I understand that San Diego is accepting new Elephants this fall (I read it in one of the faqs regarding Chai and Bamboo's brief stay there.) When are they coming, where are they coming from and when are they expected to arrive? (If they still are that it.) Here's where I read it. Question number 9: http://www.zoo.org/document.doc?id=1592
There is not a picture of a spotted hyena on the fence. The pictures are of Nubian ibex, gelada, African penguin, fossa, Hamadryas baboon, ratel, leopard ring-tailed lemur, and African dwarf crocodile.
I went to the zoo today, and had a good visit, for the most part. The highlight for me was seeing the snow leopard exhibit; it looks very large, with an enclosure on either side of the viewing area, connected by an aerial walkway. Unfortunately, my least favorite exhibit remains "tiger trail." I thought that it had been revamped for better viewing of the Tigers, but while I did catch a glimpse of a tiger, I only got to see it from the hilly section, and I couldn't find my way around to the front section to see if it had a better view. I did see most of the other animals, including a closeup of the polar bears, but didn't see any bears, foxes or Komodo dragons. I think the zoo is too big, and needs better directions for some of their animals.
"Zoo" and "too big"? That does not compute But I agree,better directions would be a life saver. The left side of the zoo is basically a maze,I'm sure it's a bit intimidating for those who have never been,and even for those who have been only a couple of times.
@ protégé - You will find few (if any) ZooChatters who would ever think a zoo can be too big! However, the general public might agree with you.
The middle of the zoo around the bonobos and gorillas is a nightmare of a maze. I've been going to the zoo for almost 20 years and while they have made many efforts to improve traffic through the zoo, that is a knot that they have not yet untied.
And if you don't have a lot of time to backtrack,you could easily miss quite a lot. The last few times I've missed the orangutans due to limited amounts of time to explore. It really is a tough zoo to do if you're a first-time visitor and you aren't there the whole day.
I've been there at least six times, and most of the time, I navigate my way through. I just hadn't been there in two years, and I tried to see the snow leopards first. I'll probably be going back in 2017, when Africa rocks opens, and try to catch my first fossa. Or is that an " I'm-fossa-ble" dream?
I agree it can be confusing but there are usually volunteers around to help you navigate. I am sorry you didn't get to see the tigers. There are now 4 viewing areas and 3 tigers are usually on exhibit. Did you notice the doors to the snow leopards aerial walkways have been opened between Anna and Ramil's exhibits? They have gotten the go ahead for them to breed. If anyone wants help finding their way around the zoo contact me. I am at the zoo most Mondays.
What are people's strategies for the path you take throughout the zoo? Like do you take the skyfari to the top first and then work your way down? Or do you go a different way each time?
Lately, my strategy is to go to the areas I want to see first, in order to beat the crowds, then go back around to the other exhibits. It didn't work for me yesterday- I missed a quarter of the zoo
I think when I go I am going to go on the skyfari to see polar bears and then walk down towards the entrance through EO and then look at the other stuff. Its kind of weird to me that EO is built so if you walk through it the way you are supposed to, the end of EO is at the front of the zoo.
Jbnbsn99, mstickmanp and I had a great visit to the zoo! Ok, here is my route when you want to see as much of the zoo as possible without back tracking too much. Straight down Treetops Way veer right to Orangutan trail. Right on Treetops Way, left on Hippo Trail before the bathrooms. After pygmy hippos and crocodile right on Hippo Trail to the gorillas. Go down the stairs, turn right to bonobos. After crowned eagles backtrack to Hippo Trail heading down through lower part of Scripps Aviary. At the bottom of the steep hill turn left up Tiger Trail. At the end of Tiger Trail turn right, right on front street, right on Monkey Trail (pass the flamingo pond). Past the gibbons turn left down to Scripps Aviary. Say hi to the bonobos again. Follow Hippo Trail down again but at bottom of steep hill go right. Go left to new Leopard exhibit on Park Way. If not crowded the gate will be open to pandas. Backtrack to Eagle Trail, then right up the big hill. To the left of the entrance to Polar bear Plunge there is a row of aviaries if you're interested. Circle through Northern Frontier then left towards EO. Follow the street all the way to Outback and circle through Urban Jungle. Go across the street to see Tasmanian Devils then backtrack to go down Center Street. At the bottom of hill detour to your right if you want to see Sun Bear Trail. Going left, then right will take you to Owens Aviary and Parker Aviary. Aviary Trail will lead you back to Treetops Way turn left to the front of the zoo. Taking the stairs up will lead you through Fern Canyon Trail and back to the front of zoo. Turn right on Front Street to see the reptile house, reptile walk (behind reptile house) the hummingbird aviary (hidden between Wedgeforth Bowl and Poppy's Patio Restaurant) and last the Children's Zoo. See not confusing at all. Have fun!
San Diego is one of the most complex zoos I have ever visited, I'm not sure I can think of another that is as convulated and confusing, especially for a first time visitor. Having said that, its also extremely exciting, with many hidden aviaries and small exhibits scattered throughout, so exploring it is definitely one of my most memorable zoo experiences. Although the potential to miss stuff (as I did ) is concerning. For the record, my route was as follows: Rainforest section (all the green stuff on the map), up through the eagles to Polar Bear Plunge, down the Skyfari to lunch, reptiles, hummingbirds and children's zoo, back up Skyfari to Elephant Odyssey, old cat canyon, pandas, bear canyon, Urban Jungle, and finally the Australian section. This seemed to work quite well, and involved minimal backtracking.
I enjoyed the Skyfari, it did give a good overview of parts of the Zoo, and showed how much space they do have off-display, certainly the map doesn't reflect that! I don't think I would appreciate spending an hour up there though, not least because that's an hour I could be exploring the Zoo!
