San Diego Zoo Elephant Odyssey opens May 23

Arizona Docent

Arizona Docent

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I just got the April issue of Zoonooz (the San Diego Zoo's monthly member magazine). Although it's a bit hidden in the director's intro, they do finally state an official opening date for Elephant Odyssey: Saturday, May 23. Obviously chosen because that's Memorial Day weekend.

(For our overseas friends, Memorial Day in the U.S. is considered the official start of the summer holiday period).
 
Blackduiker

I just came from the San Diego Zoo's website. There is a video advertisement of Elephant Odyssey, but for some reason the caption underneath the video does not let you click on it. The caption reads; "Elephant Odyssey Opens Ma..." Could the date be only tentative?
Marvelous looking exhibit. I'll have to get back down there soon.

The time spent dealing with all the mess hear in L.A. over our Pachyderm Forest really set us back several months, but things are progressing very well now. People want to see Elephants up close and personal, and now we're starting to see expanded exhibit spaces for them. Two new luxury exhibits right here in Southern California. Fantastic.
 
I noticed this morning on the San Diego Zoo's facebook site that there are 3 photos of animal statues that are making their way to Elephant Odyssey. A sabre-toothed cat and a massive Mastodon are two of the enormous, lifesize creations that will be featured in the new set of exhibits.
 
@Blackduiker: There will actually be three new luxery exhibits in So. Cal. because SDWAP is expanding the African yard from 3 acres to nearly 6 :D.
 
Just saw the video of EO on SDZ website. It looks like an incredible exhibit and all the animal habitats should be some of the best of their kind. The Elephant, jaguar, lion, condor, tapir, and pronghorn exhibits all look superb and this might be the San Diego Zoo's best section.
 
I just found the official elephant odyssey website.

Elephant Odyssey

The website includes a map of the exhibit with some info on the animals in each exhibit. It also includes a video of the exhibit, and info on the seven elephants that will live in the exhibit. In the website it also mentions that the opening day is indeed May 23rd.
 
Last edited:
I must say, and a few have said it already - the jaguar and lion enclosures look small. Like only a few hundred square feet of space. And the virtual tour made them seem even smaller.
 
I disagree. The jaguar exhibit reminds of the excellent one in Miami. i doubt a new exhibit of 2009 would have a jaguar exhibit of 800 square feet.
 
Like I've said all along--plans don't lie...

Clearly they have decided there is no point in even trying to disguise holding buildings, barriers etc.

I look forward to checking this out in person, but from what this video reveals, as I've stated several times before: very interesting concept, but San Diego seems unable to pull off the details necessary to make it work.
 
Well personally from the plans it looks like a fantastic new exhibit and possibly one of the best exhibits in the country.
 
BlackRhino said:
Well personally from the plans it looks like a fantastic new exhibit and possibly one of the best exhibits in the country.
Click to expand...

Actually, from the plans that everyone else has seen it only shows a small rectangular exhibit with some rocks in the middle. I don't know how that will be one of the best exhibits in the country.

It might be a good exhibit, but nobody will really know till the exhibit opens.
 
Does anyone else think the statues look like cartoon characters come to life?
 
What kind of horse are they exhibiting? Just a regular old horse? That's cool, I guess, but with the throwback theme I would have liked to see some Mongolians or maybe some Heck horses. When thinking of the California Pleistocene, a petting zoo isn't exactly what comes to mind. Also, I saw bison on the site but not in the plans. Are they not to be included?

I will say, despite the criticisms, my childhood visits to the LaBrea Tar Pits have conditioned me to be interested in anything involving prehistoric California critters. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty excited about this.
 
I like the interactive website for Elephant Odyssey, but one question that I have is in regards to the lion/jaguar exhibit. The map shows 3 mesh enclosures, but the description that San Diego provides is of back-to-back enclosures. Is there a middle, rotational exhibit? Also, 2.4 acres for 7 elephants is a massive improvement on the old Elephant Mesa, but still much smaller than at least a dozen other elephant exhibits around the United States. One more thing: can the tapirs, guanacos and capybara still have access to the elephant habitat? It appears that those species might just have that opportunity...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top