This is part of the newly revamped Galapagos tortoise complex, as about a year and a half ago the zoo spent $1.5 million overhauling this area.
An excerpt from my 2011 review:
Discovery Outpost: Reptiles & Amphibians – This is the best zoo in North America for reptiles and amphibians, and I’m not sure if any other zoo besides Fort Worth even comes remotely close. The Reptile House is the solitary animal building in the park, but it has wide open hallways so it is not really enclosed and contains a fantastic set of cold-blooded animals. I walked all around the rectangle-shaped structure and counted exactly 50 terrariums of varying sizes. The Reptile Mesa section near the Reptile House has a further 35 terrariums within a few small buildings, so that makes 85 terrariums that are for the most part of average quality. However, the outdoor enclosures are simply awesome, with a huge gharial pool that contains 6 species of turtles as well as the rare crocodilians, loads of iguanas and other lizards in massive habitats, and many enormous Galapagos tortoises in a few huge paddocks. With 85 terrariums, a large Komodo dragon outdoor exhibit, the gharial pool and tortoise enclosures, combined with maybe another 8-10 outdoor exhibits and once you add all of that up there is no other zoo in North America that can touch San Diego for reptiles and amphibians. Species list for the gharial pool: narrow-headed softshell turtle, Malaysian giant turtle, painted terrapin, river terrapin, fly river turtle and Chinese stripe-necked turtle.
The only thing is ... the Galapagos tortoises have yet to breed in the new exhibit.
I do hope they sort out the issues with species and *** with studbook.
