Another nasty set of cages are down in cat canyon, as there are about 6 wire cages that have ratels, corsac foxes, coatimundis and whatever else is surplus for the moment. I adore the San Diego Zoo, but there is absolutely no defending certain sections of the zoo. There has been tens of millions of dollars spent on exhibits over the decades, and yet some ancient cages are still in the same place that they have always been. It would be easy enough for the zoo to either demolish them and send the animals elsewhere, or simply spend the money on upgrading and renovating. I think that 80% of the zoo is above average, but the canyon grottoes and wire cages, along with the children's zoo and the old elephant mesa, all need to be looked at in the future and obviously the zoo is aware of its few deficiencies.
I don't think elephant mesa is that bad, and the elephants are getting a new home anyways. I think it's perfect for the two Indian Rhino brothers. All the big cat cages are well planted, and the only real major problem exhibits are the tiny wire cages that dot the zoo grounds, and the carnivore grottoes down in bear canyon.
The San Diego Zoo probably has more money pouring through the doors than any other collection on the planet, and even though the expense of maintaining and improving a zoo is immense it has consistently splashed out cash on new exhibits. My point is this: horn and hoof mesa really had nothing wrong with it and was a fantastic part of the zoo, but granted the row after row of hoofstock enclosures were not always popular with the non-ZooChat crowd. But why not fix the exhibits that are not worthy to be inside such a great zoo? The tiny wire carnivore cages or the grotto enclosures should have been first to be renovated, and the sending away of the animals and subsequent demolishment of those cages would cost a fraction of Elephant Odyssey. But the truth is that zoos open flashy, modern exhibits all the time while they have 80 year-old enclosures desperately awaiting upgrades. It is the nature of the beast.
The jaguars will be moving out of the wire cages into a new mesh habitat in Elephant Odyssey, and the lions will be moving out of their current grotto to go live in elephant odyssey. This is most definitely a step in the right direction.
I agree that the jaguars will probably moving out of their cage (only to be replaced by something else most certainly) I doubt however they'll move two aging lionesses to the new exhibit that is meant to contain a breeding pride. They will most likely live out their time in the current grotto (which by the way, is not very old)
The grotto is not that bad for two extremely old lionesses. Yes, it would be different if it was an active young pride like at Lion Camp, but instead it is two very old lionesses who take it easy most of the time anyways.
