On the day of my visit one of the yards was being cleaned out by keepers and so most of the elephants were packed into the second yard. From what I've heard there are now 5.5 acres at the disposal of the animals, and with 17 elephants the herd is quite a sight to behold. Also, the park has had 8 elephants born in the past decade and so there are plenty of youngsters around.
I'm sure those of you who tune in to the Elephant Cam every now and then have seen them, but there are these small deer-like ungulates romping around the elephant exhibit grazing, unusually at dusk, particularly. To me, they just look like mule deer, but the only way for them to be mule deer would be if they were wild, unless of course San Diego's got some strange mix of species I haven't heard about.
If anyone knows what these hoofstock are, or has any idea of what they could be, could someone tell me? Because I'm watching the cam as I type this and its casually walking about the exhibit with the elephants paying it no mind. Also, if you want a better look at it, go to the Safari Park website's video library and watch the Elephant Rush video. The animal is pictured at the 0:27 mark up until 0:31.
I do not need to look at the cam to tell you they are in fact wild mule deer. Several years ago one even gave birth inside the african elephant exhibit. Mule deer roam all over the wild animal park - in the days of the monorail it was virtually guaranteed to see some along the ride somewhere.
They like to go in the elephant yard, I presume, because they have figured out that no mountain lion or coyote is going to be brave enough to enter a domain of such huge animals. Pretty smart deer.
I do not need to look at the cam to tell you they are in fact wild mule deer. Several years ago one even gave birth inside the african elephant exhibit. Mule deer roam all over the wild animal park - in the days of the monorail it was virtually guaranteed to see some along the ride somewhere.
They like to go in the elephant yard, I presume, because they have figured out that no mountain lion or coyote is going to be brave enough to enter a domain of such huge animals. Pretty smart deer.
Ha, I knew it! Well, at least I knew they were mule deer. Of course I had no idea that a wild deer actually gave birth inside the exhibit and were common throughout the park. You know you're very knowledgeable, ArizonaDocent. About how many times have you visited the Safari (or Wild Animal, as it was then) Park?
I'm sure those of you who tune in to the Elephant Cam every now and then have seen them, but there are these small deer-like ungulates romping around the elephant exhibit grazing, unusually at dusk, particularly. To me, they just look like mule deer, but the only way for them to be mule deer would be if they were wild, unless of course San Diego's got some strange mix of species I haven't heard about.
If anyone knows what these hoofstock are, or has any idea of what they could be, could someone tell me? Because I'm watching the cam as I type this and its casually walking about the exhibit with the elephants paying it no mind. Also, if you want a better look at it, go to the Safari Park website's video library and watch the Elephant Rush video. The animal is pictured at the 0:27 mark up until 0:31.
On the old monorail ride it was almost impossible not to see mule deer. The narrator would always say "And here we have some freeloaders..." and go on to rattle off some statistic about how much of the zoo animal's feed ended up being eaten by wild animals (deer, squirrels, bunnies, etc.).
The deer like hanging out in the black rhino exhibit too. I wonder if any have experimented with breaking into Lion Camp? I suppose that would be natural selection in action...
