San Diego Zoo Put Me In The Zoo Review: San Diego Zoo Australian Outback Exhibit Review

Put Me In The Zoo Review: San Diego Zoo Australian Outback Review

Date of visit: Sunday June 2, 2013

The San Diego Zoo has the largest collection of koalas outside of Australia with approximately 25 individuals. Their old exhibit was built in the 1970s and apparently was at the end of its lifecycle so it was knocked down and replaced with a new facility dubbed the Outback. People have noted that koalas don’t actually live in the Australian Outback, so the zoo is taking some marketing liberties. The exhibit complex contains several species in addition to koalas. Maybe some of them occur in the actual Outback and justify the name.

The new exhibit has two main animal sections. The first section one arrives at coming from the zoo entrance is on the footprint of the old koala complex. It opens with a series of totem pole type structures that a sign says are inspired by a combination of Aboriginal art and North American Indian totem poles from Pacific Northwest cultures. Next one encounters a series of 3 fairly large aviaries containing several Australian bird species including king parrots, kookaburras (sitting on fairly new gum trees), dollar birds, and several others. Our fellow Zoochatter Otter Lord has kindly posted pictures of the aviary signage from his own visit so you can see the aviary line-ups as of June 2013. No doubt species compositions will change over time as species are added or taken away. The aviaries are nicely planted and have room for the birds to fly around.

http://www.zoochat.com/39/australian-outback-first-aviary-signage-2-a-322552/

http://www.zoochat.com/39/australian-outback-second-aviary-signage-322604/#post676491

http://www.zoochat.com/39/australian-outback-third-aviary-signage-322589/

Next one encounters a series of medium sized yards containing common wombat, southern hairy-nosed wombat, and parma wallabies. The zoo has announced that Tasmanian devils will occupy one of these exhibits eventually. I asked a docent about what was going on with the devils and he said that the zoo hopes to get them within a year, but there is no known date for their arrival and exhibition as of June 2013. The wombat yards have glassed in dens attached so you can see the wombats snooze if they are inside. The yards are planted and fairly large. In between the wombat yards there is a “Marsupial Wall” with life-sized sculptures of several marsupial species, some which American zoogoers will likely never see in an American zoo like dunnarts and numbat. This feature is nice in portraying Australian marsupial diversity with 3-dimensonal models. Presumably when the devils show up there will be some interpretation on theor conservation crisis. There are signs talking about “what is a wombat” and location of their habitat. Generally interpretation is fairly light in contrast to Elephant Odyssey which is smothered in frequently confusing interpretive graphics – they seem to have gone with a “less is more” approach with the Outback exhibit graphics.

There are no reptile or invertebrate species in the Outback exhibit. I found this somewhat disappointing as Australia is known for its snake and lizard diversity and San Diego Zoo has incorporated reptiles into some of its other recent exhibit complexes like Elephant Odyssey (where the rattlesnake and riparian stream exhibits are outstanding features) and Lost Forest.

The second animal complex in the Outback exhibit is the new koala complex. It is located on the footprint of the former fruit bat exhibit, kiwi house, and a couple old hoofstock exhibits at the from of “The Urban Jungle” (former elephant mesa area). The new koala complex is great. There is a large yard with several trees for female and baby koalas to live together. There are 10 smaller yards for male koalas and other koalas that need to be alone for whatever reason. These koala yards all surround a large square building that has a classroom, the koala kitchen (viewable through windows), and the koala indoor quarters. The building is made to look like a large ranch house on an Australian cattle station. There are wide viewing areas on all sides of the building which makes viewing the koalas much more pleasant than their former exhibit complex which had narrow walkways and smaller viewing areas and could get very congested and claustrophobia-inducing. The koala perches and trees are at viewing deck height. Let’s be honest – there aren’t a lot of ways to make koala viewing dynamic, but the new viewing arrangement is as good as I have seen at any zoo and it reminded me of the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Queensland. There is also a large aviary for palm cockatoos and rainbow lorikeets in this part of the exhibit. The aviary is two stories high and nicely planted. There is room for the cockatoos to fly around and is one of the nicer cockatoo exhibits that I have seen in any zoo.

There is a large koala and other Australian animal themed gift shop and a large show area where people can meet costumed characters and see some kind of show. I did not spend any time in this area of the exhibit.

Overall I think most zoo aficionados will find something to like about this exhibit. There are a couple dozen koalas and they have nice exhibits with good viewing areas, so koala fans will be happy. There are 4 nice aviaries that should please bird fans. The palm cockatoo aviary in particular is impressive and showcases these spectacular birds well… this is the first time that they have been exhibited at the zoo in recent history (if not ever). Wombat fans will enjoy the two wombat species on exhibit. Australian reptile fans will need to go visit the reptile house and Reptile Mesa for their fix.

There is good interpretation of the animals that avoids the confusing mishmash of different interpretive styles and messages of Elephant Odyssey. San Diego clearly knows that their koalas are one of their marquee species and has built them a showcase worthy of this status.

 

Yes, very much so. They do have outdoor reptile exhibits for many species in their reptile complex, including freshwater crocodiles, Caribbean iguanas, Galapagos tortoises, and several lizard species.

 

No, the temperature range has too many variables and isn't consistent enough to support goannas properly. Even if they had access to heating via lighting or buried heat coils/pipes, they would bask far too long. Imagine them having access to 120F, and the air temp is 60F, can a goanna properly thermoregulate? No. Even with a captive diet, supplemented with all the goodies, the goannas will never reach full potential. They may be alive, but they will never thrive in such conditions. Goannas are poor display animals, period. They never have what they fully require, just a few options. A goanna can live for years and ge half-dead, most reptiles can. Institutions want the visual shock and awe of such species. Many that are outdoors or even indoors are sedentary in a Zoo setting. They suffer. Some may breed on-show, lay eggs, and hatch. Are those clutches normal-sized? Probably not. Do all the eggs hatch? Probably not. You can set up goannas in a box with mass, heat options, and feed them McDonald's, and they will breed like crazy, lay eggs and those eggs will hatch if buried or removed and placed in an incubator. There is human error on the latter sometimes, but not if one is prepared for an emergency. Zoos sell the postcard image of where that goanna may live, but in reality, they live in burrows, hollows, crevices, termitaria, etc. They live close to their homes, finding prey, preventing dehydration, thermoregulating whether in their home or nearby, they also recruit to procreate in their territory. Something that Zoos can not offer on display, but can off-show, because back there, the animals usually get what they need to thrive. It doesn't look pretty off-show, but who cares? Animals sure don't as they get what feels normal to them. Not some box or four walls, with a log, a puddle, plastic plants and some rockwork.

 

Thanks for the great review! It sounds as if the great San Diego Zoo has opened a new zone that has been much lauded by many zoo fans, in comparison to the hit-and-miss Elephant Odyssey complex.