San Diego Zoo

The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a private nonprofit conservation organization, and has one of the largest zoological membership associations in the world, with more than 250,000 member households and 130,000 child memberships, representing more than a half million people.

The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in the concept of open-air, cageless exhibits that recreate natural animal habitats. For decades, the zoo housed and successfully bred giant pandas, with the largest giant panda population outside China, before the pandas were repatriated to China in 2019.

With more than 4 million visitors in 2018, San Diego Zoo is the most visited zoo in the United States. Travelers have also cited it as one of the best zoos in the world. The San Diego Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

History

The San Diego Zoo grew out of exotic animal exhibitions abandoned after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition.Christman (1985), p. 67 Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth founded the Zoological Society of San Diego, meeting October 2, 1916, which initially followed precedents set by the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo. He served as president of the society until 1941. A permanent tract of land in Balboa Park was set aside in August 1921; on the advice of the city attorney, it was agreed that the city would own all the animals and the zoo would manage them. The zoo began to move in the following year. In addition to the animals from the Exposition, the zoo acquired a menagerie from the defunct Wonderland Amusement Park. Ellen Browning Scripps financed a fence around the zoo so that it could begin charging an entrance fee to offset costs.Christman (1985), p. 68 The publication ''ZooNooz'' commenced in early 1925.

Animal collector Frank Buck went to work as director of the San Diego Zoo on June 13, 1923, signed to a three-year contract by Wegeforth. William T. Hornaday, director of the Bronx Zoo, had recommended Buck for the job, but Buck quickly clashed with the strong-willed Wegeforth and left the zoo after three months to return to animal collecting.

After several other equally short-lived zoo directors, Wegeforth appointed the zoo's bookkeeper, Belle Benchley, to the position of executive secretary, in effect zoo director; she was given the actual title of zoo director a few years later. She served as zoo director from 1925 until 1953. For most of that time she was the only female zoo director in the world. She was succeeded as director by Dr. Charles Schroeder.

The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in building "cageless" exhibits. Wegeforth was determined to create moated exhibits from the start, and the first lion area at the San Diego Zoo without enclosing wires opened in 1922.

Until the 1960s, admission for children under 16 was free, regardless of whether they were accompanied by a paying adult.

The zoo's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES) was founded in 1975 at the urging of Kurt Benirschke, who became its first director. CRES was renamed the division of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species in 2005 to better reflect its mission. In 2009, CRES was significantly expanded to become the Institute for Conservation Research.

The world's only albino koala in a zoological facility was born September 1, 1997, at the San Diego Zoo and was named Onya-Birri, which means "ghost boy" in an Australian Aboriginal language. The San Diego Zoo has the largest number of koalas outside of Australia.

In 2014, a colony of African penguins arrived for the first time in the zoo since 1979. They have since moved into Africa Rocks when it opened in 2017.

In 2016, Baba, the last pangolin on display in North America at the time, died at the zoo.

In October 2020, two gorillas charged at the glass of their enclosure, damaging the outer pane.

Escapes

The San Diego Zoo has had a number of notable escapees through the years; the most noteworthy of them is Ken Allen, a Bornean orangutan who came to be known as "the hairy Houdini", for his many escapes.

In 1940, a Malayan Tapir managed to escape several times, earning it the nickname "Terrible Trudy".

In 1977, an animal control officer for the County of San Diego, Tom Van Wagner, a previous employee of the San Diego Zoo as a tour bus guide, captured a Tasmanian devil escapee in a south central San Diego home's garage. The animal was transported to the zoo and the zoo hospital staff took possession of the capture.

In March 2013, the zoo, which was hosting a private party at the time, had to initiate a lockdown when two striped hyenas somehow got past their barriers. They were "darted with a sedative and taken to the veterinary care clinic."

In 2014, a koala named Mundu escaped to a neighboring tree just outside its Koalafornia Australia Outback enclosure. Zookeepers lured him down the tree once the park closed that day.

