San Diego Zoo Safari Park San Diego Zoo Safari Park News 2023

No announcements have been made. The elephant exhibit and surrounding area are going to take a couple of years to build, and the zoo just completed a multi-million dollar multi-year project rebuilding the children's zoo and surrounding area. It may be quite a while before they announce a new project.
The last two places, I believe are either redoing the gorilla area or perhaps the long-awaited reopening of the Asian plains area with either another tram route or walkway to the public?
 
The last two places, I believe are either redoing the gorilla area or perhaps the long-awaited reopening of the Asian plains area with either another tram route or walkway to the public?
I think you are right about the major things to fix in the park. The gorilla exhibit is still functional, but almost 50 years old and aesthetically very outdated. The lack of visitor access to the Asia field exhibits remains a gaping wound that has never been resolved.
 
I think you are right about the major things to fix in the park. The gorilla exhibit is still functional, but almost 50 years old and aesthetically very outdated. The lack of visitor access to the Asia field exhibits remains a gaping wound that has never been resolved.
Any areas did I miss?

and as for the San Diego Zoo, there is the Bear Canyon, Parts of the Polar Rim, and the Urban Jungle tell me if I miss any?
 
I was reading through a SDZSP guidebook from the year 2000, and the following species caught my eye. I was wondering if any members could inform me as to how many of the following species are still held at the zoo:

- Spangled Cotinga
- Shoebill
- Black Heron
- African Darter
- African Jacana
- Western Emerald Hummingbird
- Colombian Sparkling Violetear
- Guianan White-bearded Manakin
- Suriname Green Honeycreeper
- Bay-headed Tanager
- Goliath Heron
- East African Kori Bustard
- Aplomado Falcon
- Yellow-backed Duiker
- Black-footed Ferrer

Again, apologies for the length of the list, but I would be very grateful for any help or further information.
 
I was reading through a SDZSP guidebook from the year 2000, and the following species caught my eye. I was wondering if any members could inform me as to how many of the following species are still held at the zoo:

- Spangled Cotinga
- Shoebill
- Black Heron
- African Darter
- African Jacana
- Western Emerald Hummingbird
- Colombian Sparkling Violetear
- Guianan White-bearded Manakin
- Suriname Green Honeycreeper
- Bay-headed Tanager
- Goliath Heron
- East African Kori Bustard
- Aplomado Falcon
- Yellow-backed Duiker
- Black-footed Ferrer

Again, apologies for the length of the list, but I would be very grateful for any help or further information.
Only the spangled cotinga, green honeycreeper, and kori bustard are still in the collection; however, the kori bustards are not currently on exhibit.

In other news, there are now at least four addax on exhibit in the Grevy's zebra habitat above the Bird Marsh and South Africa field habitat along the Africa Tram.
 
The babirusa exhibit across from Mombasa Lagoon is currently closed for renovations.

It is another end of an era for the Safari Park — the last steenbok (an elderly female) apparently passed away recently.

I was thinking about her last night :(
 
Arrival of cloned Przewalski's horse:

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/cloned-endangered-horse-now-calls-san-diego-zoo-safari-park-home/3301403/

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is now home to the world's second successfully cloned Przewalski's horse, a critically endangered species previously considered extinct in the wild until 1996, it was announced Thursday.

The foal, born Feb. 17, 2023, and his surrogate mother, a domestic quarter horse, were recently moved from his birthplace at ViaGen Pets & Equine cloning facility in Texas so he can learn the language of being a wild horse from his own species, a statement from the zoo reads.
 
"The foal was given the name "Ollie" in honor of Dr. Oliver Ryder, director of Conservation Genetics at San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance." -From the article.

Bah! I was hoping they were going to make his nickname "Trey" official, since I thought it was rather clever and made a perfectly good name in it's own right.

I'm not opposed to naming animals after people that played important roles in saving their species, but Dr. Ryder isn't even dead!
 
From yesterday:

There are no longer any addra gazelles in the old giant eland exhibit in African Woods with the addax and the slender-horned gazelle male.

There appear to be at least two slender-horned gazelle calves on exhibit with the herd in the old bontebok exhibit next door.

There are no longer any Nubian Soemmerring’s gazelles in the small field exhibit above South Africa. It looks like they are currently doing some renovation work to that exhibit.
 
From yesterday:

There are no longer any addra gazelles in the old giant eland exhibit in African Woods with the addax and the slender-horned gazelle male.

There appear to be at least two slender-horned gazelle calves on exhibit with the herd in the old bontebok exhibit next door.

There are no longer any Nubian Soemmerring’s gazelles in the small field exhibit above South Africa. It looks like they are currently doing some renovation work to that exhibit.
It turns out that all of the Soemmerring’s gazelles were moved from the field exhibit to the old giant eland exhibit with the addax, where they are now on display in place of the addra gazelles.
 
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