Elephant Odyssey Opens In Two Months
Posted at 2:34 pm March 24, 2009 by Rick Schwartz
As difficult as that may be to believe, it’s true! Opening day for the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey is scheduled for May 23, just two short months away! The construction crews have been working some long days and are doing a wonderful job. Taking into consideration that ground breaking was officially October of 2007, they sure have come a long way.
You may be asking, “Why is the opening of this new area so exciting?” Well, to begin with, Elephant Odyssey is the largest multispecies exhibit ever built in the 92-year history of the San Diego Zoo. The entire Elephant Odyssey experience covers over 7.5 acres, (all within the 100 acres of the Zoo). The 2.5 acre elephant exhibit and the half-acre Elephant Care Center creates a living area 6 times the size of the current elephant exhibit, with an amazing use of space that includes built-in enrichment, water features, and so much more.
Keep in mind that Elephant Odyssey will be home to a wide variety of animals. As I mentioned above, this is a multispecies exhibit. From insects and reptiles to birds and mammals, there will be 12 animal exhibits with over 30 species of animals at Elephant Odyssey.
Here’s an exclusive peek (okay, not really exclusive, but it sounds good) at some of the species you will encounter while enjoying the Elephant Odyssey experience. You will have the opportunity to see giant water bugs, pond turtles, secretary birds, California condors, guanacos, tapirs, capybaras, African lions, jaguars, and of course, elephants!
Looking over that list of animals you might notice that many are not from the same region. Those of you with a discerning eye may even notice that some are from different continents. Thus you may now be asking, “How exactly does this all tie in to the name Elephant Odyssey?”
Good question! I’ll answer that in the next blog post later this week, so keep an eye out for my update! Here’s a hint for you: I open up some of my presentations by saying: “Discover Southern California’s past through the animals of today.”
Rick Schwartz is the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey Ambassador.
Read Rick’s previous post, Baby Elephant.
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March 24th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Yes! I am so excited for this new exhibit! Do you know how large the new jaguar exhibit will be, square footage wise??
March 25th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Rick, 30 species, WOW! I would have never thought that many. I watch animal planet and national geographic channel, not too fond of the capybara{rig rat]. All I can think of is the anaconda eating it on the show. Do love the secretary bird, and favorites are elephants, pandas and polar bears. Been on you tube watching some polar bears hoping that SAP will have a newborn polar bear born to chinnook and kalluk. Today is 25th and 9:20 eastern time and I see in the circle enclosure Emngani, Khosi, and baby boy, but also punga. Why is he in there with them, isn’t his mom Samba and why would she leave her baby in there. I know Umngani will take care of him but why does he not go with his own mother? When Elephant Odessey opens, will you only be over there, and will there be a new web cam up over there for us to see, for us folks back east and can not come out there? Thanks for all your trouble getting back to us, webcamers.
March 26th, 2009 at 10:22 am
Rick, have the elephants moved from the WAP to SDZ yet? If not when will they be moved to get “aclimated?” Where are the lions coming from? I think there are already some at SDZ in addition to the ones we read about at WAP. But, are there more coming?
March 26th, 2009 at 11:39 am
Can we have some photos of the progress of the exhibit, as I live in Scotland so can’t visit the zoo.
March 26th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Hi Rick – In this morning’s Union Tribune, March 26th, there was an article entitled “And they will call him… Zoo’s male elephant calf to be named after donor.” The zoo is keeping the calf’s name a secret. It will be a surprise to everyone.
Also included in the article were two photos: one showing the 2-week-old calf full of energy with a nice long stride. The second photo shows the calf standing under Umngani’s tummy. Now he just fits and pretty soon he will be too tall to walk under his mom.
The calf now weighs 230 pounds. How wonderful! He does look like he has filled out since I last saw him on the 15th of March. I am looking forward to following his progress as he matures. Thank you for keeping us informed on the calf’s progress and the Elephant Odyssey.
March 26th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Taylor – I know! Me too!
Betsy – I am primarily all about Elephant Odyssey. So I don’t get to spend a whole bunch of time at the Wild Animal Park. I can assure you, there may be more going on than what you can see on Elephant Cam, so though I am not there to tell you what they are doing, I am sure all is well as the keepers and care staff are very dedicated to their extended family. Also, I have asked the powers that be and the answer to your question about a Web cam at Elephant Odyssey is, “No, not at this time.”
Margaret – The elephants are currently at the Wild Animal Park. I’ll let you all know when the animal moves happen.
Chris – I’ll see what I can do; right now this week’s schedule has kept me away from the construction site with my speaking engagements and such.
Rose – Yes, I happened across it late today. For those of you who did not see the article, it basically explains that we have a variety of ways that we name our babies. Sometimes we have public votes, other times the name is picked by the keeper staff or curators. With regard to the baby elephant, he will be named after one of our donors who generously provided funds for Elephant Odyssey.
March 27th, 2009 at 10:30 am
Richard you have the best job and love reading your blog. Todd and I need to get our butts down to the Zoo and the Wild Animal Park. Keep up the great work. Cheers
March 27th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
Thanks Rick,for the answers to my questions. Still have hopes for maybe someday seeing Tembo and the Asian buddies.
March 28th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I am a Navy photographer that goes to the San Diego Zoo alot but I need more photos of new stuff to see whenever I get back to SD, Thanks. Would love to see some photos of the new Elephant Odyssey!!! I assume that most of the animals are in place so that they can get acclimated to the new environment but maybe not with a couple of months left to go before it opens. Hey by the way why is there so little infor about the elepahnt exhibit on the web page, but the new tiger exhibit at the WAP that wont open for a while has artist renderings, pics and other stuff?
March 30th, 2009 at 11:05 am
John – Not to worry, Elephant Odyssey will have its very own Web page up and running very soon, (trust me, it is worth waiting for). I’ll be posting more info on that very subject tomorrow afternoon.
April 4th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Saw the new website, I am excited to get back to SD so that I can come experience the Odyssey, it should be alot of fun. O by the way have they broke ground for the new tiger exhibate at the WAP?