San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo News 2017

kiang said:
I'm using Edinburgh zoo as my reference here @Arizona Docent
How do the sites compare as one of those rare zoochatters that has visited both collections?
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Hmmm, I will have to remember my one day at Edinburgh. I think the overall elevation gain is about the same, but San Diego's are shorter and steeper. Edinburgh kind of has a large hill, while SD has steep canyons and mesas.
 
Thank you both @Arizona Docent & @zooboy28 for your insights, I wondered how SDZ could organise a more coherent collection, laid and planned out on such a site, whereas here EZ, has simply gone the other way (I know there is a gulf in budgets) but ambition with a dusting of imagination can go a long way.
 
Trowaman said:
Mostly. The Meerkats and Hyrax are still there and visible. But everything else is no longer existent.
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I attend the zoo regularly and maybe I am reading your post wrong, but the Kopje was still there during my last visit, just walled off. The Meerkat and Hyrax exhibits were having work done on them.

I'm not sure you meant to give the impression that the Kopje had been demolished, but that's how I am taking it. If you know something Betsy and I don't, please share further information.
 
timmychompchomp said:
I attend the zoo regularly and maybe I am reading your post wrong, but the Kopje was still there during my last visit, just walled off. The Meerkat and Hyrax exhibits were having work done on them.

I'm not sure you meant to give the impression that the Kopje had been demolished, but that's how I am taking it. If you know something Betsy and I don't, please share further information.
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I was there Monday and Tuesday. In the southern edge next to Elephant Odyssey there was a meerkat exhibit and a hyrax cage both full of animals and viewable. Everything else in that area was behind fences and not viewable to the public. It appeared to be getting knocked down for Africa Rocks. This area will be the last section of Africa Rocks to open when complete.

They are starting with penguins on the north side of the canyon and then heading south, opening and expanding one exhibit at a time.
 
Trowaman said:
I was there Monday and Tuesday. In the southern edge next to Elephant Odyssey there was a meerkat exhibit and a hyrax cage both full of animals and viewable. Everything else in that area was behind fences and not viewable to the public. It appeared to be getting knocked down for Africa Rocks. This area will be the last section of Africa Rocks to open when complete.

They are starting with penguins on the north side of the canyon and then heading south, opening and expanding one exhibit at a time.
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I am aware of this information with two exceptions.

1. That the work that was happening around the Meerkat and Hyrax exhibits was complete.
2. That the plans called for the demolition of the current Kopje Exhibit.

I don't believe the Kopje is being knocked down for two reasons.

1. It would have already been knocked down like all the other demolition in the area.
2. The updated plans for Africa Rocks does not seem to incorporate the area that the current Kopje Exhibit occupies.

I am not trying to start an internet fight here, but first you said "But everything else is no longer existent" then changed to "Everything else in that area was behind fences and not view able to the public. It appeared to be getting knocked down for Africa Rocks."

So my question is now this, does "appear to be getting knocked down" mean that you saw demolition occurring or that you believe it will in the future?

I know this line of questioning seems a bit aggressive, but I get kind of frustrated when opinions are so blatantly stated as fact when we have already gone from the Kopje being "no longer existent" to "appearing to be knocked down" in one post.

Now it may be that the Kopje is to be torn down and my belief was wrong, but all I really know is it is walled off at the moment. So if there is other information out there, I am all ears.
 
The last part of Kopje by bateleur is being refurbished for ADA compliance. The exhibit should be opening next week but there is no way this is true. I was at the zoo and they haven't even built half the exhibits.
 
Hmmm - I assumed the kopje would be the same but now I am not sure. The old one was certainly excellent for klipspringer and hyrax, both of which will still be in the lineup when it opens: Kopje | Africa Rocks
 
timmychompchomp said:
I know this line of questioning seems a bit aggressive
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I stepped away from the internet for a few hours to see if this would pass over and I could let it go. It hasn't. It came across as more than a little aggressive. I don't appreciate it.

I was there a week ago, I saw what I saw, it looks like a big demolition site with no remaining exhibits except for the Meerkats and the Hyrax cage. Could I be wrong, possibly, but I don't think the other exhibits are coming back.

As Arizona Docent has pointed out, Kjope is a new exhibit opening in Africa Rocks and will be physically in the same area. The hyrax exhibit as constructed presently is suited more for birds than rock mammals in how guests look at the animals, it seems temporary. It will probably be knocked down and new exhibits for hyrax, Klipspringer, and mongoose will all be built in the area.

I am choosing to unsubscribe from this thread now. Thanks.
 
Moving on to another topic (and letting the kopje debate rest until it is open to the public), I just noticed the zoo website has a new look. Besides the main banner featuring Africa Rocks artistic rendition, the major links have that sloppy border look that is en vogue (or was a couple years ago).
 
I'm sure it's just minor improvements such as metal work, footwork, and landscape. It takes quite a bit of equipment to demolish those big concrete rocks and expensive to rent on multiple occasions.

On another note, the zoo is raising funds on an animal house for ambassadors that are currently in the children's zoo. There was no indication on where it would go or whether they would be viewable.
 
I just realized that we are 10 days away from phase 1 of Africa Rocks opening...

MARK YOUR CALANDERS FOLKS!!!


And on a related note, snowleopard and friends depart for the epic California road trip on the same day. Wish I could join, but I and many others are excited to read from home.
 
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