Have you ever wanted to visit the African savanna, inhale the beautiful scents of the grasslands, and watch a stunning sunset while walking beside a herd of elephants? It’s a little tough for most people to get to Africa, but now you can come close to the experience at Denny Sanford Elephant Valley. The newly opened interactive habitat at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park puts visitors at the center of the experience.
What’s unique about Elephant Valley is that Safari Park visitors are surrounded by elephants on both sides and can follow the herd as they march beneath a bridge in the center of the habitat. This gives guests a 360-degree view of these majestic animals as they chew on thorn trees, wade in a lake, or use their mighty tusks to pull treats from high up in the trees. Guests can also get face-to-face with the world’s largest land mammal at viewing windows that put them just inches from the herd.
At Elephant Valley, you can experience elephants from above and below.
Elephant Valley is an immersive experience
Marco Wendt, wildlife ambassador for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, hopes the immersive experience inspires visitors to support conservation efforts in Africa.
“We want to connect the guests, the people around the world, here in San Diego, to our projects out in Africa,” Wendt told Upworthy. “Garner that empathy, that understanding of elephants, so we can all work together.”
Wendt’s message is important, considering African savanna elephants are listed as Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species. This is due in large part to the rise of human-elephant conflict across the continent.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s commitment to conservation is especially apparent in the three elephants of the eight-member herd that were saved from being culled in Swaziland.
“We were able to help out by offering this massive space that we have here at the Safari Park and rescue the three 36-year-old adult females that you see here today,” Wendt said. “You’ll see those 36-year-old adults, but the youngest, is seven years old. So we have generations of grandma, aunties, daughters, and a little boy.”
Which elephants live at Elephant Valley?
The herd at Elephant Valley consists of eight elephants: matriarch Swazi, 36; Umngani, 36; Ndlulamitsi (Ndlula), 36; Khosi, 19; Phakamile (Kami), 18; Qinisa (Nisa), 13; young male Umzula-Zuli (Zuli), 7; and Mkhaya, 7. The herd’s founding members—Swazi, Ndlula, and Umngani—were rescued in 2003.
To recreate the African savanna, a team of horticulturists and arborists worked together to replicate the region’s smells and sounds. The team grew more than 350 individual plants for Elephant Valley, including African thorn trees, a common food source for elephants.
Ultimately, Elephant Valley is about strengthening the connection between elephants and humans.
“I want everyone here to gain some kind of empathy and understanding of this majestic animal, to leave the Safari Park with a little bit of hope, knowing that they were part of something bigger than themselves,” Wendt said. “I don’t care if you’re the emperor of the world or a kid from the barrio, that this is going to be for everyone, and we all have the opportunity to change the world together.”
