Day Nineteen
After the epic-ness that was San Diego Zoo, I was very excited to visit the sister facility, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. This was opened in 1972 and is located around 40 minutes drive north of the Zoo itself. Unfortunately, there is no useful public transport to the zoo, which is an extremely frustrating situation, and one that the Park should put some effort in to rectifying. As such, we rented a car for 24 hours the previous evening, meaning we were able to leave early in the morning and arrive before the Park opened at 9am. The drive was uneventful, although I was again frustrated when we discovered there was a $12 parking charge on entry. Given the lack of viable alternatives to driving, charging for parking is a bit rich. Anyway, we arrived and breezed through entry bang on opening.
The Safari Park is split into thirteen zones, the first being Safari Base Camp, which features the entrance, a range of shops and food outlets (morning coffee overlooking an exhibit under construction for incoming coatis), a Meerkat exhibit, and the Wings of the World walkthrough aviary. This aviary was tall and lush, and included a diverse range of species, many of whom were very confident and happy to share the path with us. Outside the aviary was a pool for Chilean Flamingos, the first of a series of waterfowl exhibits set around the “Congo River Fishing Village” that covered half of the next zone, Nairobi Village. This was dominated by an impressive and elaborate wooden viewing platform over a waterfall, with lagoons either side featuring a range of mostly African birds, including Shoebills on one of several islands. Adjacent to the main lagoon were a couple of aviaries and a series of paddocks for small ungulates – Cavendish’s Dik-dik, Warthog, Red River Hog, and a nursery with a range of young antelope. A nursery is a rather odd exhibit in my opinion, and one rarely seen (apart from for domestic species). Here it was just a yard, featuring young (some only a few days old) animals, pulled from their parents for completely unclear reasons. What happens to these animals? Is a hand-raised Springbok likely to be accepted back into the herd? Not something I was impressed by anyway.
The final exhibits in this zone were a decent exhibit for Rodrigues’ Fruit Bat and a few more aviaries, and a walkthrough “Lorikeet Landing”, featuring the bird-equivalent of the meerkat, the ubiquitous Rainbow Lorikeet. The third zone is a mixed bag, called Gorilla Forest, which includes several large exhibits. The first of these was a rather unattractive walkthrough for Ring-tailed Lemurs, which seemed somewhat rundown and very average. Nearby was Hidden Jungle, another walkthrough aviary, although this was sadly closed, except for a series of rather too small reptile exhibits in a mock rock wall entry room. We passed a Red Kangaroo being walked around the Park, before reaching an attractive, yet fairly standard, Gorilla enclosure, which was similar to that at the Zoo, but rather more open. Finally, a small aviary of African birds rounded out this first area of the Park. So far, the birds are definitely the stand-out of the Park.
The first part of the Safari Park existed on a relatively flat hill different level to the next area of the zoo, which was on an open plain below that we were able to view by venturing out onto a large wooden platform. And the views were awesome; this is genuinely the best view I have ever had in a zoo. Spectacular! From this platform, we travelled down an elevator to Lion Camp, which featured a large and very impressive enclosure for a family of African Lions, which were able to watch over the nearby African Plains exhibit.
A path then led down, worryingly past some banks with signs saying watch for rattlesnakes, to the African Tram boarding station, which gives views over a lush exhibit for Nyala. This is obviously the main part of the zoo, a bus tour around a number of exhibits for a range of hoofstock (roughly twenty species) and birds, although not through any of the enclosures. Despite this, it was still extremely impressive, with a very knowledgeable driver who slowed and stopped at certain points for photos of especially interesting species. Unfortunately, there is no signage, so I had to rely on the driver for identification of most species, which I tried to jot down on the map, while taking photos of them, and taking in the experience. The start of the journey took us past lagoons with flamingos, pelicans, and various other waterfowl, many of them wild. Separate exhibits for Black Rhino (and a cheeky Mule Deer), Blue Crane and Rueppel’s Vulture, Sommering’s Gazelle, and finally Somali Wild Ass were located to the right of the tram. On the left were the large mixed exhibits that we circled, which featured a dizzying array of hoofstock, many of which were exciting new species. Obviously the most exciting species was the Northern White Rhino, which we were lucky enough to see the last two of in America. Surprisingly, these were not only very visible, but the driver gushed about them just as much as any ZooChatter would, and stopped near both animals. The other hoofstock, that weren’t rhinos, were principally grazing in small herds of conspecifics, and it was stunning to see such a variety: gazelles, oryx, impala, waterbuck, eland, buffalo, wildebeest, kudu, kob and giraffe. We eventually circled back to the station, viewing the Lions as we passed.
From the tram, we continued to the next zone, African Outpost, where we stopped briefly to buy another free-refill sipper cup (this one featuring tigers). This is largely a wooden boardwalk around a large lagoon, a lushly planted wetland with a few islands and other exhibits, some parts of which were seen from the Tram. The species were predominantly waterfowl, of which Flamingos were the most visible, but there were many native species around too, including Red-winged Blackbirds and Great-tailed Grackles, both very interesting and attractive birds. The mammal enclosure was a large, grassy yard for Cheetah, followed by a Colobus island and a surprisingly good Warthog and Bat-eared Fox exhibit, although the latter wasn’t visible. The path then moved up the hill back towards the main level, with elevated views over another grassy enclosure, this one with Sitatunga, Southern Steenbok and more birds.
