San Diego Zoo Elephant Odyssey

I was told the new jaguar enclosure will be much larger than the current one. The current one is pretty lush already, so I am pretty sure the new one will be fantastic. This whole new exhibit looks incredible.
 
Look at the plan--it is very clearly NOT significantly larger than the current exhibit (which admittedly is pretty lush, but otherwise not very good).

And--just a guess--after the first pronghorn or capybara is crushed by a "playful" elephant the "animal interaction" portrals will be closed permanently.
 
WHY ARE YOU SO NEGATIVE!! Just because the jaguar exhibit does not look big does not make it bad. Miami's jaguar exhibit is not that large, however the exhibit is brilliant and probably one of the best jaguar exhibits in the country. I am sure San Diego's will be like that too. The current jaguar enclosure at San Diego is already pretty nice, so I am sure this one will be excellent.
 
I think once the capybara, tapir, guanaco, and pronghorn get out of their exhibit into the elephant exhibit they will not want to go back into their own exhibit.
 
I am "SO NEGATIVE" because San Diego Zoo, despite all the things it has going for it (climate, money, public support, history, topography, collection, oh and did I say money?) has NEVER stretched itself to truly meet it's potential. I am amazed that even this group of well-informed zoo afficianados are consistently blinded by the hype and the benign Southern Californian climate to really BELIEVE that the zoo is the world's greatest.

Don't get me wrong, there are many very good aspects to the zoo (notably the walk-through aviaries, outdoor reptile exhibits, Tiger River, Kopje exhibit, subtropical plantings everywhere among them). But if the zoo ever paid attention to details the way other zoos do (think Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, Woodland Park, Bronx, Shedd, Monterey, Zurich, Arnhem, Leipzig) it would be SO much better it would blow every other zoo out of the water. The equivalent in sports terms would be a player with immense natural talents who doesn't practice and only performs when the spotlight is on.

I've waited for years to see the zoo step up to the top in terms of QUALITY. When Tiger River and the Kopje exhibits opened in the late 1980s, it looked like the zoo was on its way. But nothing since that time has had the same level of thoughtfulness or quality. I had hoped to be proven wrong by Elephant Odyssey--but the plan published today (the most detailed yet) supports my suspicion that the San Diego Zoo will still not live up to it's potential, which is a shame for them, but more broadly a shame for all zoos as the public continues to regard San Diego as the "leader," and will judge all zoos by what they do. This group (Zoochat contributors) should know better....
 
You are forgetting Ituri Forest, Gorilla Tropics, Polar Bear Plunge, Absolutely Apes, Monkey Trails and Forest Tales... are all incredible exhibits. San Diego has over 10 exhibits that are brilliant, state-of-the-art habitats. I can't think of another zoo in the U.S. that has that many.
 
No, I'm not forgetting them. Not one of those exhibits is as good as it should be. All of them are okay, but not the best in class by any means. Why are gorilla exhibits in cold climate cities like Leipzig and New York so much better, for example? I think I'll end my commentary now, as it won't change your mind. But I will remain disappointed by San Diego until they prove they "get it."
 
reduakari said:
Look at the plan--it is very clearly NOT significantly larger than the current exhibit (which admittedly is pretty lush, but otherwise not very good).

And--just a guess--after the first pronghorn or capybara is crushed by a "playful" elephant the "animal interaction" portrals will be closed permanently.
Click to expand...

The Phoenix Zoo used to exhibit blackbuck in the elephant yard. The blackbuck had their own little safe area that the elephants could not reach them. When Indu was brought in, the zoo no longer had the blackbuck in there. I can't say for certain, but I heard rumors that a few had been rendered "blackbuck pancakes" by the newcomer.

Here's another prediction. The zoo will continue to exhibit lions in their current exhibit at least for some time (the 2 older females will not likely be moving to an exhibit set up for breeding) This is only a guess, but it's based on moves the zoo has made in the past. Anyone else remember forest buffalo on Horn and Hoof after Ituri opened, or Malayan tapirs on Elephant Mesa after Tiger River opened?

