Asian Elephants at the San Diego Zoo’s Elephant Odyssey

The San Diego Zoo's Elephant Odyssey exhibit opened in 2009 on an 8-acre site in Balboa Park, built to house the zoo's herd of Asian elephants. The habitat includes pools, mud wallows, and varied terrain meant to encourage the kind of walking and foraging elephants do across large home ranges in the wild. Asian elephants are listed as endangered, with wild populations estimated at fewer than 50,000 across South and Southeast Asia. The San Diego Zoo participates in the Species Survival Plan for the species, coordinating breeding and care standards with other accredited zoos in North America.

Photo taken in November 2011.