San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo News 2011

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That is sad news, hopefully the polar bears will have a baby this year as the pregnancy hasn't been foiled yet.

Betsy have the Mang mountain vipers been moved to Panda Trek yet? I am curious to see if any upgrades have been made and if its still in this sad state: http://www.zoochat.com/39/p1020284-228707/

Also, would it be possible to see how the plants are growing in with some more photos?

EDIT: Also, some old news:

Will 2015 expo make Balboa Park a 5-star attraction? | SignOnSanDiego.com

Apparently the zoo hopes to open a new exhibit for koalas and bring back Tasmanian devils by 2013.

I did the best I could getting these pictures. The glare off the glass was harsh. I hope you can see that not only are the plants not growing they seem to be dying. There is still bamboo on the top.
 

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@Ituri: A 4D motion simulator instead of real animals?? No joke??? What's all this? Do they want to compete with Wild Arctic at Sea World close by?

Well, to be honest I must say, their way to transform the Zoo in a Theme Park is consistent. After the wonderful ufo landing platforms, guarded by elephants, and the nice renaming (Urban Jungle) now simulator rides.

It is heartbreaking seeing how San Diego Zoo (as a Zoo) is running down...
I cross my fingers that they can get the Tasmanian Devils, so there would be a little light at the horizon.
 
Honestly, I feel there is a bright future ahead, and it certainly doesn't hinge on Tassie devils.
 
We can't always be agree, can we?;) I for myself miss the good "old" days of San Diego Zoo in the late 80s and the 90s, where natural and geographicaly exhibits have been built.

But because I still love San Diego Zoo, I really hope that your and not my feeling will come true...
 
Unfortunately, the outcome of the pregnancy was not a good one. I have no details but both the male, Guapo and the female, Nindiri are back on exhibit.
That is very sad to hear. I hope their next attempt will be more successful. The Phoenix Zoo got a male Jaguar not long after Guapo arrived in SD and we're still waiting for cubs there, too.
 
I was at the San Diego Zoo today. It seems half the old takin exhibit is becoming a 4D motion simulator themed to the arctic. The other half will be an exhibit for maned wolf.

I posted a few pictures in the gallery. The construction worker I asked thought it should be done in about 2 weeks. At least it is educational and not "Sponge Bob Square Pants".
 
I posted a few pictures in the gallery. The construction worker I asked thought it should be done in about 2 weeks. At least it is educational and not "Sponge Bob Square Pants".
Hahaha. The ol 'done in 2 weeks' answer, huh? They built a new fire station in my city and starting in April the firefighters were told it'd be ready in 2 weeks...it just opened last week! I'm glad it's not Sponge Bob, though:D
 
They have a video up on their site too. Looks like they went to town on the plantings, which is nice. Unfortunately the typical viewing area, which dominated Horn and Hoof Mesa and Elephant Mesa, and other parts of the zoo, is still just a path separated by a hedge that spans the entire width of the exhibit.
 
I asked when the 4D theater was going to open and was told they were just waiting for the building inspector to show up. It is not going to be "Sponge Bob Square Pants", it's going to be "Happy Feet". So much for educational. The cost will be six dollars.

The takins were off exhibit today because they are building them a pool. They have replaced the dead plants in the Mang Mountain Viper exhibit with what looks like to me 3 camellia shrubs.

I was able to see the maned wolf today, gorgeous animal.
 
Apparently the zoo hopes to open a new exhibit for koalas and bring back Tasmanian devils by 2013.

@Otter Lord or anyone else with knowledge: have you heard anything more beyond the little blurb in the Balboa Park article about what the new Outback exhibit is going to be?

Are they going to rip out the current koala complex and rebuild it somehow? What more can you do with koalas that they don't already do? Knowing current trends they'll probably put a koala themed roller coaster running through the koala yards...
 
@Betsy: hopefully they will continue to upgrade the takin exhibit to eventually include more greenery. Doubt they will, but its nice to think that they will keep adding onto the exhibit to make it better.

@David: Sorry, no koala themed rollercoasters, The zoo draws the line there, although they have been skirting rather close. I have heard rumors that the Koalas are going to move to where the warty pigs are and outback is going to go down Kiwi trail and end at the Sydney grill. As for why, their keeper quarters/off-exhibit holding behind that area is all wood and out of date despite the appearance of the exhibits looking alright. Its probably not difficult to maintain landscaped sections with climbing structures full of koalas. Hopefully the new exhibit will be more immersive, and the climate of SD allows for many Australian landscape plants that the San Diego Zoo has always had a great collection on. I am sure that the keepers would be open to using them in a exhibit as many are low maintenance and koalas are not destructive.

That does bring up a good question. We havent had many discussions on good koala exhibits.
 
In the one concept picture that won't look anything like the completed thing, yes they are strikingly similar. Although it seems there will be less indoor exhibits, and the indoor area will be more of a keeper preparation area that can be observed, which is all good. Also, SDZ used the I-word, which I hope they live up to, and hopefully they will have some aviaries for their birds and include other Aussie animals like their parma wallabies, red kangaroos, wombats, and tree kangaroos.
 
The 2 wolf guenons and the colobus monkeys were moved in with the mandrils. The golden-bellied mangabeys were moved to their old glass enclosure next to the orangutans. This was done to make room for 15 capuchin monkeys from Yerkes Primate Research Center.
 
No it sounds like theyll be in the golden-bellied mangabey exhibit.

@OtterLord the geographic ship sailed long ago on this exhibit. That's why they named the whole area "Lost Forest" so they could put anything anywhere.
 
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