The Future of San Diego Zoo » San Diego Zoo

02-11-2008

I saw that combonation on Monday at the zoo.They seemed very at ease and it looks like the transition looked good.

04-11-2008

The November calendar issue of Zoonooz includes bison for December. Does this in any way indicate that to be a planned species for the exhibit? If so this is the first I've heard of it.

04-11-2008

I cant find bison on any of the plans that I have...except the new calendar. If its in the new Elephant Odyssey themed calendar, I think its safe to assume they have been added to the collection. Also, I didnt see any zebras in the calendar, they've been mentioned in the past.

04-11-2008

Yeah I also noticed the lack of any mentioning of equids, which with the theme of this exhibit is a shame.

04-11-2008

But most hoofstock holding and exhibits are very similar...there will always be a chance for different species of hoofstock for Elephant Odyssey. They are also leaving out bears from the original plans.

04-11-2008

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)

04-11-2008

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.

04-11-2008

Of all the bear species, Sloth bears would probably be the closest to the extinct short-faced bear.

04-11-2008

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".

04-11-2008

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.

04-11-2008

We should be very lucky that there are any public plans!

04-11-2008

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.

05-11-2008

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.

14-11-2008

Interesting renderings of elephant odyssey. Shame the barn looks reminscent of a light-rail train station

On The Boards Projects Ferguson Pape Baldwin Architects San Deigo

14-11-2008

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.