
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Hope their antler will keep until March hah
 
I just send a email to zoo, they inform me that "There is not a best time to book the Wildlife Safari in order to go into our Asian habitats." That's sad, maybe I will need to book Cart Safari and focus on Sika and Sambar
 
I have visit the zoo these day, I would say that's awesome!
Got the Blyth's Tragopan and other bird-of-paradise species, and almost got all deer in safari park
 
Lucas Lang said:
I have visit the zoo these day, I would say that's awesome!
Got the Blyth's Tragopan and other bird-of-paradise species, and almost got all deer in safari park
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I am glad that you got to see most of what you were looking for! I hope you enjoyed your visits!
 
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