San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego Zoo Safari Park News 2024

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A couple updates from the park:
- A pair of East African Crowned Cranes are now in the island habitat with the Southern Ground Hornbills in African Outpost.
- The California Kingsnake habitat in Nairobi Village is now vacant and emptied.
- Elephant Valley Construction is centered around the pathways and the bridge connecting Safari Basecamp to Elephant Valley has now been built.
- There is a possibility that the current viewing area for Elephants will be closing in the imminent future to make way for construction crews to work on the area. The hope is that the viewing balcony for the western yard will open up, but it is entirely possible the Elephants will not be viewable for some time.
- The Safari Experience Hub is slated to open to guests “sometime in October.”
 
RJB Wildlife said:
A couple updates from the park:
- A pair of East African Crowned Cranes are now in the island habitat with the Southern Ground Hornbills in African Outpost.
- The California Kingsnake habitat in Nairobi Village is now vacant and emptied.
- Elephant Valley Construction is centered around the pathways and the bridge connecting Safari Basecamp to Elephant Valley has now been built.
- There is a possibility that the current viewing area for Elephants will be closing in the imminent future to make way for construction crews to work on the area. The hope is that the viewing balcony for the western yard will open up, but it is entirely possible the Elephants will not be viewable for some time.
- The Safari Experience Hub is slated to open to guests “sometime in October.”
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What is "The Safari Experience Hub"?
 
As I am planning a trip for next year, I was having a look at ZTL and it lists Babirusa, Peccary, Bontebok, Slender Horned Gazelle, Southern Grant's Gazelle and Nubian Red Necked Gazelle, I was just wondering where all these ungulates are kept in the park?.

I have also noticed that ZTL is very out of date regarding some species as it lists Camel, Warthog, Steenbok, Sitatunga etc still at the Safari Park.
 
Max Blundell said:
As I am planning a trip for next year, I was having a look at ZTL and it lists Babirusa, Peccary, Bontebok, Slender Horned Gazelle, Southern Grant's Gazelle and Nubian Red Necked Gazelle, I was just wondering where all these ungulates are kept in the park?.

I have also noticed that ZTL is very out of date regarding some species as it lists Camel, Warthog, Steenbok, Sitatunga etc still at the Safari Park.
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ZTL does not appear to be particularly reliable for American collections as of yet… The Safari Park also no longer has bontebok or Grant’s gazelle, and I would not bet on the addra gazelle still being on display next year — there is just a single hand-raised male calf on display with the lowland nyala herd at the Africa Tram loading station. The park manages their addra gazelles behind-the-scenes.

The babirusa and Chacoan peccaries are in the area of the Mombasa Lagoon at the front of the Park. The slender-horned gazelles are in the African Woods section of the Park, in an exhibit adjacent to the greater kudu/Soemmerring’s gazelle exhibit.
 
Max Blundell said:
I have also noticed that ZTL is very out of date regarding some species as it lists Camel, Warthog, Steenbok, Sitatunga etc still at the Safari Park.
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Kudu21 said:
ZTL does not appear to be particularly reliable for American collections as of yet…
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One of the tricky things with ZTL is deciding when and how it's appropriate to move species holdings from current to former... I was advised not to immediately move holdings over just because the animal is no longer signed or seen, as it could just be off-exhibit. With mammals, USDA reports can be used as a source as well - but sometimes they are missing from only a single report (maybe from being out of them temporarily) and it takes a long time to get multiple reports that confirm their permanent absence.

That said - if someone notices holdings that they know to be outdated/incorrect, it would be much appreciated if that person can update it :) as that's how incorrect listings get fixed.
 
Some updates from the Park today!

There are now five lesser flamingo chicks in the lagoon at the front of the Park!

The blue-billed curassow chick being fostered by the great argus pair has fully molted, and is a female.

All of the mammals have been moved out of the old sitatunga exhibit across from the Africa Tram loading station. The male red-flanked duiker has been moved in with the female in the gerenuk exhibit, and the 0.2 Cavendish’s dik-dik have been moved behind-the-scenes.

The construction in the greater flamingo lagoon along the Africa Tram was for a temporary canvas fencing that has fenced the flamingos out of the lagoon, leaving them only with access to the two artificial ponds. I do not know if this is for breeding, the introduction of new birds to the flock, or what exactly.

The male addax in the Grevy’s zebra exhibit above the Africa Tram have all been removed.

A new breeding male springbok has been introduced to the herd in the South Africa field exhibit.

It appears as though 1.1 Masai giraffe, one-year-old “Elliot” and four-year-old “Kura“ have been shipped out.

A second male Burmese brow-antlered deer has been moved into the Asian Plains field exhibit.
 
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Kudu21 said:
Some updates from the Park today!

There are now five lesser flamingo chicks in the lagoon at the front of the Park!

The blue-billed curassow chick being fostered by the great argus pair has fully molted, and is a female.

All of the mammals have been moved out of the old sitatunga exhibit across from the Africa Tram loading station. The male red-flanked duiker has been moved in with the female in the gerenuk exhibit, and the 0.2 Cavendish’s dik-dik have been moved behind-the-scenes.

