San Diego Zoo New "Africa Rocks" complex at San Diego Zoo

DavidBrown

DavidBrown

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
In the December Zoonooz there is mention that fund-raising is getting started for a major new exhibit complex at the San Diego Zoo called "Africa Rocks". It is scheduled to open in 2016, the centennial of the zoo.

Does anybody have any scuttlebutt on what this exhibit will be exactly? Are there any indications in a master plan document somewhere? Will this exhibit be a renovation of the severely outdated Cat and Dog Canyon? Any ideas as to what species will be involved?

There is an announced Madagascar project starring several lemur species and fossas. Presumably this will either be separate from or a component of a larger project as this is not really Africa - not that this keeps zoos from featuring Madagascan animals in Africa complexes.

Whatever this turns out to be, it sounds like the Next Big Thing at the San Diego Zoo (after the Outback opens).
 
most african rocks exhibits at other zoos are centered around kojpes so Lion, Meerkat, Wild Dog, Hyena?
 
tschandler71 said:
most african rocks exhibits at other zoos are centered around kojpes so Lion, Meerkat, Wild Dog, Hyena?
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Hyena and wild dogs could be a possibility. San Diego Zoo has a kopje exhibit with meerkats, klipspringers, hyrax, leopard, and several bird species, so I am curious how that will be incorporated into the announced new exhibit. There is a new lion exhibit in Elephant Odyssey.
 
Any idea what part of the zoo this will take over? It makes the most sense to me to add on to the existing kojpes exhibit, which is excellent, and continue it down the dog/cat canyon as David suggested.
Also, does anyone know how extensive the new outback exhibit will be? I hope they do a good job with the theming.
 
An excerpt of an article in the Turnstile Tribune.

The Conrad Prebys Australian Outback will open Memorial Day weekend, 2013. But just who is Conrad Prebys? Mr. Prebys is president of Progress Construction and Management, in San Diego. And he is known for his generous contributions to many causes and institutions in the San Diego area. He pledged $15 million to the Zoological Society of San Diego for two projects at the San Diego Zoo. Of the total, $11 million will go toward the Africa Rocks project, an exhibit and habitat for African birds, mammals, and reptiles, scheduled to be completed in 2016. The remaining $4 million is slated for the zoo’s Australian Outback exhibit.
 
Here's another blurb:

Zoo gets $15 million gift and a new look Page 1 of 5 | UTSanDiego.com

The bulk of Prebys’ new gift will transform the Zoo’s Big Cat Trail into a winding walkway like San Francisco’s Lombard Street and enhance its Africa Rocks section. The donation also will help expand the Zoo’s Outback region and redesign its koala exhibit on the northeastern side.
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And another:

Will 2015 expo make Balboa Park a 5-star attraction? Page 4 of 5 | UTSanDiego.com
San Diego Zoo: Open Australian Outback in 2013 with a new home for koalas and bring back the Tasmanian Devil; start if not complete Africa Rocks in Cat and Dog Canyon and introduce South African penguins; ramp up plans for the zoo’s centennial in 2016.
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The second link is all I could find that mentioned penguins and it's unclear whether they would be part of Africa Rocks or not.
 
The first article (of the two linked above) is almost two years old, so we will see what happens. But I find the following excerpt interesting:
"The bulk of Prebys’ new gift will transform the Zoo’s Big Cat Trail into a winding walkway like San Francisco’s Lombard Street..."

So if my interpretation is correct, the bus access will be discontinued. The entire main drive, which is now just pavement for buses (and pedestrians), will be transformed into exhibit area. The path will wind down this area between exhibits. (For those not familiar with Lombard Street referenced above, it is a series of tight hairpin turns down a short and steep San Francisco street).
 
The possible design solution of a series of switchback path(s) replacing the current steep bus road/sidewalk configuration is probably necessary to make this exhibit complex compliant with ADA guidelines for wheelchair accessibility (slopes of maximum 8.25% interrupted by slopes of 2% or less 'rest stops' every 30', if I remember correctly). I think the upper part of the canyon road has slopes that far exceed 8.25% currently.
 
Many parts of the San Diego Zoo far exceed 8.25% slope. As a park you just have to maintain ways around those parts and be able to justify that you're planning to fix it eventually.
 
Mr. Don Boyer Curator of Herpetology said that they will have a little cool section where Ethiopian mountain vipers will be displayed.
 
jusko88 said:
Mr. Don Boyer Curator of Herpetology said that they will have a little cool section where Ethiopian mountain vipers will be displayed.
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Mr. Don Boyer has been Curator of Herpetology at the Bronx Zoo for nearly two years.....jus' sayin'
 
If "speculation" is an action that warrants deletion (censorship) of messages, this will become a vastly depleted forum. Last I checked the rules of civil procedure are not applicable to a free-wheeling zoo nerd discussion board....
 
Ituri said:
Jusko88, very interesting. Where did you come upon this information?
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I was watching a bunch of videos on youtube of this guy named Viperkeeper. If your into reptiles def check this out. anyways in some of his videos he tours zoos across United states such as Denver Zoo,Dallas Zoo, Zoo Atlanta, Clyde Peeling's Reptiland and San Diego Zoo. He Goes Behind the Scenes in all the videos. So Cool. In One of the San diego zoo videos Don Boyer is giving Viperkeeper a tour behind the scenes and they come across Ethiopian Mountain Vipers. They breed these snakes and have very good success. Don Boyer goes on telling Viperkeeper that they plan on putting these snakes in the upcoming Africa Rocks Exhibit. The Video was from 2011. Awesome Info from this guys videos. like I said before def check out.
 
gormancgo said:
this month's zoonooz shows a picture of a baboon and warthog exhibit, looks pretty sweet to me I haven't heard anything about this exhibit yet so looks pretty cool

ISSUU - ZOONOOZ September 2013 by San Diego Zoo Global

page 5
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Thanks for posting this gormancgo, and welcome to Zoochat.

The article links to a new website about the exhibit with a partial species list and description of some of the exhibits: Africa Rocks at the San Diego Zoo

The baboon exhibit in the article is not discussed on the website, nor is an African penguin exhibit which is thought to be part of the project.
 
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