San Diego Zoo Favorite exhibit of the San Diego Zoo

The_UltimateBea

The_UltimateBea

Well-Known Member
For those of you that have been to this zoo, what is you favorite exhibit and why?

My most favored exhibit is the Asian Leopards habitat near Panda Trek. It is always fascinating to see the creatures above the pathways on the catwalks, a place which one or two always seem to be. In addition, the frequent activity and total immersion to the right, left, and above the visitors lends to an amazing experience. It is the one single exhibit that I can honestly say I have always seen activity in.
 
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I can't honestly choose just one but I'd have to say first and foremost Polar Bear Plunge is my favorite for sure. I love the polar bear exhibit with the grass and sand, and the Arctic Aviary is a really nice way to see some unique behaviors,I enjoy watching the diving ducks.

Honorable mentions go to the otter/swamp monkey/red river hog/(former) African forest buffalo exhibit on hippo trail for the ambition of it, and the African Forest Buffalo in particular is just such a beautiful species, and this was the last holder in the U.S., to the best of my knowledge. It's a real shame Helen passed.

My other honorable mention would be Eagle Trail. Nice large aviaries, and raptors are always a sight to be seen.
 
Single exhibit or exhibit complex?

For the later it is the origin "Tiger Trail" and the origin "Ituri Forest", follewed by the origin "Polar Bear Plunge" and the origin "African Kopje" area and all Walk-thru aviaries.

Single exhibit: Hard to decide. Tiger exhibit probably (there are so many).

WORST (of the newer ones!): "Elephant Odyssey", no doubt.
 
But in all seriousness, I love every section in the Lost Forest. As they are all extremely high in quality and levels of immersion are off the charts. And that's not even mentioning the great collection and mixed species exhibits.
 
It's hard to narrow down to even just a few! I think I might not be as familiar with a lot of the really well renowned zoos as a lot of zoo chatters are, so I might be really easily awestruck (not all bad!). I think the two that impressed me most when I first visited were the Lost Forest area - I loved being able to see the forest from different storeys, and the extent to which all of the planting helped make visitors feel like we were actually in a jungle (which could be said of many more parts of the zoo, come to think of it) - and the forrest buffalo/red river hog/otter/&c. exhibit, in which I really loved seeing so many species incorporated into an exhibit so (for lack of a better word) artistically.
 
Favorite is either:

Chinese Alligator exhibit, I think it's great aesthetically and I love the species
or
The Gorilla exhibit especially because of the water elements
 
gormancgo said:
Favorite is either:

Chinese Alligator exhibit, I think it's great aesthetically and I love the species
or
The Gorilla exhibit especially because of the water elements
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Gorilla exhibit is definitely top notch. Lots of viewing angles and the gorillas seem to near will the viewing areas.
 
I will go with zoomaniac and say the original Tiger River. Sadly it is not the same (the fishing cat exhibit is particularly barren), but I was pleased on my visit a couple weeks ago to see lots of new plants in the main tiger exhibit.
 
Shellheart said:
I can't honestly choose just one but I'd have to say first and foremost Polar Bear Plunge is my favorite for sure. I love the polar bear exhibit with the grass and sand, and the Arctic Aviary is a really nice way to see some unique behaviors,I enjoy watching the diving ducks.

Honorable mentions go to the otter/swamp monkey/red river hog/(former) African forest buffalo exhibit on hippo trail for the ambition of it, and the African Forest Buffalo in particular is just such a beautiful species, and this was the last holder in the U.S., to the best of my knowledge. It's a real shame Helen passed.

My other honorable mention would be Eagle Trail. Nice large aviaries, and raptors are always a sight to be seen.
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Now all that is really left in that exhibit is the monkeys. Otters are barely visible and red river hogs are often either not out or hardly visible.
 
I may be seen as a bit of a pariah for saying this, but here goes: one of my favorite exhibits (or at least sections of it) is Elephant Odyssey. I'm absolutely serious when I say this, because now that the plants have grown in a lot more, it is at least more tolerable. What do I like about it? The elephant's pool, and the habitat welfare-wise. Sure, it may not be the most appealing, and I would have chosen a more unique theme (Indian Tropical Forest or African Woodlands) but for what it is, it's great for the elephants on a scale of welfare. As to what exhibits I find more aesthetically appealing, it would be the Jaguar habitat, the streamside habitat for native turtles, the riverbanks near the Elephant habitat, and the California Condor habitat. What I don't like about it is pretty much what I agree with the whole board on. There's a saying I have heard multiple times, which is "you've got to pay the devil his dues". Another one of my favorite exhibits, (which would probably recieve a more positive consensus) is the African Kopje. The reason this is the case is just how realistic the rocks are, as well as the brilliant landscaping. I will admit though, the design of the current serval habitat is not as good as I would have liked, given the severe glare of the glass. If they simply used harp wire and a secondary barrier, the habitat would be a thousand times better. This is all for the northern side of the zoo, I'll post about my favorite parts in the central part (Asian Passage) the western part (Northern Frontier and Panda Canyon) and the southern part (Lost Forest, didn't visit Discovery Outpost).
 
