SAN DIEGO ZOO'S ELEPHANT ODYSSEY RECEIVES NATIONAL AWARDS FOR EXHIBIT DESIGN AND MARKETING

    The Association of Zoos and Aquariums  (AZA) announced that the San Diego Zoo's Elephant Odyssey received awards for significant achievement in exhibit design and top honors in marketing for budgets over $175,000.

     "The San Diego Zoo is leading the way in exhibit design and promotion," said AZA president and CEO Jim Maddy. "These awards provide well-deserved national recognition to the San Diego Zoo's dedication to the best in animal care and public education."

     The exhibit began with an idea to build a new home for the San Diego Zoo's elephants and became an extraordinary $45-million project that took four years to create. The Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey spans 12,000 years, 7.5 acres and is home to more than 35 species of animals, some of which have been around since the Pleistocene epoch.

     "To see the same diversity of animals when mammoths and saber-toothed cats roamed Southern California, you would need to travel the world," said John Dunlap, director of the San Diego Zoo. "Elephant Odyssey offers fun, up-close animal encounters with elephants and jaguars, relatives of those now-extinct animals."

     Elephant Odyssey is the San Diego Zoo's largest exhibit undertaken at one time. The cornerstone species of Elephant Odyssey is the elephant. Instead of the Columbian mammoth that wandered through San Diego thousands of years ago, Asian elephants meander a 2.5-acre exhibit that includes a 137,000-gallon pool, gentle rolling hills, hidden drinkers and feeders to entice foraging, and the half-acre Conrad Prebys Elephant Care Center.

     For the first time, special viewing at the Elephant Care Center provides guests with an insider's view, seeing keepers and veterinarians using protected contact and a positive animal-management style to work alongside elephants. The animals have access to heaters, shelter and shade during inclement weather, while some areas in the care center include a floor with rubber coating for medical care.

     Founded in 1924, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. Look for the AZA logo whenever you visit a zoo or aquarium as your assurance that you are supporting a facility dedicated to providing excellent care for animals, a great experience for you, and a better future for all living things. The AZA is a leader in global wildlife conservation, and your link to helping animals in their native habitats. The AZA Exhibit Award recognizes excellence in the area of live animal display and exhibit design by an AZA-accredited facility. The Excellence in Marketing Award recognizes marketing campaigns developed and executed by its AZA member institutions. Campaigns must utilize a marketing mix with a minimum of three communication channels, such as television, radio, print advertising, outdoor, internet, direct mail, etc.