30 Aug
Zoo visitors photograph the North Chinese leopard in its new home.
This month’s episode of “New At The Zoo” recaps a largely quiet month at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, outside of the opening of Panda Trek. Following a flurry of zoo births in spring and early summer, the dog days of summer brought a few new, low-profile additions to the zoo family. Read on for my Panda Trek video, baby warthogs and more. Continue reading »
11 Aug
The entrance to the San Diego Zoo's brand new Panda Trek.
Well, it’s finally here. The zoo’s newest attraction, Panda Trek is now open for all to enjoy. I’ve covered the construction progress over the past several months (here, here and here), and now I was finally able to stroll through it myself. Follow the jump to read my impressions and view my fancy video walk-through. Continue reading »
1 Aug
The brand new Cheetah Run at the Safari Park is one of several exciting newsmakers in July.
Announcing a brand new feature at your humble zoo-visiting weblog! This one. This is the new feature. In my avant-garde “New At The Zoo” section, I’ll summarize what is new at the zoo and Safari Park and take a look back at my own animal encounters. Read on for cheetahs, tiger cubs, Panda Trek and a chance to win an awesome stretched canvas.
26 Jul
Today will be my third and final construction update on the upcoming Panda Trek attraction. As you can see, it is nearly complete and the zoo’s unofficial target date of August 1 seems to have been pretty accurate. All of the major pieces appear to be in place, including the walkway/ramp that will connect the new exhibits to the existing giant panda enclosure. Click on each picture for a description of what you’re looking at. Here are my previous two updates: first and second.
My next Panda Trek update will take place on its hallowed grounds.
5 Jul
I had a chance to snap some more photos of the construction progress of the zoo’s upcoming Panda Trek exhibit. The concept of Panda Trek is not only to gather animals from China, but also to enhance the experience of visitors waiting in the often long line to see the giant pandas. I also had the opportunity to get the scoop from a zoo employee. She said they were hoping to open the Trek on August 1. Please note, that’s not an official date.
Here are the previous construction photos, quite a lot of progress has been made.
Click through the photos for explanations of what you’re looking at. (All photos by me unless otherwise noted.)
25 May
Yesterday, I saw a zoo tweet about the new Panda Trek exhibit opening this summer. Follow that tweet for their concept sketches and an informational video about the future inhabitants. Here are a few photos I snapped late last week of the construction progress. Note the giant panda enclosure next door.
