San Diego Zoo Horn and Hoof Mesa

S

sandiegomaster

Well-Known Member
I wish everyone would stop complaining about the disappearance of Horn and Hoof Mesa, EO is a wonderful addition to the San Diego Zoo and was put there for good reason. Several of the animals in that part of the zoo were in a program to be sent back to the wild and they were.

"The dynamics have changed a little in the past few months because our oryx and addaxes were sent to Tunisia to be reintroduced into giant protected reserves. The San Diego Zoo acted as in intermediate quarantine holding facility for all of these animals that came from institutions around the world. They were held here until all of the proper medical tests were done and permits were arranged. All of the animals made it safely to Africa, where they now have an incredible amount of space where it will take that male much more time and energy to run the show, compared to hanging out by a door flinching his head. I wish him well!"

Adam Ruble is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

The animals were slated to go before EO was in the works, as for the other animals, they are spread throughout the zoo in different and new areas, just look for them, I can point quite a few out. Several of them went to the wild animal part and just a small amount left the zoo for another zoo. I heard someone complain about mountain zebras, there is a huge enclosure being made for them at the wild animal park, they are still raising money, you can donate to the cause on the website.

San Diego Zoo

The horse in the zoo was a wild horse caught in Arizona and used by the state park for a few years before being retired due to age. The horse and donkeys are there for interaction purposes and are often available to be petted to bring excitement to kids. The exhibit has a better home for the lions and jags who are now easier to see. The tapir, lamas and capybara are put together in one pin and are fun to watch. There are several turtles and lizards in a side stream, new birds, and a great new way to see the condors. The la brea tar pit is a little lame, but is trying to educate the public. The zoo and animal park together only lost the two species that they had to send back, otherwise there is no species lost at these facilities so if you want to see the animals, you still can. You can go back to the goat pin where just a few are left before there exhibits are finished being built for $60 dollars but most of the animals are on display already.

If you want to complain, complain about the new polar bear exhibit which added nothing of value to the zoo except for making the duck pond bigger and making it easier to see the carbou.
 
Polar Bear Plunge added some very strong graphics showing how global warming is affecting the arctic (and it turn the rest of the world), and some simple steps we can all take to combat it. I would hardly call that nothing of value. (In terms of actual animal space, though, you are right - nothing has really changed).

As for Horn & Hoof Mesa, it was an outdated area, so you are right there is not much to be missed about that either.

As for Elephant Odyssey, it is a very strange phenomenon. There seems to be no middle ground. People either really like it (as you do) or just completely hate it (as I do - biggest waste of money in the history of zoos IMO).
 
Hi Sandiegomaster,

Can you tell me please.....has San Diego still got a female Scottish wildcat?

best wishes,
Amur
 
I can tell you for a fact they do NOT. That is an OOOOLD ISIS listing. I actually wrote and asked them about that around ten years ago, and they said at that time the cat had died. It is just something no one on their staff probably knows is still on ISIS so no one has bothered to remove it.

They do have some arabian wildcat (F.s. tristrami) still maybe, although when I was there a couple weeks ago I did not see them on exhibit. However, I only had half a day and did not get to all parts of the zoo, so they may have moved them somewhere else.
 
Arizona Docent said:
Polar Bear Plunge added some very strong graphics showing how global warming is affecting the arctic (and it turn the rest of the world), and some simple steps we can all take to combat it. I would hardly call that nothing of value. (In terms of actual animal space, though, you are right - nothing has really changed).

As for Horn & Hoof Mesa, it was an outdated area, so you are right there is not much to be missed about that either.

As for Elephant Odyssey, it is a very strange phenomenon. There seems to be no middle ground. People either really like it (as you do) or just completely hate it (as I do - biggest waste of money in the history of zoos IMO).
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I'm in the middle ground. I think it's pretty good for the most part but think the lion exhibit is way too small and wish there was more grass, plants, and trees throughout EO.

Yes, they didn't get their money's worth, but I think some look at the cost too much and don't factor in that construction costs are higher there than in most our areas, they weren't building on undeveloped land so that likely added a great deal of cost, and I believe the elephant house was quite expensive.

Oh, and I think the average zoo visitor likes the exhibit a lot more than people on here do. So you know, that should probably be considered since 98% of zoo visitors aren't like us.
 
Arizona Docent said:
I can tell you for a fact they do NOT. That is an OOOOLD ISIS listing. I actually wrote and asked them about that around ten years ago, and they said at that time the cat had died. It is just something no one on their staff probably knows is still on ISIS so no one has bothered to remove it.

They do have some arabian wildcat (F.s. tristrami) still maybe, although when I was there a couple weeks ago I did not see them on exhibit. However, I only had half a day and did not get to all parts of the zoo, so they may have moved them somewhere else.
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Thanks a lot for that Arizona Docent,
.
Its not really ISIS who are at fault, its the zoos fault it was not removed.
ISIS leave zoo members to make the changes themselfs to species holdings.

best wishes,
Amur
 
Agreed. When I said "their staff" I meant San Diego Zoo staff, not ISIS staff.

BTW has everyone seen the cool new look of the ISIS website?
 
How many other zoos are soaking up hoofstock areas for the money making elephant habitats? Well at least the private sector is benifiting the many hoofstock area closures. Iam sure the animals are enjoying the larger spaces provided. Wait i thought AZA did not deal with private sector........unless of course it benifits them.........
 
