As construction for Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey was underway, both the elephants and the San Diego Zoo found a new ambassador in Rick Schwartz. Rick was a keeper in the Children's Zoo and had a passion for wildlife conservation, and he was soon in front of the camera as the San Diego Zoo Elephant Odyssey Ambassador.

One of the key aspects of the new Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey was a variety custom-designed and created, life-sized sculptures of extinct species that lived in Southern California during the Pleistocene. The statues were created in the Midwest and needed to be transported to San Diego. As a preview of upcoming attractions before the exhibit opened, the statues went on the road—literally, trucked on an open flat-bed and making various media stops along the way, along with Elephant Odyssey Ambassador Rick Schwartz. You can imagine the looks from other drivers on the freeway!

The media tour route for the Elephant Odyssey statues had to be carefully planned—the mammoth, at life size, barely fit under some road signs and freeway overpasses!

2009

End Extinction 2007 - 2016

Getting ready for Elephant Odyssey: Ambassador Rick Schwartz talked to visitors and media about the new exhibit—and went on the road to help bring back the cool extinct species statues!

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