San Diego Zoo adding $45-million Elephant Odyssey
Visitors to the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey habitat will travel back in time to explore the ancestors of animals that roamed California 10,000 years ago or more.
Opening May 23, the new $45-million pachyderm playground brings together the zoo’s three elephants with four from its sister Wild Animal Park into a single herd. The elephants’ new home features a 2.5-acre yard, a 120,000-gallon pool and a medical facility where visitors can watch zookeepers and veterinarians feed and care for the massive animals.
In an adjacent 4.5-acre area of the new habitat, a series of secondary exhibits showcase lions, jaguars, wild horses and camels in naturalistic environments, while smaller habitats house pond turtles, rattlesnakes, tree sloths and dung beetles.
The new exhibit also marks the return of the California condor to the zoo for the first time since the 1980s, with the endangered bird having spent the last quarter-century at the Wild Animal Park.
Elephant Odyssey replaces the 50-year-old Hoof & Horn exhibit that featured giraffes, zebras and antelope.
Find the latest amusement and theme park news at the Los Angeles Times Funland blog: www.latimes.com/funland. Follow Funland on Twitter.
— Brady MacDonald / Los Angeles Times staff writer
[Photograph: Getty Images]
5 Comments on “San Diego Zoo adding $45-million Elephant Odyssey”
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May 20th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
It looks like most zoos are getting rid of the elephant exhibits except for the biggest zoos which are completely making over their exhibits to be more elephant friendly. In the San Diego Zoo’s case it closed down its Wild Animal Park exhibit and joined them with the main zoo. Of the very little research I’ve done, this is the first of these new era elephant enclosures and they will all be very expensive. This one is a large sprawling exhibit, and though a couple zoos will have slightly larger facilities or more elephants this one appears to be the luxury exhibit of the bunch (pretty much being located in mild San Diego would do that anyway). It looks very impressive with water features and a pedestrian tunnel that goes under the elephants, and the exhibit in itself is only a small part of a much larger walk through adventure of various animal species making the experience of viewing the elephants a lot larger than its acreage. Only complaint it’s located about as far from the entrance to the zoo as possible so it will take about an hour to walk there if you want to see it in the morning before the lines form. Its close to the west sky tram station but I don’t think the sky tram opens first thing in the morning (maybe someone will think ahead and change that now). The San Diego Zoo is first and foremost known for its breeding success so that took priority in planning the facility, so I can complain and undoubtedly will when hiking in, but I really shouldn’t
May 22nd, 2009 at 2:00 pm
To the author of the previous comment, the Wild Animal Park has NOT closed down its elephant exhibit. There are actually two exhibits at the Wild Animal Park; one for Asian Elephants and one for African Elephants. As for the issue of the exhibit being such a long walk, in addition to the Skyfari, there is an express bus stop at each end of the exhibit. Use of the express bus is unlimited with purchase of the Best Value ticket.
June 1st, 2009 at 4:47 pm
I have been to the new Elephant Odyssey twice since it opened. Both times I witnessed one of the smaller elephants standing alone rocking and swaying. It was very sad. The elephant must be very distressed.
June 4th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
I have been to Kneya and ahve seen how the elephants lvie it the wild. How close they are as a family. the zoo dummies just broke up a real family of elephants to satisfy the almighty buck and get more peole to the zoo. Those elephants will grieve for each otehr becaue they are separated now forever. That is outrageous. I can’t belevie zoos and even the wild animal park continue to pretend that an enclosure no matter how nice is ncie for the animal. Elephants uffer from foot rot in so many zoos becaue they are forced to lvie on the unnatrual surface of concrete. I hope God forgives us for the irreversible damage to the beautiful world he gave us and for nto taking care of his most wonderful gift, the animals he palced in our care. SHAME ON YOU SAN DIEGO ZOO. SHAME ON YOU FOR GIVING A BULL STORY LIKE CULLING TO GET WHAT YOU WANTED, WILD, HEALTHY EPLEPHANTS AND THEN SPARATING THERI FAMILY AS IT PELASE YOU.
August 26th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Yes, and I’m sure that elephants in the wild have it so good, right? No lions to attack them? No worries about foraging for food? No medical attention when they need it? Sign me up.