San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego Zoo Safari Park News 2022

Great Argus said:
One other question as I don't want to derail the thread too far - why then dig for old news instead of keeping up with news as it's posted?
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I believe it's fine, if something major or somewhat major has been missed, but something surrounding Californian condors hatching at the Safari Park is an often occurence, so I don't think that's the type of news we should be going back and announcing. If it's something along the lines of a new Rhino arrived a few months ago, that's more newsworthy and worth announcing now with it being old news.
 
Jambo said:
I believe it's fine, if something major or somewhat major has been missed, but something surrounding Californian condors hatching at the Safari Park is an often occurence, so I don't think that's the type of news we should be going back and announcing. If it's something along the lines of a new Rhino arrived a few months ago, that's more newsworthy and worth announcing now with it being old news.
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I think I sense a bit of bias with that example, given you're big on the pachyderms. ;)
Also not the best example as you guys are usually incredibly on top of such transfers with those species.
I do agree however I'd like to see more discretion in what old news is worth posting - in several cases now I've noticed the "old but new" news was actually reported at the time it was originally released. Or as you said information not really necessary to note months afterward. Thus I was wondering why spend time digging for old stuff instead of keeping up with current happenings.
 
Visited yesterday, a few updates from what I saw:
  • The 3 lionesses are still adjusting to people and their habitat, some of their glass viewing areas are covered with drapes and have been called back into holding areas early in the day. Was told that it’s only temporary while they adjust and will soon be out on display all day long.
  • Some birds have been moved while others remain in exhibit, such as the waterfowl from Walkabout Australia. They’ve taken refuge in the Lorikeet Landing exhibit, lorikeets not found on exhibit.
  • Hidden Jungle was closed due to repairs according to signage.
  • Only 2 Nile Lechwe fawn were at the nursery.
  • 3 Slender Horned Gazelle fawns where on exhibit with the herd at African Woods, exploring their habitat at times without their parents.
  • The bachelor Greater Kudu herd now have access to Central Africa exhibit, they were confined in another exhibit along the Africa tram trackway.
  • Some of the Cape Buffalo and Grevy’s Zebra herd may have been split between South Africa field exhibit and in one of the perimeter Journey Into Africa exhibits.
  • Perhaps I may be wrong in what I saw but it appears the male Ugandan Kob was in the North Africa field exhibit.
  • And as a much smaller tidbit, many new posts around the many exhibits at the Safari Park speak on the accomplishments through the years for their 50th anniversary.
 
Was at the Safari Park today and splurged on deluxe cart Safari tickets so here are some updates:
  • There has been no official announcement that the Eastern Black Rhino program is ending, the male and female are currently separated for accurate wild conditions.
  • Here are the birds and areas that are not available: all waterfowl in walk about Australia, all birds in the African areas except Greater Flamingos and East African Crowned Cranes, all Nairobi Village waterfowl, all birds of prey not in Condor Ridge (Condor Ridge birds are still on exhibit).
  • Hidden Jungle Construction is heavy and I could see them removing part of the roof from the gorilla exhibit.
  • There was a group of teen either waterbuck or nile lechwe separated from the main group and put in North Africa.
  • The Barbary Deer, Aoudad, and Guar are gone.
  • Good news for ibex fans, there are four Nubian Ibex calves in the Asian hillside exhibits San Diego is putting the species on priority.
  • The cloned prezwalskis horse is behind the scenes being raised by a surrogate mother but will be introduced to the herd to avoid the population bottleneck.
  • Mandarin Sika are most likely gone, the guide said the only had Vietnamese or Indochinese sika.
  • Cape Buffalo, Grevys Zebra, Defassa Waterbuck, and Nile Lechwe were in the first hillside exhibit. Grevys, Buffalo, and defassa were separated for breeding.
  • The 1 Père David’s deer is still in the Asian Savanna.
  • There are no male Nilgai or Blackbuck at the park but large herds of females.
  • I’ve seen a few species lists without the ankole but they are definitely still next to North Africa.
  • There are no more blesbok in African forest.
  • The old eland exhibit now is split in two with addra and addax having one large side and some slender horned gazelle having a smaller side.
  • Red fronted gazelle are still in exhibit currently in the African Watering hole/African forest(thats what the section is supposed to represent now).
  • A note on the parks breeding programs: Right now the general rule for which species they will and will not be breeding is based off of IUCN classifications. It’s the wildlife alliances attempts to work further for conservation. That means they will be consolidating more resources for less species that need it more, instead of spreading resources thin. This does not mean the parks amazing breeding records are over. The park is averaging one birth everyday on the field exhibits and there are quite a few species breeding including: Arabian Oryx, Fringe Eared Oryx, Gemsbok, Beisa Oryx, Sable Antelope, Nubian ibex, White and Indian Rhinos, Javan Banteng, Pattersons Eland, Generic Giraffe, Masai Giraffe, Prezwalskis Horse, Barasingha, White Lipped Deer, Sambar (species not specified), sommerings gazelle, Somali Wild horse, Ellipsen Waterbuck, Eastern White Bearded Wildebeest, Nile Lechweand most likely some other species I missed (the Thompsons Gazelle and Impala weremost likely in breeding groups).
 