The vegetation thickened as we entered African Woods, where the first two open yards held more birds: Ground Hornbills, White Storks, Kori Bustards and Secretary Birds. Up ahead, the wooden boardwalk passed by shady enclosures for Okapi, Gerenuk, Yellow-backed & Red-flanked Duikers, and Cranes. The next exhibit was on a narrow rise adjacent to the path, and featured Egyptian & Hooded Vultures and South African Shelduck. This was large, but it would have been much nicer to see a big aviary for these birds instead, and the same for the vultures in the Tram exhibit. Up ahead were the final two exhibits, large yards for antelope, the first holding Giant Eland and Red-fronted Gazelle, and the second Bontebok. Both were excellent for the inhabitants, but viewing wasn’t great unfortunately. Overall though, African Outpost and Woods were definitely the best two zones in the Park, wonderful to explore. Couple of aviaries wouldn’t have gone amiss is all.
We then had lunch, overlooking the Giant Eland enclosure, before heading to The Grove, which provided further views over the main African Plains exhibits. Nearby was Elephant Valley, a large complex housing (unsurprisingly) South African Elephants. These were a group rescued by SDZ from culling in Swaziland, so a rather interesting history, and one that AR groups can find little fault with. The large herd featured a number of calves, and looked to be a happy social unit, and had a spacious and varied enclosure. There were also volunteers stationed here who were very friendly, and also a small display area for presentations. This was easily the best African Elephant exhibit I have seen, and would be interested to know if anyone who has seen this one has seen a better one?
We then returned to the Nairobi Village zone, where we explored one of the more hands-on exhibits, which featured a row of glass fronted exhibits. Most were far too small for their inhabitants, although it appears the outreach animals within are only present for short amounts of time, and are also regularly bought out for presentations. Most were “pet” species: African Grey Parrot, Sugar Glider, Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec and various reptiles and amphibians, although the final two exhibits were larger and I think permanent, and housed Savannah Monitor and Fennec Fox. Overall, these were probably the worst exhibits in the Zoo (and some were fine, and none was any worse than found in any other zoo).
We then headed to the other end of the zoo, which contains three zones, one of which we didn’t have time to explore – World Gardens, which I’m sure would have been brilliant, but it was getting to be a very hot afternoon and we were running out of time. So instead we headed into the newest zone – Tiger Trail. This is a heavily themed area, housing three enclosures for Sumatran Tigers. Interestingly, some ZooChatters have raved about this exhibit, I think even calling it the best tiger exhibit ever, but I wasn’t that impressed. The enclosures themselves are fine, not huge, but probably big enough, lush and well furnished. But they are mostly viewed through hugely obtrusive mesh, and the visitor’s areas are awkward – narrow, uneven and cramped. While viewing across a dry moat or similar would have been more in keeping with the “open” feel of the Park, this really wasn’t an option here, so I get why they built these exhibits. Also here is a lookout over the Park’s essentially off-display Asian Savanna, although the distance is so great that while a few animals could be seen, they couldn’t be identified beyond deer or goat, except the cattle, which I’m fairly sure were Banteng. Hopefully the plan is to connect this area, which would be a great expansion for the Park.
The final zone, Condor Ridge, houses local native species, which obviously fits in beautifully with the natural landscapes. This is very well done, and starts with a series of aviaries, which are a good size and very well furnished. Species featured include Bald Eagles, Harris Hawks and Burrowing Owls, as well as Thick-billed Parrots and Ocelot. the path then moves out along the hillside, past impressive cacti gardens, to the showpiece enclosure – a massive California Condor aviary, which gives views out over the Park and is very impressive. Adjacent is a large rocky yard for Desert Bighorn, which nicely rounded out this small, but basically faultless, zone.
So that was San Diego Zoo Safari Park, an impressive collection of large mammals, with a great range of birds (especially waterfowl), that nicely complements the Zoo itself. Overall, African Woods and Outpost were the standout zones, but there were very few low points, and these were largely confined to the mish-mash that was Nairobi Village. I preferred the Park to the Zoo, and every other American zoo I visited, and almost every other zoo I’ve ever been to. The collection and display are inspiring, and I can’t wait to see how it continues to develop in the future. Definitely a priority for a return visit.
New Species:
Black Milk Snake, Molluccan Radjah Shelduck, Orinoco Goose, White-headed Lapwing, San Clemente Loggerhead Shrike, Lesser Hedgehog Tenrec, Southern Warthog, Transcaspian Urial, Cavendish’s Dik-dik, Western Red-flanked Duiker, East African Sitatunga, Patterson’s Eland, Eastern White-bearded Wildebeest, Southern Steenbok, Eastern Giant Eland, Sudan Red-fronted Gazelle, Northern White Rhino.
