San Diego Zoo Zoo News 2013

Thank you Ituri. That makes sense, I didn't even notice that Ituri Forest was not there.

I have several questions:
-When did the Owens Aviary become walkthrough? It doesn't seem to be a walkthrough aviary in this map.
-Was the Bird and Primate Mesa there up until Monkey Trails? Or was it changed before Monkey Trails? And does anybody have pictures of how the area looked like?
-In the Sun Bear Forest Trail there are four exhibits. I know one is for the Lion-tailed Macaques, were the other three for the Sun Bears? What happened to the other two? As far as I know, it looks like only one exhibit.

Also, it's a shame that SD doesn't do the maps like this anymore...
 
mstickmanp said:
I have several questions:
-When did the Owens Aviary become walkthrough? It doesn't seem to be a walkthrough aviary in this map.
-Was the Bird and Primate Mesa there up until Monkey Trails? Or was it changed before Monkey Trails? And does anybody have pictures of how the area looked like?
-In the Sun Bear Forest Trail there are four exhibits. I know one is for the Lion-tailed Macaques, were the other three for the Sun Bears? What happened to the other two? As far as I know, it looks like only one exhibit.

Also, it's a shame that SD doesn't do the maps like this anymore...
Click to expand...


I think that the Owens Aviary was always a walk-through, but it did undergo a complete renovation and was closed for awhile. Somebody please correct that if wrong.

Bird and Monkey Mesa were indeed there until they were bulldozed for Monkey Trails. They were the oldest enclosures in the zoo - dating back to the 1930s (maybe even earlier?). They were massive quadrangles with rows of small money and bird cages. They were quite awful, although they held large numbers of species.
 
Owens Aviary opened in 1937 as the "Bird of Prey Flight Cage" it was not a walk through at the time. It was renovated as a walk through Asian exhibit in 1982 (I think). The current incarnation was done in 1999 where the ramps were added. Prior to that it involved lots of stairs.

I'm still working on the multiple sun bear exhibit question.
 
I'm fairly sure that there has only been one habitat for sun bear in Sun Bear Forest since it opened; I believe the illustration of three habitats on the map linked above was a mistake.
 
Ituri said:
Owens Aviary opened in 1937 as the "Bird of Prey Flight Cage" it was not a walk through at the time. It was renovated as a walk through Asian exhibit in 1982 (I think). The current incarnation was done in 1999 where the ramps were added. Prior to that it involved lots of stairs.

I'm still working on the multiple sun bear exhibit question.
Click to expand...

Owens Aviary was a walk-through from at least the Mid-1960s, with as you note many steep stairs and featuring the then "typical" San Diego Zoo concrete handrails vaguely resembling wood rails. I don't believe it housed an Asian-only collection until the 1999 renovation.
 
reduakari said:
Owens Aviary was a walk-through from at least the Mid-1960s, with as you note many steep stairs and featuring the then "typical" San Diego Zoo concrete handrails vaguely resembling wood rails. I don't believe it housed an Asian-only collection until the 1999 renovation.
Click to expand...

I really had thought it was earlier, but the only date I could find for renovation prior to 1999 was 1982. I do know that prior to the 1999 renovation it held at least mostly Asian birds because I distinctly remember Nicobar Pigeon and Bali Mynah from the late 80's early 90's.
 
Four new mandrills (3 females 1 male) have been introduced to our male Jasper. There is a new female Sumatran tiger. She will be a potential mate for Connor. Connor's brother and their mother, Mek, were sent to other zoos. I saw 2 new takins on my last visit. Also the climbing wall and bungee swing have been removed. What they will be replaced with is anybody's guess.
 
betsy said:
Four new mandrills (3 females 1 male) have been introduced to our male Jasper. There is a new female Sumatran tiger. She will be a potential mate for Connor. Connor's brother and their mother, Mek, were sent to other zoos. I saw 2 new takins on my last visit. Also the climbing wall and bungee swing have been removed. What they will be replaced with is anybody's guess.
Click to expand...

Oh no. I always knew Connor and Christopher would eventually be moved, but not Mek. She's only alive because of the SD Zoo. I hope her knew home treats her well. I have to ask, though, are you sure the new female tiger is Sumatran? The SD Zoo tigers are Malayan while the Safari Park has the Sumatran. I don't think they'd bring in a mate for Connor who is a different sub-species....
 
azcheetah2 said:
I have to ask, though, are you sure the new female tiger is Sumatran? The SD Zoo tigers are Malayan while the Safari Park has the Sumatran. I don't think they'd bring in a mate for Connor who is a different sub-species....
Click to expand...

I was just going to ask the same thing.
 
betsy said:
Also the climbing wall and bungee swing have been removed. What they will be replaced with is anybody's guess.
Click to expand...

Bout time they removed that. I miss when the zoo actually cared about the experience picnic areas (what used to be there) provided for families instead of the the glamour of gift shops, rides, and photo opportunities. That Ayers Rock thing was a disgrace and made me angry every time I walked by it.
 
The zoo will be building another 4D theater. This time it will be built in the children's zoo, where the Clark theater is now. Although the rock climbing wall and bungee swing are gone (their contract expired) that area is designated "merchandise" so another money maker will be going in their place.
I saw a very active honey badger in the exhibit where the kinkajou used to be. There is now a desert bighorn where the African wild dogs were. I am not sure where the wild dogs went.
 
Most likely the African wild dogs had pups betsy and will move back into there former exhibit where the spotted hyenas are at for room. That's awesome about the desert Bighorns :)
 
betsy said:
The zoo will be building another 4D theater. This time it will be built in the children's zoo, where the Clark theater is now. Although the rock climbing wall and bungee swing are gone (their contract expired) that area is designated "merchandise" so another money maker will be going in their place.
I saw a very active honey badger in the exhibit where the kinkajou used to be. There is now a desert bighorn where the African wild dogs were. I am not sure where the wild dogs went.
Click to expand...

There's another merchandise area 100 yards away down hill from that spot. Why? I don't think I have bought merchandise for myself at the San Diego Zoo in the past decade.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top