I just found out about Hexagon Farm a couple years ago, since they were mentioned in the footnotes of the book Wild Cats Of The World by the Sunquists. I had never heard of them, so I wrote to them to ask about photo opportunities. They wrote back and said they were recently retired and had gotten rid of most of their cats. They may have had one or two older cats (perhaps ocelot) that they were caring for until they passed, but no, they do not have a scottish wildcat. Pretty sure those are strictly in UK facilities now.
 
Could we maybe get a mod to split the wildcat discussion off to its own topic. Thanks :)
 
mweb08 said:
I'm in the middle ground. I think it's pretty good for the most part but think the lion exhibit is way too small and wish there was more grass, plants, and trees throughout EO.

Yes, they didn't get their money's worth, but I think some look at the cost too much and don't factor in that construction costs are higher there than in most our areas, they weren't building on undeveloped land so that likely added a great deal of cost, and I believe the elephant house was quite expensive.

Oh, and I think the average zoo visitor likes the exhibit a lot more than people on here do. So you know, that should probably be considered since 98% of zoo visitors aren't like us.
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I'm on the middle ground too, the elephant exhibit is a great addition for the sake of elephants and it's a great help towards elephant care. It is also nice to see the Pronghorn antelope and the rattlesnake exhibit is great. All the exhibits let you see the animals up close.

I would disagree about the EO area lacking foliage. If anything, all the areas of the San Diego Zoo are beautifully landscaped with a great collection of foliage. The EO area has lots of unique Californian and Madagascar plants that match the nature of EO's theme (that being weird/unique).

Yes, the Lion exhibit is rather small and it lacks some foliage. I think its a large step down for those lions because they did move from Lion Camp to there. Most of the exhibits also lack any shade and most have like just one tree (lion, secretary bird, guanaco). I think another problem is that they let an architecture firm design it instead of a firm that specializes in natural landscapes.
 
Otter Lord said:
I would disagree about the EO area lacking foliage. If anything, all the areas of the San Diego Zoo are beautifully landscaped with a great collection of foliage. The EO area has lots of unique Californian and Madagascar plants that match the nature of EO's theme (that being weird/unique).

Yes, the Lion exhibit is rather small and it lacks some foliage. I think its a large step down for those lions because they did move from Lion Camp to there. Most of the exhibits also lack any shade and most have like just one tree (lion, secretary bird, guanaco). I think another problem is that they let an architecture firm design it instead of a firm that specializes in natural landscapes.
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do you realise that in the same passage as you say that EO isnt lacking in foliage you mention that there is no shade due to only one tree in each exhibit.... that would indicate to me that foliage is indeed lacking
 
torie said:
do you realise that in the same passage as you say that EO isnt lacking in foliage you mention that there is no shade due to only one tree in each exhibit.... that would indicate to me that foliage is indeed lacking
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Not really, exhibits and guest areas are both landscaped differently. I meant that most of the guest areas in the San Diego Zoo are landscaped beautifully, mostly because the zoo has a great collection of plants. The exhibits on the other hand lack most foliage. I think the zoo thinks that the animals are going to destroy foliage or can't find foliage that they can afford to replace, lose, or find someway to prevent the animals from getting to it. Then again, the trees in Ituri forest were completely full but the monkeys stripped all the leaves of them.
 
Otter Lord said:
Not really, exhibits and guest areas are both landscaped differently. I meant that most of the guest areas in the San Diego Zoo are landscaped beautifully, mostly because the zoo has a great collection of plants. The exhibits on the other hand lack most foliage. I think the zoo thinks that the animals are going to destroy foliage or can't find foliage that they can afford to replace, lose, or find someway to prevent the animals from getting to it. Then again, the trees in Ituri forest were completely full but the monkeys stripped all the leaves of them.
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I was speaking of the animal exhibits, not the surrounding space.
 
Here's a San Diego Zoo map from 2000 that shows how extensive the Horn & Hoof Mesa trail was. Some critics of the much-maligned Elephant Odyssey complex often cite the total destruction of the old hoofstock paddocks as a reason why they dislike the new area, even though I wonder if the average visitor found it boring to walk past so many ungulates all in a row. There's been a TON of changes to the zoo since this map was published!

full
 
snowleopard said:
Here's a San Diego Zoo map from 2000 that shows how extensive the Horn & Hoof Mesa trail was. Some critics of the much-maligned Elephant Odyssey complex often cite the total destruction of the old hoofstock paddocks as a reason why they dislike the new area, even though I wonder if the average visitor found it boring to walk past so many ungulates all in a row. There's been a TON of changes to the zoo since this map was published!

full
Click to expand...
I'll be honest, I understand why it's well-liked, and the variety would be awesome to see, but a part of me wonders how truly enjoyable this would be even today, just because I'm not a huge fan of what looks like, and what I vaguely remember as repeating exhibits over and over again. Also, has most of the zoo seen huge upgrades: Monkey Trails, Reptile Walk, Africa Rocks, and a new children's zoo. Most of the rest of the zoo has seen straight upgrades except for the Bears and Urban Jungle, which is honestly the last part of the zoo that desperately needs a rework.
 
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