San Diego Zoo San Diego Zoo News 2025

King of Komodo Dragons said:
the first animal shown is a B. vitiensis, so at the very least there is one vitiensis in the shipment

23K views · 1.1K reactions | Eight critically endangered Fijian iguanas have safely arrived at the San Diego Zoo after being rescued in Spain from illegal wildlife trafficking The iguanas were among more than 600 reptiles intercepted by Spanish authorities in 2017 and, at the directive of the Fijian government, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and its partners in Fiji and Spain have spent the last eight years working to bring the iguanas to San Diego. Here, skilled experts will work to understand each individual and how they may contribute to the conservation of this vibrant species for years to come. #collaborativeconservation #fijianiguana #sandiegozoo | San Diego Zoo
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Never mind lol I thought it was from this press release: Box

Dang, I never thought I’d see the day when an American facility finally held vitiensis in any circumstance, but here we are. Is there any shot that they could display it in Wildlife Explorers Basecamp or somewhere in the future?
 
Iguana_Cabana said:
Is there any shot that they could display it in Wildlife Explorers Basecamp or somewhere in the future?
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In theory, possibly. They only have the one so there's no breeding happening there and they might as well display it. It could easily just live somewhere offshow for years too, we'll have to wait and see.
 
Iguana_Cabana said:
Never mind lol I thought it was from this press release: Box

Dang, I never thought I’d see the day when an American facility finally held vitiensis in any circumstance, but here we are. Is there any shot that they could display it in Wildlife Explorers Basecamp or somewhere in the future?
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I had heard that San Diego has maintained all 3 species bts for a while but only displayed the Fiji Banded Iguana(B. bulabula), but I don't know if that is true. in 2022 then uploaded a video on Fiji Crested Iguanas, but apart from one scene of one eating(1:37 into the video), the other fijian crested iguanas were from in situ footage, the footage also showed Lau and banded Iguanas aswell.

 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
the first animal shown is a B. vitiensis, so at the very least there is one vitiensis in the shipment

23K views · 1.1K reactions | Eight critically endangered Fijian iguanas have safely arrived at the San Diego Zoo after being rescued in Spain from illegal wildlife trafficking The iguanas were among more than 600 reptiles intercepted by Spanish authorities in 2017 and, at the directive of the Fijian government, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance and its partners in Fiji and Spain have spent the last eight years working to bring the iguanas to San Diego. Here, skilled experts will work to understand each individual and how they may contribute to the conservation of this vibrant species for years to come. #collaborativeconservation #fijianiguana #sandiegozoo | San Diego Zoo
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The new imports are indeed Brachylophus vitiensis individuals.
 
I visited the Zoo for the first time in several months on Monday, and I just now have the time to share a few updates:

Wildlife Explorers Basecamp:
1. A Fly River turtle has joined the Malayan giant turtle and West African dwarf crocodile in the crocodile exhibit outside of Cool Critters.
2. The South American tank inside Cool Critters remains empty.
3. Brazilian porcupines are now signed for the first (former binturong) large, mesh exhibits between Cool Critters and Spineless Marvels.

Reptile Walk:
1. The Cuvier's Madagascar swift has been moved from the outdoor scrubland exhibit to one of the terrariums on the Indian rock python etc. side of the Reptile House.
2. The Grand Cayman blue iguana yard was marked as currently empty.

Africa Rocks:
1. The meerkat exhibit renovation is complete, and they are back on exhibit! The glass viewing windows are a nice and popular touch, and the paving stone retaining wall has been replaced with themed shotcrete, which looks much nicer
2. Not news, but I did actually see one of the fossa, and it was up and active! Which is very unusual and very exciting :D

Northern Frontier:
1. There is a new Speke's gazelle calf in the mixed-species yard across from Polar Bear Plunge!

Asian Passage:
1. There appears to be some new landscaping going in around the path that went between the now-demolished corncrib cages. I do not know exactly what is becoming of this area, as the holding buildings do still remain, as do the guard rails in front of the visitor pathways.

Lost Forest:
1. There are now unsigned cichlids in the Nile hippopotamus pool, in addition to the striped tigerfish (Hydrocynus vittatus).
2. Not news again, but I saw one of the spot-necked otters using the deep portion of the pool with the underwater viewing for the first time ever, which was very special to see!
 
