San Diego Zoo The Future of San Diego Zoo

I always though sloth bears were kind of a wrong fit for the theme of the exhibit. I never saw any plans that contained bears, but heard it mentioned several times in the magazines. (I honestly wondered if it was a typo and they were referring to the sloths)
 
Did anyone else notice that the "American bison" pictured in the calendar look suspiciously like wisent?

Apart from the calendar, I find it very cryptic that bison aren't mentioned anywhere else, including in the accompanying article. I suspect they may have "run out" of comparative species for the now and then theme; they may get around not having bison in the exhibit complex by including them in the fossil dig.
 
I always though sloth bears were kind of a wrong fit for the theme of the exhibit. I never saw any plans that contained bears, but heard it mentioned several times in the magazines. (I honestly wondered if it was a typo and they were referring to the sloths)

Of all the bear species, Sloth bears would probably be the closest to the extinct short-faced bear.
 
What is startling to me is that "Elephant Odyssey" opens in around 6 months or more...and no one seems to have a definite life of the species that will be showcased. With many other zoo habitats we all know a year or so in advance what will be exhibited in the new enclosures, and in San Diego there still aren't any public plans concerning "Elephant Mesa".
 
Of all the bear species, Sloth bears would probably be the closest to the extinct short-faced bear.

It's my understanding that the spectacled bear is the only remaining member of the "short-faced" group of bears and so would be the closest to the extinct giant short-faced bear of North America.
 
What is startling to me is that "Elephant Odyssey" opens in around 6 months or more...and no one seems to have a definite life of the species that will be showcased. With many other zoo habitats we all know a year or so in advance what will be exhibited in the new enclosures, and in San Diego there still aren't any public plans concerning "Elephant Mesa".

The species for Zoo Boise's African Plains exhibit weren't even locked down until the month it opened. Now this is mostly from birds on down, most of the mammals were decided by then. So I don't know that this situation is very unique.
 
Hello everyone. The San Diego Zoo isn't trying to hide the animals of Elephant Odyssey. On the contrary the idea is to let everyone know as much as possible. However with construction costs sometimes things change last minute. The plan was originally to have sloth bears in the exhibit as relatives of the short-faced bear but it was cut from the original plan. The Zoo has a sloth bear now in quarantine that will be housed in bear canyon wear hyenas are currently found. As for other animals of EO there will be of course elephants. Capybara, guanacos and tapirs will share an exhibit and will be given access to the elephant yard once every one is established and if the elephants play nice. The same is true for the pronghorn. California condors, secretary birds, African lions, jaguars, dromedary camels, bison, and for now the plan is a domestic horse although this may change. The idea of the horse, camels and bison is to provide an animal that is interactive with the public to try to engage the audience. We've always said that seeing an animal up-close or experiencing an interaction lets people walk away with a more lasting impression. That's the goal. Other reptile and amphibian species are also included such as the chorus frog, Western toad, pond turtle, rattlesnakes and dung beetles among others. Hope this helps.
 
There's Elephant Odyssey, which has been discussed wuite a bit. I can't say that I've seen those renderings from the link Ituri posted, but they look pretty rough so I'm sure anything built will look better than shown in them.

Changing the current elephant mesa into an African savanna has also been talked about.

They're also going to redo the Zoo's entrance plaza, parking lot and Zoo Dr. There are also some renderings of this project on the previously posted link, but those look nothing like the concept art I've seen.

I think in regards to EO and this entry plaza project, it would be best to take those concepts as the architect's ideas, and not necissarily designs approved by the Zoo. But I can't say I know for sure.
 
SD zoo just sent the "Zoo Chatter" email, and in it talks about the new "Tiger Trails" exhibit that will be built at the SDWAP.

Here is the link:Tiger Trails

The link shows some exhibit renderings, which show glass viewing windows to see the tigers.

In the email it also talks about a new female Jaguar that arrived at the zoo, which will later be living at the new Elephant Odyssey when it opens.
 
Tigers, birds and binturongs... where are the leaf monkeys, gibbons and dholes?
 
Tiger Trails sounds like it will be great, as does Elephant Odyssey. After the elephants at SDZ move into their new home, the only thing left at the zoo that will need to be bulldozed are the bear canyon and the cat canyon. It already is the best zoo in my opinion.
 
Clarification on jaguars. The black jaguar they've had for years will remain in Cat Canyon (last I heard). The new female jaguar, a typical yellow with black spots, is now alternated with the black one but will move to Elephant Odyssey and perhaps be paired with another typical male later.

And the previous post is right: Cat Canyon and Bear Canyon need to be bulldozed and redone.

As for entry plaza and new parking lot, here was the last thing mentioned in Zoonooz, several months ago. The zoo is working with the Balboa Park foundation (or a group like that) on the funding and design of a master plan for the entire park, which is woefully underfunded. (Those who live there may have more recent news).
 
So Orson is staying down in the canyon is he? I suppose that makes sense, since there are no plans on breeding him, and a black jaguar doesn't tell the story they want to tell as well as a spotted one does. I remember him from his early days in the Phoenix Zoo. They had him in this open air grotto with a big pool in front. He was frequently seen pushing his boomer balls in to the pool and then swimming down to the bottom after them.
 
Orson is doing really well in San Diego. He is 16 years old, and really healthy but I would presume they wouldn't move him because of his age.
 
I'm really looking foward to seeing orson, is there days where he is not in the exihbit? i had no idea he is alternated with another spotted jaguar, and it is a shame that he is not scheduled to have any cubs in the future, black jaguars are by far a highlight in my opinion, and so many zoos only have spotted ones.
 
I personally prefer the spotted. If you want to see Orson, he is out everyday at 11AM. He is out far more than Nindiri as it is his home, and only temporary for Nindiri. If you also want to see Nindiri, she is out front from zoo opening at 9AM to 11AM. They are not alternated on certain days. Both go out everyday, except Nindiri is only out 2 hours in the early morning. Enjoy your visit!
 
Thank you Blackrhino, that is some very good info, i like the spotted ones as well, but i can see those here in MMZ and in West Palm Beach Zoo as well, plus my girlfriend is allways asking me, "is that the one from apocalipto", when we went to the Bronx zoo last year, and she saw the black leopards she thought they were black jaguars, so finally she can see an adult black jaguar, for some reason the female jaguar we saw this past weekend at west palm with the cub, was a little small, hopefully Orson is a lot bigger than that.
 
Back
Top