Also about the new Elephant exhibit: construction will begin in fall. The Lodge will be built on the site of the current stadium. The lodge will include a restaurant and look out onto a large pool of water in the elephant exhibit. The new path will be a bridge going between the two exhibits that will turn right at the end to connect to the bottom of Tiger trail. And yes that barrier at the end of Tiger trail where the new path will connect to still says it’s going to be an Asian area.
 
Unfortunately, most often the tour guides have very little actual knowledge as to the collection or its management…

Westcoastperson said:
  • The Barbary Deer, Aoudad, and Guar are gone.
  • Good news for ibex fans, there are four Nubian Ibex calves in the Asian hillside exhibits San Diego is putting the species on priority.
  • The cloned prezwalskis horse is behind the scenes being raised by a surrogate mother but will be introduced to the herd to avoid the population bottleneck.
  • Mandarin Sika are most likely gone, the guide said the only had Vietnamese or Indochinese sika.
  • There are no male Nilgai or Blackbuck at the park but large herds of females.
  • A note on the parks breeding programs: Right now the general rule for which species they will and will not be breeding is based off of IUCN classifications. It’s the wildlife alliances attempts to work further for conservation. That means they will be consolidating more resources for less species that need it more, instead of spreading resources thin. This does not mean the parks amazing breeding records are over. The park is averaging one birth everyday on the field exhibits and there are quite a few species breeding including: Arabian Oryx, Fringe Eared Oryx, Gemsbok, Beisa Oryx, Sable Antelope, Nubian ibex, White and Indian Rhinos, Javan Banteng, Pattersons Eland, Generic Giraffe, Masai Giraffe, Prezwalskis Horse, Barasingha, White Lipped Deer, Sambar (species not specified), sommerings gazelle, Somali Wild horse, Ellipsen Waterbuck, Eastern White Bearded Wildebeest, Nile Lechweand most likely some other species I missed (the Thompsons Gazelle and Impala weremost likely in breeding groups).
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There are still five Barbary deer left and there is still a small group of aoudad left; however, they have been working to ship their remaining animals to Fossil Rim.

I would not bet any money on the continuation of the Nubian ibex program.The management that had a soft spot for the species is no longer there. With these kids, they still only have 1.8 individuals..

The Mandarin sika is still alive. It was living in the hillside exhibit, previously home to markhor and currently home to the Nubian ibex, but it could have been moved behind the scenes.

There are male blackbuck in the herd, but they are all castrated.

I would also not put too much stake in the park's current breeding situation.. For one, they do not have beisa oryx at all, and they also do not have breeding male fringe-eared oryx or generic giraffe.The only field exhibit species that have had births in the last year are: Masai and generic giraffe, white-lipped deer, Indochinese sika, Malayan sambar, Nubian ibex, defassa waterbuck, Nile lechwe, sable antelope, impala, springbok, common eland, sitatunga, banteng, and white rhinoceros. With the park being under completely new management, top to bottom, it is hard to say where those numbers will go in the future, but I would not hold my breath for a positive change...
 
