With construction well underway for Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo, we can only wait with excitement and anticipation for this huge undertaking to open. However, what happened to all of the hoofed animals that created what was formerly known as Horn & Hoof Mesa? I am a keeper in that area, and I work with a group of hard-working, dedicated keepers that make up the Mesa team. Six months before this project began, we were given the task to move about 300 animals to make space for Elephant Odyssey. These animals ranged from small Cape blue duikers to large scimitar-horned oryx (pictured). The amount of time and energy spent on this task was incredible!

Every single animal that was in an exhibit on the mesa had to have a plan: getting the animal out, transporting it, and having a location ready to receive the animal. Since we did not have the space at the Zoo to deal with all of these displaced animals, some were sent to the Wild Animal Park, others to institutions around the United States, and some to our large hillside holding facilities that used to be called the goat turn-around at the Zoo.

Our team still cares for a great number of these animals off exhibit every day. To make space to accommodate some of these species, we connected three large hillside areas where the animals dominated the whole cul-de-sac of goat turn-around. At our highest point, we had over 45 animals made up of 7 different species in one large, open space. Included were scimitar-horned oryx; addaxes; barbary red deer; Bactrian wapiti; Soemmerring’s gazelles; Speke’s gazelles; and Cuvier’s gazelles.

When caring for such a large group of animals, it is important to really understand all of the dynamics of each species. They would disperse across several acres of hillside, each species defining its own territory. We would feed out according to the layout of the enclosure to ensure every animal was able to safely get to food and water. With all these dynamics, there was still a leader-elect of the entire area: the dominant male scimitar-horned oryx, a large, white antelope with long slender horns that start from the head and curve back toward his rear.

Every day, the main catch pen for the whole area was serviced by a keeper, which meant it was cleaned and had fresh food added. There is only one door from the enclosure to get in, so while the keeper would be in the catch pen making noise during cleaning, all of the animals would congregate around the door in anticipation of its opening. However, with 20 to 30 hungry animals standing around, who gets to go first? That is where the dominant oryx would make his case. He would always stand at the door when it was opened, but he would not go in. He would wait for the other five oryx to make their way up and get in safely. If another oryx was across the exhibit, the dominant male would call for it to come over and everyone would wait until the last one made its way into the catch. The dominant male would stand guard and not allow any of the other species in. It just took a simple nod of his horns, in the direction of any other brave attempt, to keep them away. After the last oryx went into the catch, he would follow. It then became a free-for-all for everyone else! It was an amazing sight to watch this organization and underlying hierarchical chain commence. That male looked after his group, and for that they were rewarded every day by getting to have the first pick of the food.

The dynamics have changed a little in the past few months because our oryx and addaxes were sent to Tunisia to be reintroduced into giant protected reserves. The San Diego Zoo acted as in intermediate quarantine holding facility for all of these animals that came from institutions around the world. They were held here until all of the proper medical tests were done and permits were arranged. All of the animals made it safely to Africa, where they now have an incredible amount of space where it will take that male much more time and energy to run the show, compared to hanging out by a door flinching his head. I wish him well!

Adam Ruble is a keeper at the San Diego Zoo.

Read Adam’s previous blog, Caring for Hoofed Animals…

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