Thanks for the update photos, but nothing I've seen changes my opinion that this is one of the most poorly thought-out and hastily executed $45+ million projects ever done in a zoo. It seems unrelievedly awful....
The lion enclosure at the Woodland Park Zoo is 30 years old and probably about a hundred times better than the brand new lion exhibit in Elephant Odyssey. I wonder if all of us would be as critical if it were not the San Diego Zoo that opened this $45 million set of average exhibits, but personally I expect a much higher standard from what is one of the world's great zoos.
The little stubby grasses bring back memories of the indoor Savannah half of the Jaguar house at Chester; which has still not developed into a convincing grassland after, what, 8 years now? Thing is, most of the non-elephant exhibits in this new area seem to be setting themselves up for the same problem.
The little stubby grasses bring back memories of the indoor Savannah half of the Jaguar house at Chester; which has still not developed into a convincing grassland after, what, 8 years now? Thing is, most of the non-elephant exhibits in this new area seem to be setting themselves up for the same problem.
The elephant areas seem fine from the pics I've seen, they have everything everyone on hear always want's for elephants: Space, shade, enrichment, decent pool and soft substrate. What's the problem...?
Ok, I agree it's barren but we can't see all of it. And why is it being netted a problem? Surely that gives them more scope to add climbing logs without them worrying about the lions jumping out.
I tend not to pass comment on exhibits I haven't seen in person but everything I have seen about this makes me very disappointed, all the enclosures are very ugly and lacking in imagination.
In general it seems to me that San Diego's exhibits just don't seem to live up to the hype.
