If anyone is curious about the event venue, Mkutano House, that is part of the Elephant Valley, there is a sneak peek here.
Mkutano House | Wild Weddings
Mkutano House | Wild Weddings
San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego Zoo Safari Park News 2025
- Thread starter Kudu21
- Start date
Quite a few updates from the Park this morning!
-A western bearded anole has gone on exhibit in one of the recently emptied herp exhibits in Nairobi Village.
-There are only two Chacoan peccaries on exhibit now near Mombasa Lagoon.
-The Abyssinian ground hornbill from the bird exhibit next to the South Africa field exhibit has been reintroduced to the gerenuk exhibit in African Woods.
-There are now only two fringe-eared oryx left in the herd in the East Africa field exhibit. With only two animals remaining in the herd, it appears that the remaining fringe-eared oryx have been more accepting of the two castrated male gemsbok also now in that exhibit, offering a really unique opportunity to compare the two species side-by-side!
-1.0 southern white rhinoceros “Neville” from the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center has now also shipped out, and I have heard 1.0 “Bwana” has been introduced to at least one of the females. He was separated today, though.
-Lastly, a few pink-backed pelicans have been added to the Bird Marsh exhibit along the Africa Tram.
-A western bearded anole has gone on exhibit in one of the recently emptied herp exhibits in Nairobi Village.
-There are only two Chacoan peccaries on exhibit now near Mombasa Lagoon.
-The Abyssinian ground hornbill from the bird exhibit next to the South Africa field exhibit has been reintroduced to the gerenuk exhibit in African Woods.
-There are now only two fringe-eared oryx left in the herd in the East Africa field exhibit. With only two animals remaining in the herd, it appears that the remaining fringe-eared oryx have been more accepting of the two castrated male gemsbok also now in that exhibit, offering a really unique opportunity to compare the two species side-by-side!
-1.0 southern white rhinoceros “Neville” from the Nikita Kahn Rhino Rescue Center has now also shipped out, and I have heard 1.0 “Bwana” has been introduced to at least one of the females. He was separated today, though.
-Lastly, a few pink-backed pelicans have been added to the Bird Marsh exhibit along the Africa Tram.
What happened to the fringe-eared oryx herd and how many in zoos?
The fringe-eared oryx in the East Africa field exhibit are all non-reproductive — the breeding animals were moved off exhibit a few years ago now. The North Carolina Zoo and The Wilds are the only other public facilities with this taxon.
Any word on whether they've been able to find a compatible breeding male for the off-exhibit herd?
I do not know. They were going to have to source one from the private sector, which can take time to identify a suitable animal, process the paperwork, and arrange a shipment. The males at the North Carolina Zoo and The Wilds are offspring from the Safari Park herd.
A very pleasant midweek visit to the Park 
-The West African black crowned cranes have returned to their island in Mombasa Lagoon.
-There are now only three Visayan warty pigs in the old Nursery Kraal.
-The 2.2 greater kudu have returned to their exhibit (the old giant eland exhibit) in African Woods after being off display for construction.
-The whole Nubian ibex herd has now been moved over from their old exhibit above the Asian Plains field exhibit to their new exhibit along the Africa Tram. Their old exhibit is now empty.
-The West African black crowned cranes have returned to their island in Mombasa Lagoon.
-There are now only three Visayan warty pigs in the old Nursery Kraal.
-The 2.2 greater kudu have returned to their exhibit (the old giant eland exhibit) in African Woods after being off display for construction.
-The whole Nubian ibex herd has now been moved over from their old exhibit above the Asian Plains field exhibit to their new exhibit along the Africa Tram. Their old exhibit is now empty.
captain alligator
Well-Known Member
Why was the San Diego Zoo Safari Park able to obtain platypuses from Australia?
Nile Hippo Expert
Well-Known Member
SDZWA is a very rich organization and are able to devote time and resources to maintaining their pair of platypus. Their strong connection to Melbourne Zoo and Taronga Zoo (two major zoos in Australia) helped a lot as well.
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance partnered with Taronga Zoo and the University of NSW to fund a five year research project on Platypus following the export of the two Platypus from Australia.
Prior to this, an agreement had been reached in February 2017 between Taronga Zoo and San Diego Zoo to exchange Platypus for Okapi. This arrangement fell through.
CEO has been announced for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Shawn Dixon Named President and CEO of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Shawn Dixon Named President and CEO of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
I still don't understand why...
It was a "perfect storm" sort of situation, really. The curator that organized the platypus import and secured the partnership for the platypus research project with Taronga was also the Okapi SSP coordinator at the time, so they had more say in where okapi could and could not be placed. Shortly after the platypus import went through, that curator left, and the Okapi SSP coordinator position went to someone at a different facility. All the meanwhile, Australia never passes through the paperwork that would be needed to import the okapi in the first place, COVID happens, and the North American okapi population takes a nose dive, with females aging out of the breeding population not being replaced with new female calves on the ground. There were years with only one or two or no female calves born. Now, the North American okapi population is not stable enough to allow for exports of anything other than surplus males.
That is sad. I hope Australia can get their end of the deal soon.
I would not hold my breath. At least not for anything any time soon.
I’d be interested to know what led to the failure of the San Diego Zoo’s quokka acquisition project. The zoo’s import proposal, which is still available online, suggested that negotiations with Australia were going well and that the plan was progressing smoothly. It’s therefore quite remarkable that, despite the setback with the quokkas, the zoo later succeeded in obtaining the much rarer platypus.
This is something I know little about. I was aware of the plans to import quokka, but I have never heard why they fell through. Similarly, there were also plans to import Australian brush turkeys at the same time as the platypus, but that also fell through. With quokka having spread a bit more in recent times, I would not be surprised if this is something the Zoo or the Safari Park would be interested in pursuing again.