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Kudu21 said:
Unfortunately, most often the tour guides have very little actual knowledge as to the collection or its management…


There are still five Barbary deer left and there is still a small group of aoudad left; however, they have been working to ship their remaining animals to Fossil Rim.

I would not bet any money on the continuation of the Nubian ibex program.The management that had a soft spot for the species is no longer there. With these kids, they still only have 1.8 individuals..

The Mandarin sika is still alive. It was living in the hillside exhibit, previously home to markhor and currently home to the Nubian ibex, but it could have been moved behind the scenes.

There are male blackbuck in the herd, but they are all castrated.

I would also not put too much stake in the park's current breeding situation.. For one, they do not have beisa oryx at all, and they also do not have breeding male fringe-eared oryx or generic giraffe.The only field exhibit species that have had births in the last year are: Masai and generic giraffe, white-lipped deer, Indochinese sika, Malayan sambar, Nubian ibex, defassa waterbuck, Nile lechwe, sable antelope, impala, springbok, common eland, sitatunga, banteng, and white rhinoceros. With the park being under completely new management, top to bottom, it is hard to say where those numbers will go in the future, but I would not hold my breath for a positive change...
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Your right they don’t have Beisa that should be Scimitar Horned Oryx.

The hillside exhibit that had the Nubian Ibex also had a few different animals in it including one sika that the tour guide said was indochinese but most likely Mandarin.

I didn’t see any male blackbuck in the herd unless they were towards the bottom of the exhibit where we couldn’t see.

I do have some hope for the new administration because both Red Fronted Gazelle and Bactrian were supposed to be sent to other facilities in 2021 but instead have been kept or moved back to their respective areas. The guide seemed fairly knowledgeable in the overall management of the species getting all the breeding separations right according to other posts here. I have no idea how often their informed about management changes, they definitely aren’t informed about species changing exhibits, but overall they still knew quite a bit about the collection’s management.
 
Westcoastperson said:
Your right they don’t have Beisa that should be Scimitar Horned Oryx.
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They do, indeed, still have scimitar-horned oryx, although they have halted breeding because they are swimming in surplus males that they are unable to find homes for.

Westcoastperson said:
The hillside exhibit that had the Nubian Ibex also had a few different animals in it including one sika that the tour guide said was indochinese but most likely Mandarin.
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This would be the Mandarin then, yes. They only have the one male left.

Westcoastperson said:
I didn’t see any male blackbuck in the herd unless they were towards the bottom of the exhibit where we couldn’t see.
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Castrated male Blackbuck do not develop the characteristic black coloration nor do they fully develop the iconic spiraled horns, so they would not necessarily be immediately recognizable as males from a distance.

Westcoastperson said:
I do have some hope for the new administration because both Red Fronted Gazelle and Bactrian were supposed to be sent to other facilities in 2021 but instead have been kept or moved back to their respective areas.
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There are only two remaining red-fronted gazelles — two females that were too old to move with the rest of the herd. As far as the Bactrian deer go, deer are much more difficult to move due to the amount of red tape associated with the various chronic wasting disease regulations, depending on the state. The disposition of these animals could still very well be in the works (or the new management could have decided that it was too much of a hassle, and they’ve chosen to keep them — either way they haven’t bred in several years). I would not say either of these species are good examples of hope.

Westcoastperson said:
The guide seemed fairly knowledgeable in the overall management of the species getting all the breeding separations right according to other posts here. I have no idea how often their informed about management changes, they definitely aren’t informed about species changing exhibits, but overall they still knew quite a bit about the collection’s management.
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Of course, they’re going to know the basics and seem well informed because that’s what their job entails and they have an image to uphold — they’re going to know where the animals are, what the animals are, and what the park wants them to know/share about their management. They’re not going to have the full picture because they’re not directly involved in it.
 
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