The_UltimateBea
Well-Known Member
As a follow up to my previous post what is your least favorite exhibit here. Explain in detail, even if you choose Elephant Odyssey.
San Diego Zoo Least Favorite Exhibit in the San Diego Zoo
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The_UltimateBea
Well-Known Member
Nope. All the same. A stupid outdoor aye-aye enclosure which was going to be replaced by an Africa Rocks nocturnal building which was sadly canceled.
Say what you want about Elephant Oddysey, but there is no denying that the ugly children's zoo wired cages (soon to go), the small primate crib cages and the bear grottos are a mess.
The_UltimateBea
Well-Known Member
Aesthetic displeasure and trouble interpreting the exhibit itself. For functionality I have little doubt that it's excellent, but some (okay most...) people don't like the architectural choices. Personally, after years upon years of going, EO has definitely grown on me, even though I never hated or disliked it all that much to begin with, and while I still am not the world's biggest fan of the Utilitrees or the barn exhibit, I do like the rest of the complex, and that little stream exhibit always makes for a fun zoological "Where's Waldo". I do have to wonder if some part of the distaste is caused by everyone else on this site consistently disliking EO. When EO opened I wasn't on ZooChat so I formed my own opinions on what was good and what needed changing, but everyone on here was on a very cynical bandwagon when it came to EO, to the point that people began to express the idea that San Diego was the most overrated facility in America.
As for my least favorite... Urban Jungle. It's a bit of a mess. Asian rhinos, giraffes, red river hog, kangaroo, zebra, clouded leopard, and a couple others I don't remember off of the top of my head make for a bizarre exhibit, and the giraffe and rhinoceros exhibits could use an upgrade, as I feel they're not large enough, however from a welfare standpoint, clearly the giraffe exhibit at least is doing something right, as they're breeding very consistently. I'm also of the opinion that the zoo could get away with the removal of the rhinoceros altogether, as that's a species that requires a fair bit of space, and the Safari Park obviously can do infinitely better. I feel the zoo's limited space and infinite resources can be better put to work elsewhere.
Dishonorable mention,the Children's Zoo. It is certainly not a bad complex, but it is outdated, and the exhibit styles are rather unexciting, whereas some children's zoos find very innovative ways to get children interested in the animals on display.
Another reason people dislike EO is that it replaced horn and hooofed mesa, one of the best collections of ungulates on the planet.
That too is true, a lot of bitterness stemmed from that. I wish the Zoo had more space to keep the inhabitants of H&H mesa on-exhibit, but unfortunately space is not something San Diego has a lot of, and sadly ungulates are not crowd-drawers to any extent, especially not compared to elephants, in the eyes of the general public, so I really can't blame them for the choice made there, but I also understand the loss.