San Diego
Thank you all for the warm wishes! Especially since it has been a bit chilly the last week in San Diego. But today the sun is shining again and my toes are defrosting... and yes we start to cry when it hits below 70 degrees.
As for the San Diego Zoo's new Elephant Odyssey it will be a total 7 acres. It will continue in the great tradition of naturalistic exhibits so that you have ponds, rock croppings and vegetation that will make this just another beautiful exhibit for the zoo. It will cost $44 million to build and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2009 -- although we've had the wettest season yet so who knows! You should see San Diego right now. It's so green and lush, after the wildfires we had a few months back it's great to see our city hole again... but I digress.
It will be home to Asian elephants, California condors, jaguars, lions, capybara, guanaco, tapir, and a variety of reptiles. I've seen a couple of comments about this mixed species exhibit that seems to bring animals from all over the world rather than the bio-climatic zones our zoo is known to create. True, it's very different but I am truly excited. The goal is to inform people of the wildlife that has gone extinct in Southern California, including relatives of the animals we love most such as the lions (saber tooth cat) and elephants (mammoths). But it won't be all doom and gloom. The story of the California condor returning from the brink of extinction will surely show how conservation can be effective and perhaps instill a new found interest in protecting our own local wildlife. San Diego has a variety of endemic species that are threatened or endangered and that's what people don't realize. They think the only animals that need help are in Africa or China!
The new exhibit will attempt something new, allowing elephants to mingle with capybara, guanaco and tapir. That'll be exciting to see if it works out. Consider that the zoo put orangutans and siamangs together for the first time in the zoo's history several years ago. There was concern the big guys wouldn't know how to play nice with the lesser apes, but if you see them now you would never have known that they haven't been living together all their lives! In fact, I've seen one of the orangs carrying the young siamang piggy back style.
I've seen a siamang eat right out of the hands of the adult male orangutan. It's quite a sight and I hope the elephant exhibit turns out to be as successful.
I've also seen a question about the female African elephant. It's still questionable if she will live in Elephant Odyssey. The goal is to integrate her into the herd since she's lived with the two Asian elephant cows for so long. The problem is that the two Asian elephants have never 100 percent accepted her. They will either finally join her as the "outsiders" come in or they'll send her packing once and for all. Now can they send their to the Wild Animal Park? That's been discussed but the final decision will be made once they see how the herd dynamics change once the Park's Asian herd moves to Zoo.
The Swaziland herd that is at the Park is doing great. The Zoo elephant, well she's got quite a personality and they'll have to really consider this before they make a final decision. She may be better off being a companion to other no breeding elephants where the herd is too small. Stay tuned for more on this!
As for my zoo visits no I wish I've been to more but I'm working on it. The Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City is wonderful! Right in the middle of such a large city and it is quite lovely. They have wonderful exhibits and recently received two California condors from the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. Chapultepec joined as a member of the condor recovery program and for the time being is only exhibiting these birds but in the future may be another breeding center. It's a fabulous place and I love the hairless dogs -- Xoloitzcuintli. I recently visited the Santa Barbara Zoo, small and beautiful. The Bronx Zoo is one of a kind as well. Wonderful gorilla and tiger exhibits. The Phoenix Zoo does a marvelous job with the native landscape. It's hot and dry out there and they've managed to do a great job with their exhibits. The Living Desert in Palm Springs also manages its native landscapes to feature animals that live in dry climates very well. Those are the standouts that I've visited.
Well I hope join in on the forums real soon!
