"What's new at the San Diego Zoo" Zoo Tip by travelgourmet

It finally became a reality. The Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo. See what the past 12,000 years has done to the animals. Discover the extinct animals and then see their relatives of today, live. Elephants, jaguars, lions, condors, sloths, camels, snakes, tapirs, and more have room to roam in this 7.5 acre exhibit.

I must have spent close to one hour just watching the guanacos, closely related to the camel. One of the guanacos was as interested in me as I was of him. From the far part of the open space to right in front of me, a display of friendliness was seen between the two of us.

Another great time was had watching the capybaras. At first I thought it was a huge beaver because it was swimming in a large pond. But, looking up to the land portion of the exhibit, I saw the tail was not that of a beaver. The capybaras are found in Central and South America and are members of the Rodent Family. They are such fun to watch and in the water they seem to be free as can be.

A surprise was seeing condors. Wow. They haven't been in too many zoos and these condors I looked at seemed right at home in their large aviary. Seeing the pink neck was super special as this is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere and not easy to spot the stretched up neck, as they are still rare to see.

Okay, Elephant Odyssey must mean elephants and there are about 8 or 9 that I saw, but still disappointed about the massive cages for feeding or washing or sleeping or just holding cages. Yes, there are many different areas for the elephants to roam but it seemed like the zoo was letting only 1-2 elephants into an area at a time. Other than that, the Elephant Odyssey was wonderful to see for all the open space given to the animals, but still more needs to be done to open up the area to the animals.

Address: 2920 Zoo Drive
Directions: Balboa Park is the general area to find the San Diego Zoo. Plan to be there early and stay late. Great food areas and restrooms.
Phone: (619) 234-3153
Website: http://www.sandiegozoo.org