King of Komodo Dragons said:
the last Tasmanian Devil passed away about a year ago. the zoo should be getting more from AussieArk, but no new info about the devils arrival has been posted in a long time.
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Oh well, I was looking forward to showing them to my brother and mom since me and my dad already saw them at Columbus, I was also wondering if they still have some of these rare species;
-Wombat
-Echidna
-Honey Badger
-Golden Takin
-Tree Kangaroo
-Nubian Ibex
 
pachyderm pro said:
Golden takin and honey badger are off-exhibit; echidna, tree kangaroo and ibex are all gone; the wombat is still there but rarely visible (most often viewable in the evening shortly before closing).
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Okay, thanks for letting me know, but do they still have lion-tailed macaques, snow leopards, and de brazza's monkeys even though they’re not on the map?
 
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ZooFan1 said:
Oh well, I was looking forward to showing them to my brother and mom since me and my dad already saw them at Columbus, I was also wondering if they still have some of these rare species;
-Wombat
-Echidna
-Honey Badger
-Golden Takin
-Tree Kangaroo
-Nubian Ibex
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The Nubian Ibex have all moved to the Safari park and can be seen by paying for a cart Safari (I think that’s the only way but someone can correct me if I’m wrong).
 
I was also wondering if these rare animals are still at the zoo as well;
- Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey
- Eastern Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey
- African Forest Buffalo
- Black Duiker
- Spotted Hyena (not technically rare, but I wonder if they’re still at the zoo even though they’re not on the map)
- Calamian Deer
- Cuvier's Gazelle
- Musk Deer
- Rhim Gazelle
- Yellow-Spotted Rock Hyrax
- Brush-Tailed Bettong
 
ZooFan1 said:
I was also wondering if these rare animals are still at the zoo as well;
- Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey
- Eastern Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey
- African Forest Buffalo
- Black Duiker
- Spotted Hyena (not technically rare, but I wonder if they’re still at the zoo even though they’re not on the map)
- Calamian Deer
- Cuvier's Gazelle
- Musk Deer
- Rhim Gazelle
- Yellow-Spotted Rock Hyrax
- Brush-Tailed Bettong
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The forest buffalo is long gone (like 20 years ago gone).

I think the only Calamian deer in the U.S. is now at the LA Zoo?

I don't recall ever seeing a bettong at San Diego Zoo; if they do have them I don't know where the exhibit is - it isn't in the Australia complex.
 
DavidBrown said:
The forest buffalo is long gone (like 20 years ago gone).
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More like 10 years -- I distinctly remember seeing it in 2015.
DavidBrown said:
I don't recall ever seeing a bettong at San Diego Zoo; if they do have them I don't know where the exhibit is - it isn't in the Australia complex.
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There are bettongs mixed with the koalas, but they are rarely visible. I got extremely lucky and managed to see one shortly before closing last year as the sun was staring to set.
 
ZooFan1 said:
I was also wondering if these rare animals are still at the zoo as well;
- Congo Basin Wolf’s Monkey
- Eastern Lesser Spot-nosed Monkey
- Black Duiker
- Spotted Hyena (not technically rare, but I wonder if they’re still at the zoo even though they’re not on the map)
- Cuvier's Gazelle
- Musk Deer
- Rhim Gazelle
- Yellow-Spotted Rock Hyrax
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To finish off where others have left it -- the only animals from the above list that are still at the Zoo are the Wolf's monkeys and the lesser spot-nosed guenon, both of which are in a mixed species exhibit with the pygmy hippopotamus in the Lost Forest section of the map.

While people on the forum often do not mind helping out with questions such as these, I would encourage you next time to use the features and archives of this site to your full advantage! :) If you look under the "San Diego Zoo" filter, you'd see that @Coelacanth18 posted a recent and fairly comprehensive species list for the Zoo last month (San Diego Zoo Species List (On-Display) April 2025 [San Diego Zoo]), which would you provide you a lot answers about the Zoo's collection plus more! Perusing the San Diego Zoo gallery and using the forum's search function are also good ways to find information that you're looking for, as well :)
 
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