The San Diego Zoo and our Wild Animal Park Trip Yesterday

Some of my earliest memories are of the San Diego Zoo. I caught my love of animals from my father, and we visited frequently from the time when I was very young. Evidently, somewhere in the family archives is a picture of me riding a Galapagos Tortoise in the Children's Zoo in the very early sixties. I remember feeding many of the animals there back when you were still allowed to, something I'm sorry my girls are likely to miss out on. The elephants would congregate, and back then they kept a fairly large herd of at least a dozen at the zoo, not the three or four that are there now. The Sun Bears loved applas and oranges. I understand why that changed and would not go back to those days, but the memories are special. Indeed, when my father suddenly died four years ago, the zoo was the place where I wanted to go. He, of all people, would have understood why: It was where my strongest, and most of my fondest, memories of him were. Even though the number of exhibits has diminished, the quality has increased. Hilda can sit and watch the Siamangs and Orangutans at Absolutely Apes for as long as we let her, and even though there are occasional misses like Tiger River (the tigers are usually in a location where all you can see are the tips of their ears), their successes have been many. I happily visit anytime I can spare the time.



The same is not true, unfortunately, of the Wild Animal Park. While our membership allows us to visit there just as it does the zoo itself, we don't go very often and it isn't just because of the drive. Now, we are very aware that the important part of what goes on there is CRES and the Veterinary Center, and the tourists who pay the bills are just an afterthought. Nonetheless, while we go once or twice per year, of late we are increasingly disappointed with the Wild Animal Park.



One of the things is the fact that they make it difficult to see the animals. Aside from Condor Ridge and Lion Camp, the place is just not constructed for people to view the animals. I don't want to go down Heart of Africa trail because it all seems just an excuse to get us to the lunch stand at the end of it, and then you've got to slog back up, having seen it already that day. There just aren't that many animal enclosures along it - the Okapi and Gerenuk exhibits are the only reasonably decent ones, and they're near the beginning. Oh, and if you go all the way to the bottom, you can maybe feed the giraffes if you buy an acacia leaf at $2 per.



The latest insult is the truncation of the tram tour. It used to be an hour long, cover about 5 miles, and go basically around all of the exhibits. Unfortunately, about the time you started really getting a chance to observe the happenings, they're off an running for the next stop on the tour. And now they've cut it by about forty percent, lopping off a lot of the most interesting exhibits to me (I like the Goral and Serow, and really used to like the Mountain Goat exhibit before they took the North American ones out and put the others in, I always looked forward to the eurasian waterhole, and others). I understand the trams are getting old. But one suggestion that keeps getting ignored - far less expesive than updating the trams, I might add - is simply a paved pedestrian path with very occasional water fountains and outhouses. I would much prefer to walk the perimeter, old and fat as I am, if it meant I could view the park at my own pace, instead of being swept off when the guide is done saying their eight or nine sentences at a particular spot. Of course, this doesn't sell kid's meals, but we bring our own picnic anyway. And, I suspect, most of the folks would stay with the tram. Indeed, the Kilimanjaro Nature trail is the most deserted area of the park (You don't know what you're missing; not only the lion and tiger exhibits among others, but a lot of native stuff too). That's fine; they are welcome to do the tourist thing their way. I want to have the ability to do it mine, and take the time to show the girls the way the animals interact and have the leisure to watch a sequence play out rather than being swept off with the tram. Indeed, I don't see why they can't use the tram route for most of it. If there's another way to the Black Rhinos or the Bonobos, both of which would be easy walks for most folks, I haven't discovered it.



Now, our favorite time of year to go is the last couple weeks of the yearly Park at Dark. The park normally closes sufficiently before dusk as to miss the animal activity that naturally occurs then. But for about two months a year, it stays open later. Mind you, they're trying to show off the this and that back at the Village (and sell kids meals), and the back trails get closed off at dusk, but still it gives you an excellent opportunity to watch the animals throw off the torpor of mid-day for some activity at the end of afternoon and beginning of evening. Which last rant was, I suppose, an excuse to post some links to pictures I took yesterday.



Crane and Chicks

gorilla

Chilean Flamingo turning its egg

dik-dik. They have these right inside Nairobi Village. Some people were saying "baby deer!" "Nope, that's as big as they get!" They're probably half again the size of the Chevrotain, or Mouse Deer, but still small.

Blue Macaw, one of probably two dozen macaws the zoo keeps. The daily flight back to their night quarters at the zoo is impressive, but this one was just monopolizing the food tray



A pretty little seed eater in Hidden Jungle whose species name I cannot remember.Two Andean Cock-Of The Rock impressively colored birds. From how the population has grown, I gather the problem is how to keep them from breeding.

A gibbon swinging towards us. Series of three photos one two three (notice how the resolution improves. It's a fair size cage)

Three pictures of the girls doing one of the occasionally obligatory tourist things, Lorikeet Landing. one, two, and three. Hilda was nervous, but mostly got over it. Little Ramona wanted nothing to do with them.



From the tram, White Tiger. Assuming it's the same one they've had, she was seized from smugglers about 12 years ago. They tried her as an animal ambassador briefly, but it didn't work out. She is gorgeous, though! Slightly different view.

Probably the best view of a male asian elephant I've ever seen. A couple of females dusting themselves. female african elephant on the other side of the tracks.

Obligatory false pr0n bait: Look at that rack! (of antlers.)

Prezwalski's Horses

Ibex, one of their real breeding program successes.

Rhinos at the goodie truck. For about $75, you can go on these photo caravans to meet the animals up close and personal, feed them, and take pictures to your heart's content. The animals (all herbivores) swarm around. Maybe when the girls are older, we'll do it. A slightly different view. They got into a small tiff over some slight or other.

Some Armenian Sheep

Minions of Sauron, er, oryx. Joking aside, another successful breeding program. They're getting ready to send some back into the wild.

This buck was looking for the ladies

California Mule Deer. Outside the fence, of course. Visits to the Wild Animal Park aren't complete if you haven't seen at least half a dozen California Freeloaders.

A couple of RINOs rhinos expressing their true feelings about extremists. A couple more at the watering hole.

Rhino Mom and her 800 pound baby. just the baby. Yes, those are deer in the backgrounds of both pictures, I don't remember the species.



Off the tram now, taking a sunset stroll up to Condor Ridge. the old lion enclosure, and a panorama taken right after. You can see the lion beneath the wire human holder and above the rock, if you look closely.

A Harris Hawk, native to the area but in captivity. Just a good picture at sunset.

Porcupine in a tree. I don't know why, but I always think that's interesting. Maybe because I don't think of porcupines as being big tree climbers.

The condors themselves were done for the day, off on the other side of the rocks, but the Bighorn Sheep were quite active. This one was trying to climb a chainlink fence, obviously patched and reinforced, for some tree greenery.



That was all the ones worth sharing. Once it gets dark, you're mostly restricted to Nairobi Village, which they fill with tourist stuff. We come to watch animals, and we left when that was essentially impossible.