As I have mentioned before, my job involves travel and that means it is time to pack my trunk yet again.
I am headed out to Milwaukee to accompany our life-size statues on their journey back to San Diego. You may remember from my previous post, Putting the “Odyssey” in Elephant Odyssey, that there will be life-size statues of some of the animals from the Pleistocene residing at Elephant Odyssey. Well, they are not being made on site, and thus they need to be trucked across the nation!
You might be wondering why I am going out to the Midwest to drive all the way back to San Diego with them. Though I am handy with a map, I’m no truck driver! I am, however, the guy who can explain to all the folks we meet along the way why a family of mammoths, a ground sloth, and other statues are headed to the San Diego Zoo. We plan on making some stops along the way as we pass through cities like Chicago and St. Louis. As we get closer to home, we’ll be making stops in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles too, so make sure you look for us if you’re in the area.
I will have my laptop with me, so I will try to post information and maybe some pictures from the road as we go. Keep in mind, the new Elephant Odyssey Web page goes live at the end of the day on April 1. There should be updates and links available there, possibly as soon as April 2, as we make our way across America to San Diego.
The new Elephant Odyssey web page address is: www.elephantodyssey.com
Rick Schwartz is the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey Ambassador.
Safe Journey Rick!! I can imagine that your entourage will garner a lot of turned heads and second looks!! I feel so fortunate that I live here and can visit the Zoo and WAP whenever I want to. Will see you on May 23!!
Blessed Be, judy j
Hi Rick – You are certainly a man on the move. Thanks for keeping us informed on the highly anticipated opening of the Elephant Odyssey.
Have a safe and enjoyable trip to the Midwest. I’m sure that everyone who hears your description of the Elephant Odyssey will be enticed to visit the wonderful San Diego Zoo.
The new website is absolutely amazing!! =]]
Taylor, I agree – the website is very informative and very well structured. I didn’t realize before just how coherent the Elephant Odyssey is in everything fitting its theme. Project Elephant Footprint was a cool surprise for me too.
The Meet the Elephants section of that is fun, especially the description of The Great Bull. Some jerks say that deep down inside real human men only care about women as sex objects, but if The Great Bull can hang out with female elephants when he’s not in musth then of course we can (and I already do) have friends who are women too.
Also, have the Elephant Odyssey herds been merged yet? I wonder how the all-Asian herd reacted/will react to Tembo. Maybe they’ll be very confused by this new elephant not being male and still having tusks? Maybe they already saw tusked elephants across the Wild Animal Park fences giving birth and so won’t think it’s a big deal? Maybe something else?
I’ve been watching the cam for about 20 minutes now (it’s 5:00 p.m. there), and I was watching something very interesting. At first, I was only interested in the calf, which was interested in something on the ground. Because there was another elephant there, I just assumed it was hay or something they were eating. Then I noticed the calf was pushing and nudging at the object on the ground. When the adult elephant walked away, the calf was still pushing and nudging at the obstacle, which I realized was another elephant lying on her side, and she did not appear to be moving. Finally I saw a trunk raised some, then an ear fluttered. It really scared me. Finally the calf was persistent in pushing and nudging, until FINALLY! the elephant raised up and walked toward the pens. Is something wrong with her that she was lying down that long. Was I unduly alarmed, or was the elephant feeling ill? It scared me!
Moderator’s note: We’ll try to find out from the keepers.
Hello Rick, Happy traveling again to ya. Thanks for the link to the Ellie Odyssey web. Appreciate your job and all your reporting back to us and the info and pictures. We camers should be paying you. Just know you are loved too!
Re: Dianne, in Texas. The object on the ground was probably Musi. He occasionally takes naps and if Punga can catch him Punga will sit on him.
Moderator’s note: Yes, our keepers confirm it was just one of the calves taking a nap and the other calf wanting to play. And we have people there 24 hours a day collecting research data and watching for anything concerning.
The new Elephant Odyssey website is great. Love the map and the interactive descriptions of each exhibit. Question – The three SDZ elephants are known for their painting prowess. Will they continue to paint or is that a thing of the past? Are the two sets of animals being introduced to become one herd, or will they remain separate. I think you mentioned this in previous blogs, but I forget the answer. I recall that you did say that Tembo will stay with her two friends because they have been together for so many years. It appears that all the females are well past breeding age so the problem of the fatal virus affecting Asian elephant calves who are exposed to African elephants doesn’t seem to be an issue in this new environment.
Betty and Moderator: Thanks for relieving my mind. I’m not that acquainted with all the elephants. I’m fascinated by them and love them dearly. Hopefully, within the next year, I’ll be able to visit SDZ and WAP in person. Then I can meet them all! I’ve been told to plan for at least 3 days, because there is so much space to cover. Ok by me!