I'm surprised at how they revere lions so much that they had the theme of the Centennial be "It began with a ROAR" yet the Zoo's lions are shunted off to a crappy exhibit in EO. Instead of a garden, Africa Rocks could have had a new Lion Exhibit that would compliment the one at the Safari Park. The Safari Park has a Kopje as the main focus, so the Zoo could have made a Grasslands exhibit near the Kopje on the site of the old Bactrian Camel exhibit.
I have posted statue construction pictures and new children's zoo concept art (from a booth adjacent to Skyfari East) here. San Diego Zoo | ZooChat
Africa Rocks Aviary 1. Black-headed Weaver 2. Blue-Naped Mousebird 3. Namaqua Dove 4. Emerald-Spotted Wood-Dove 5. Stone Partridge 6. White-Headed Buffalo Weaver 7. Collared Pratincole 8. Violet-Backed Starling 9. White-Bellied Go-Away-Bird 10. Golden-Breasted Starling 11. African Pygmy Goose 12. Fisher’s Lovebird 13. Snowy-crowned Robin-Chat 14. African Jacana 15. Golden-Breasted Bunting
Need to add to the Africa Rocks Aviary list. 16. Long-Tailed Paradise-Whydam 17. Stone Partridge 18. Yellow-Mantled Widowbird
The zoo has completed its statue - and it is massive. Rex the lion returns to San Diego Zoo — in bronze
I have posted a few photos of the Rex the Lion statue in the media section. These were taken early this morning. I tried to get a few different angles so you could get a sense of where he is located and the size of him. This is certainly not what I expected. I have the feeling people might have strong opinions on this statue. So let the criticism and or praise begin.....
I'd rather they spent the nearly two million bucks on a new enclosure, but the statue seems fine. I don't have any real opinion on it. My first reaction every time I look at it though: Damn! That's huge.
Sorry to keep asking this but any news with the elevator? I have family coming in that cant do hills so I would like to know. I appologize for asking so much
I haven't heard anything new. The small one by Treetops Cafe reopened Saturday. They could always rent a scooter.
I'm with Buldeo in that I have no real opinion. I can't say I like it or dislike it. I think it's rather impressive that the whole giant thing rests on one paw. I think, if anything, I'm more disappointed that it doesn't look much like the colorful, gorgeous centennial logo, but at the same time, perhaps that would have been unattractive as a statue. I would have preferred a different pose, such as the lion roaring defiantly at the sky, but as I said, the balancing act it's doing now is rather impressive. I wonder how those who strongly like/dislike it feel.
The San Diego Zoo staff is fantastic at dealing with people with mobility issues - my father used a scooter which was having battery problems, and throughout the day, he was able to be picked up by a dedicated bus (with room for the scooter) that helped get him around. Similarly, the Safari Park has small buses that can accommodate scooters and help the mobility-challenged get around (though there are fewer problems with accessibility). Overall, the Zoo and Safari Park's staff did an outstanding job and helped my family immensely over three days of visits.
The honey badgers have been replaced with servals. There are still servals in the kopje; they are in biboith locations. I have not seen a new honey badger location. There are a variety of fish in the Africa Rocks aviary pond.
That's a shame in regards to the Honey Badgers. They were quite prominently advertised as one of the "stars" of Africa Rocks.