The construction in the greater flamingo lagoon along the Africa Tram was for a temporary canvas fencing that has fenced the flamingos out of the lagoon, leaving them only with access to the two artificial ponds. I do not know if this is for breeding, the introduction of new birds to the flock, or what exactly.

The male addax in the Grevy’s zebra exhibit above the Africa Tram have all been removed.

A new breeding male springbok has been introduced to the herd in the South Africa field exhibit.

It appears as though 1.1 Masai giraffe, one-year-old “Elliot” and four-year-old “Kura“ have been shipped out.

A second male Burmese brow-antlered deer has been moved into the Asian Plains field exhibit.
Click to expand...
One more thing! I was only able to spot one Barbary deer... Given the age of these remaining animals, I imagine that another one has been lost recently. We appear to be very close to the end for this taxon in North America :(
 
Kudu21 said:
Some updates from the Park today!

There are now five lesser flamingo chicks in the lagoon at the front of the Park!

The blue-billed curassow chick being fostered by the great argus pair has fully molted, and is a female.

All of the mammals have been moved out of the old sitatunga exhibit across from the Africa Tram loading station. The male red-flanked duiker has been moved in with the female in the gerenuk exhibit, and the 0.2 Cavendish’s dik-dik have been moved behind-the-scenes.

The construction in the greater flamingo lagoon along the Africa Tram was for a temporary canvas fencing that has fenced the flamingos out of the lagoon, leaving them only with access to the two artificial ponds. I do not know if this is for breeding, the introduction of new birds to the flock, or what exactly.

The male addax in the Grevy’s zebra exhibit above the Africa Tram have all been removed.

A new breeding male springbok has been introduced to the herd in the South Africa field exhibit.

It appears as though 1.1 Masai giraffe, one-year-old “Elliot” and four-year-old “Kura“ have been shipped out.

A second male Burmese brow-antlered deer has been moved into the Asian Plains field exhibit.
Click to expand...
It was confirmed this morning on social media that 1.1 Masai giraffes “Elliot” and “Kura” were moved to the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York.
 
A couple updates from the park:
- Construction has started in the viewing space for the Petting Kraal. The remaining sheep are still on habitat.
- A recommendation has been filed for a new Silverback Gorilla to join the troop. Who and where he will arrive from is unknown.
- Once the new Safari experience hub is open, construction will begin on the eastern Elephant yard and the current viewing area will be closed. I’ve heard rumors of a potential guided route to a viewing area for the fully refurbished western yard, however it is unknown how this will work.
- The Western Gray Kangaroos and Bennett’s Wallabies now have full access to the Kangaroo Walkabout after several months. This was because “new patches of grass needed to grow for the macropods.”
- Two more California Condors have been added to the habitat with Tecuya and Aasach.
- It appears that another Somali Wild Ass may be pregnant based on appearance. Making this the second birth for this critically endangered species this year after six years.
 
Kudu21 said:
The baby boom continues at the Park, with the birth of a second greater kudu calf and the first gerenuk calf of the season in African Woods, as well as an ellipsen waterbuck in the South Africa field exhibit!
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Is there any reason why the park almost never announces these births anywhere?
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
Is there any reason why the park almost never announces these births anywhere?
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My best guess would be there are so many that happen that it’s tough to keep track of and it changes all of the time. One week it’s 2 Cape Buffalo and then there are 5 the following week. They do seem to do a good job keeping track of the significant Conservation species as well as main exhibit animals such as Tigers and Somali Wild Ass. If and when there is a breakthrough with the Northern White Rhino offspring in the future that will be gigantic but nothing will be said for a good amount of time.
 
Nile Hippo Expert said:
Is there any reason why the park almost never announces these births anywhere?
Click to expand...

RJB Wildlife said:
My best guess would be there are so many that happen that it’s tough to keep track of and it changes all of the time. One week it’s 2 Cape Buffalo and then there are 5 the following week. They do seem to do a good job keeping track of the significant Conservation species as well as main exhibit animals such as Tigers and Somali Wild Ass. If and when there is a breakthrough with the Northern White Rhino offspring in the future that will be gigantic but nothing will be said for a good amount of time.
Click to expand...
I think it is a combination of the frequency in which they happen (as @RJB Wildlife suggests, when you have large herds that are calving over an extended period of time you will only be announcing births if you announce every birth), and the reality that not every calf is going to survive, and with larger herds comes more mortalities simply because there are more offspring being produced. With both of these factors considered, it makes mores sense for Park's PR Team to do "round ups" of births every couple of months instead of posting about every single birth, even though guests are going to be able to see pretty much every offspring that is produced just with how the exhibits are set up and how the animals are managed.
 
Kudu21 said:
The baby boom continues at the Park, with the birth of a second greater kudu calf and the first gerenuk calf of the season in African Woods, as well as an ellipsen waterbuck in the South Africa field exhibit!
Click to expand...
Are waterbuk rare in collections? Haven’d seen them much
 
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