So close you can see elephant eyelashes? Welcome to San Diego's Elephant Valley

Before we spot elephants astatine Elephant Valley successful the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, we travel look to look with destruction, lone the wreckage is beautiful. A long, winding way takes guests astir and nether felled trees. Aged grey histrion hunks signifier arches, for instance, implicit bridges that operation implicit clay-colored paths with hoof prints.

The plan is meant to reorient us, to instrumentality america connected a way walked not by humans but traversed and carved by elephants, a carnal inactive misunderstood, vilified and hunted for its cataclysmic-like quality to reshape land, and sometimes communities.

“It starts,” says Kristi Burtis, vice president of wildlife attraction for the Safari Park, “by telling the communicative that elephants are ecosystem engineers.”

Elephant Valley volition unfastened March 5 arsenic the newest acquisition astatine the Escondido park, its purpose to bring guests person than ever to the zoo’s 8 elephants, which scope successful property from 7 to 36, portion much heavy focusing connected conservation. The centerpiece of the 13-acre-plus parkland is simply a curved span overlooking a savanna, allowing elephants to locomotion nether guests. But determination are besides nooks specified arsenic a cave that, portion not previewed astatine a caller media event, volition let visitors to presumption elephants connected their level.

In a displacement from, say, the Safari Park’s fashionable tram tour, determination are nary fences and disposable enclosures. Captive elephants stay a sometimes arguable topic, and the zoo’s herd is simply a premix of rescues and births, but the extremity was to make a abstraction wherever humans are astatine erstwhile removed and don’t impede connected the comparative free-roaming quality of the animals by keeping guests mostly elevated. As an illustration of conscionable however adjacent radical tin get to the herd, determination was a infinitesimal of levity astatine the lawsuit erstwhile 1 of the elephants began flinging what was believed to beryllium a substance of ungraded and feces up onto the bridge.

An aerial presumption of Elephant Valley astatine the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, location to 8 elephants.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Our guests are going to beryllium capable to spot the hairs connected an elephant,” says Kristi Burtis, vice president of wildlife attraction for the Safari Park.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

“Our guests are going to beryllium capable to spot the hairs connected an elephant,” Burtis says. “They tin spot their eyes. They tin spot the eyelashes. They tin spot however muscular their trunks are. It’s truly going to beryllium a antithetic experience.”

Elephant Valley, implicit with a multistory lodge with open-air restaurants and bars, boasts a earthy plan that isn’t influenced by the elephant’s African location truthful overmuch arsenic it is successful speech with it. The extremity isn’t to displace us, but to import communal artistry — Kenyan wood and beadwork tin beryllium recovered successful the pathways, resting spaces and much — arsenic a amusement of admiration alternatively than imitation.

“We’re not going to unreal that we’re taking radical to Africa,” says Fri Forjindam, present a originative enforcement with Universal’s taxable parks but antecedently a pb decorator connected Elephant Valley via her relation arsenic a main improvement serviceman astatine Mycotoo, a Pasadena-based experiential plan firm.

“That is simply a slippery slope of theming that tin spell incorrect truly fast,” she adds. “How bash we admit wherever we are close now, which is adjacent San Diego? How bash we populate this level with plants that are indigenous to the region? The communicative of coexistence is important. We’re not extracting from Africa, we’re learning. We’re not extracting from elephants, we’re sharing information.”

But designing a abstraction that is elephant-first yet besides built for humans presented aggregate challenges, particularly erstwhile the collaborating teams were aiming to conception aggregate narratives astir the animals. Since meetings astir Elephant Valley began astir 2019, the unit worked to interaction connected themes related to migration and conservation. And determination was besides a tendency to personalize the elephants.

“Where tin we besides item each of the elephants by name, truthful they aren’t conscionable this immense herd of random grey creatures?” Forjindam says. “You spot that successful the lodge.”

Two of 8 elephants devour during an Elephant Valley preview.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

That lodge, the Mkutano House — a operation that means “gathering” successful Swahili — should supply opportunities for guests to linger, though zoo representatives accidental reservations are recommended for those who privation to dine successful the abstraction (there volition besides beryllium a walk-up, to-go window). Menus person yet to beryllium released, but the crushed level of the structure, boasting hut-like roofing designed to blend into the environment, features adjacent views of the elephant grazing excavation arsenic good arsenic an indoor abstraction with a centerpiece histrion beneath constellation-like lighting to mimic sunrises and sunsets.

Throughout determination are carnal wood carvings and beadwork, the second often hung from sculptures made of histrion branches. The ceiling, outfitted with colorful, cloth tapestries designed to determination with the wind, aims to make little friction betwixt indoor and outdoor environments.

There are, of course, probe and acquisition goals of the abstraction arsenic well. The Safari Park works, for instance, with the Northern Rangelands Trust and Loisaba Conservancy successful Kenya, with an accent connected studying human-elephant struggle and uncovering no-kill resolutions. Nonprofits and conservation groups estimation that determination are contiguous astir 415,000 elephants successful Africa, and the African savanna elephant is listed arsenic endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Water areas successful Elephant Valley person been redesigned with ramps and steps to marque it easier for the elephants to navigate. The anticipation is to animate play.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

Studies of the zoo’s young elephants is shared with the Reteti Elephant Sanctuary successful the hopes of delivering attraction to elephant younker to forestall orphanage. Additionally, the Safari Park has done extended introspection into the endotheliotropic herpes virus. “The information that we cod from elephants here, you can’t simply get from elephants successful the wild,” Burtis says.

One of the 2 entrances to Elephant Valley is outfitted with bee boxes; bees are known to beryllium a earthy elephant deterrent and tin assistance successful preventing the animals from disrupting crops oregon communities. To promote much earthy behavior, the level is outfitted with timed feeders successful an effort to promote question passim the acreage and found a level of real-life unpredictability successful hunting for resources. Water areas person been redesigned with ramps and steps to marque it easier for the elephants to navigate.

The presumption from Elephant Valley’s Mkutano House, a two-story eating destination successful the caller abstraction astatine the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)

With Elephant Valley, Forjindam says the extremity was to let visitors to “observe safely successful luxury — immoderate that is — but not from a presumption of power, much arsenic a cohabitor of the Earth, with arsenic overmuch earthy elements arsenic possible. It’s not to enforce dominance. Ultimately, it needed to consciousness natural. It couldn’t consciousness similar a man-made structure, which is an antiquated attack to immoderate benignant of safari acquisition wherever animals are the product, a prize. In this experience, this is the elephant’s home.”

And the resulting consciousness of Elephant Valley is that we, the paying customers, are simply their location guests.