Oh sorry, was that too negative as well?;)
 
reduakari said:
I am "SO NEGATIVE" because San Diego Zoo, despite all the things it has going for it (climate, money, public support, history, topography, collection, oh and did I say money?) has NEVER stretched itself to truly meet it's potential. I am amazed that even this group of well-informed zoo afficianados are consistently blinded by the hype and the benign Southern Californian climate to really BELIEVE that the zoo is the world's greatest.
Click to expand...

The thing that really bothers me is, the newer developments, since they've started designing in-house, don't have the same attention to detail. Tiger River and the African Kopje were amazing when they opened. The attention to detail that recreated an actual place was really well done. Tiger River was a Sumatran forest with all of the biological and geological details to back that up. It was NOT originally intended to be generic Asian rainforest that area has since become. (They have also tended to water down existing themes, by completely throwing geography out the window, Arabian wild cats instead of arctic foxes, caracals instead of snowy owls? Please!)

I will leave my rant at that, because BlackRhino and I have butted heads over this very topic many times and it probably grows tiresome for some.

Just to be clear, I am a huge fan of the Zoological Society as a whole, have spent most of my life as a member, and I collect all of their publications and so forth, so this is not out of hate, this is out of frustration for what I feel they could be.
 
Just to be clear, I am a huge fan of the Zoological Society as a whole, have spent most of my life as a member, and I collect all of their publications and so forth, so this is not out of hate, this is out of frustration for what I feel they could be.[/QUOTE]

Ditto. As a child the San Diego Zoo/WAP was my Mecca, and it's where I developed my love for zoos. The SDZS does great conservation work, but one might never know that as a casual visitor, as one of their weakness is interpretation. You can't leave the Bronx or Brookfield zoos without having received a clear message about their international conservation efforts, but in San Diego graphics/media presentations are an afterthought.
Churro stands and plush pandas are far more evident.
 
Whats the acreage of the elephant exhibit again? And how large does anybody think the elephant building is? (Im waiting on the zoo to trump 41,000 sq. ft. for elephant holding!)
 
Being in San Diego, I'd be willing to bet they aren't shooting for "the countries largest elephant building" In fact I believe their current elephant building is open air is it not? I get the impression that the new one definitely will be. As far as overall acreage, I don't quite remember but 2.5 for the elephant space seems to ring a bell.
 
reduakari said:
And--just a guess--after the first pronghorn or capybara is crushed by a "playful" elephant the "animal interaction" portrals will be closed permanently.
Click to expand...

It all depends on the exhibit set-up and the management philosophy. If the zoo acknowledges that a couple of animals are likely to get killed by the elephants (and are willing to take the risk), a few 'blackbuck pancakes' are not a negative set-back but rather an expected occurrence. I just hope they won't be Sonoran pronghorns! :eek:

A few other zoos have elephant exhibits with creep-throughs for smaller hoofstock, and in at least one the smaller species is hardly ever seen in the elephant side. (As a side-note, the WAP elephants regularly cohabit with wild mule deer ... not sure how many they've squished over the years, but different species will not be totally new to them).
 
On further inspection of that map, it doesn't mention the bison. Do you suppose they've been dropped?
 
Probably, I cant recall the last time SD exhibited American Bison, and I dont think they fit into the theme very well.
 
Ungulate said:
I just hope they won't be Sonoran pronghorns! :eek:
Click to expand...

I was asking myself the same question, because I thought I heard that they were getting some Peninsular (or sonoran) Pronghorns for this exhibit. Does anybody know if they are still getting Peninsular or are they getting regular pronghorns?
 
The zoo has a pronghorn fact sheet up and running:
San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Pronghorn
They mention the addition of this species to Elephant Odyssey and the support of the Peninsular pronghorn recovery, but do not state what subspecies they are looking to acquire. (LA's two males born last year are slated to go to the Living Desert). It is likely that they will be 'generic' pronghorn, at least to start.
 
Ungulate said:
The zoo has a pronghorn fact sheet up and running:
San Diego Zoo's Animal Bytes: Pronghorn
They mention the addition of this species to Elephant Odyssey and the support of the Peninsular pronghorn recovery, but do not state what subspecies they are looking to acquire. (LA's two males born last year are slated to go to the Living Desert).
Click to expand...

The two males born last year have now moved onto the big exhibit where a breeding pair was once exhibited and one of the breeding pairs is no longer on exhibit.
 
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