Wyman said:
I may be seen as a bit of a pariah for saying this, but here goes: one of my favorite exhibits (or at least sections of it) is Elephant Odyssey. I'm absolutely serious when I say this, because now that the plants have grown in a lot more, it is at least more tolerable. What do I like about it? The elephant's pool, and the habitat welfare-wise. Sure, it may not be the most appealing, and I would have chosen a more unique theme (Indian Tropical Forest or African Woodlands) but for what it is, it's great for the elephants on a scale of welfare. As to what exhibits I find more aesthetically appealing, it would be the Jaguar habitat, the streamside habitat for native turtles, the riverbanks near the Elephant habitat, and the California Condor habitat. What I don't like about it is pretty much what I agree with the whole board on. There's a saying I have heard multiple times, which is "you've got to pay the devil his dues". Another one of my favorite exhibits, (which would probably recieve a more positive consensus) is the African Kopje. The reason this is the case is just how realistic the rocks are, as well as the brilliant landscaping. I will admit though, the design of the current serval habitat is not as good as I would have liked, given the severe glare of the glass. If they simply used harp wire and a secondary barrier, the habitat would be a thousand times better. This is all for the northern side of the zoo, I'll post about my favorite parts in the central part (Asian Passage) the western part (Northern Frontier and Panda Canyon) and the southern part (Lost Forest, didn't visit Discovery Outpost).
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I must admit that EO does get a bit more hate then it deserves. Was it Disappointing? Yes. Is it awful? No.
 
Wyman said:
I may be seen as a bit of a pariah for saying this, but here goes: one of my favorite exhibits (or at least sections of it) is Elephant Odyssey. I'm absolutely serious when I say this, because now that the plants have grown in a lot more, it is at least more tolerable. What do I like about it? The elephant's pool, and the habitat welfare-wise. Sure, it may not be the most appealing, and I would have chosen a more unique theme (Indian Tropical Forest or African Woodlands) but for what it is, it's great for the elephants on a scale of welfare. As to what exhibits I find more aesthetically appealing, it would be the Jaguar habitat, the streamside habitat for native turtles, the riverbanks near the Elephant habitat, and the California Condor habitat. What I don't like about it is pretty much what I agree with the whole board on. There's a saying I have heard multiple times, which is "you've got to pay the devil his dues". Another one of my favorite exhibits, (which would probably recieve a more positive consensus) is the African Kopje. The reason this is the case is just how realistic the rocks are, as well as the brilliant landscaping. I will admit though, the design of the current serval habitat is not as good as I would have liked, given the severe glare of the glass. If they simply used harp wire and a secondary barrier, the habitat would be a thousand times better. This is all for the northern side of the zoo, I'll post about my favorite parts in the central part (Asian Passage) the western part (Northern Frontier and Panda Canyon) and the southern part (Lost Forest, didn't visit Discovery Outpost).
Click to expand...

I like that streamside habitat with the native species far more than I should. It's so small but yet it's very attractive and fun to see whatever you can find in it this time. Fun side note: I remember when the stream first opened there was a solid amount of time where it was absolutely empty (or at least not visibly filled), and everyone would stop and point at one of the statue animals and say they've found the inhabitants. For all intents and purposes those statues might as well have been the inhabitants.
 
My favorite exhibits in the central part of the zoo (Asian Passage, Outback) would be the Sun Bear Forest and the Australian Outback habitats. The Sun Bear Forest due to how realistic the riverbanks look, and the former Lion-Tailed Macaque (now for Red Cheeked Gibbon) habitat still looks relatively spectacular, even though I much prefer branches over those asinine tree-houses. As for the Sun Bear habitat itself, due to the fact that they tore up much of the grass on opening day, they decided to opt for concrete instead, which, while it is logical, it just seems wrong to me. You're essentially creating a modern-day grotto. Given the fact that sun bears are being phased out, my suggestion is to essentially bring back the macaques, phase out the sun bears, and put the resident sloth bears as replacements. Call it "Sloth Bear Forest". There, that would at least provide more of a connection between Panda Canyon and Asian Passage. As for the Australian Outback, I really like the design of the Koala habitats. While I would have much preferred the San Diego Zoo transplant live eucalyptus trees as climbing structures, the ones they have are at least somewhat aesthetically appealing. The highlight of the area isn't even the koalas, but the Tasmanian Devils. These guys live in lush habitats, resembling their native home. While I came at a time when they weren't as active as I would have liked to see, they were still somewhat entertaining to watch. The whole zone as a whole, even though San Diego's mock-rock quality is diminishing and diminishing fast, is still immersive. I especially like the space dedicated to the birds in the aviaries, even though they are merely a testament to the architect rather than actual immersive habitats, though the steel is softened by the amount of plants in the enclosure, as is the case (going back to Sun Bear Forest) with the former Douc Langur and current Francois Langur habitat.
 
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