In early 2015, two Wolf's guenons monkeyed around outside of their Lost Forest enclosure after escaping. One of the monkeys neared a fence line off of Route 163, but was brought back to safety without injury.

Features

The zoo offers a guided tour bus that traverses 75% of the park. There is also an overhead gondola lift called the Skyfari, providing an aerial view of the zoo. The Skyfari was built in 1969 by the Von Roll tramway company of Bern, Switzerland. The San Diego Zoo Skyfari is a Von Roll type 101.

Exhibits at the zoo are often designed around a particular habitat. The same exhibit may feature many different animals that can be found side by side in the wild, along with native plant life. Exhibits range from an African rain forest (featuring gorillas) to the Arctic taiga and tundra in the summertime (featuring polar bears). Some of the largest free-flight aviaries in existence are here, including the Owens Aviary and the Scripps Aviary. Many exhibits are "natural", with invisible wires and darkened blinds (to view birds), and accessible pools and open-air moats (for large mammals).

The San Diego Zoo also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which displays animals in a more expansive, open setting than at the zoo. Animals are regularly exchanged between the two locations, as well as between San Diego Zoo and other zoos around the world, usually in accordance with Species Survival Plan recommendations. San Diego Zoo has one of the world's largest and most diverse animal collections; however, the number of animal species held has reduced over the past two decades from 860 to approximately 650. This comes as exhibits are redeveloped into larger, more natural displays, and as a number of animals are transitioned to San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

The temperate, sunny maritime climate of California is well suited to many plants and animals. Besides an extensive collection of birds, reptiles, and mammals, it also maintains its grounds as an arboretum, with a rare plant collection. The zoo is also an accredited botanical garden; the botanical collection includes more than 700,000 exotic plants. As part of its gardening effort, some rare animal foods are grown at the zoo. For example, 40 varieties of bamboo were raised for the pandas when they were at the zoo on long-term loan from China. It also maintains 18 varieties of eucalyptus trees to feed its koalas.

At the La Jolla Cove is home to both harbor seals and sea lions.

Keepers and most other employees at the San Diego Zoo are members of Teamsters Union Local 481.

Exhibits

The zoo is expected to open a new exhibit, the Sanford's Children Zoo, sometime in 2021.

Monkey Trail and Forest Tales

Monkey Trails showcases primates and other animals native to the tropical and semi-tropical rainforests of Asia and Africa. Opening in 2005, it replaced a decades-old area of exhibits known as Bird and Primate Mesa. These were some of the oldest animal "houses" still in use (at the time) at the San Diego Zoo, being built in the 1930s, with little to no change until demolition for Monkey Trails. In addition to a few small bird aviaries and a troop of siamang apes living on a treehouse in the center of a pond, the site was centered around two square buildings; these plain structures contained many small exhibits lined up, one after another, on all four sides. One of the buildings was focused on monkeys, while the other was mainly songbirds, parrots, and tropical avian species. There had been a few efforts at landscaping these cages; however, the monkeys notably lived in bleak, "prison-cell" like cages. A number of Zoo members and guests left comments over the years regarding the exhibits and their lack of plant life, the (apparent) lack of enrichment for the monkeys and, mostly, the appearance of cement "cell blocks" as exhibits. The construction and debut of Monkey Trails and Forest Tails was undoubtedly a massive improvement, enriching for visitors but especially for the animals.

Monkey Trails is home primarily to monkeys such as the Angolan colobus, lion-tailed macaque, tufted capuchin, red-tailed monkey, DeBrazza's monkey, spot-nosed guenon, Douc langur and a group of colorful mandrill. There is also a pair of pygmy hippopotamus named Elgon and Mabel, who share their underwater-viewing pond with a large school of African cichlids and tilapia. On April 9, 2020 (during lockdown from COVID-19), after weeks of anticipation, Mabel gave birth to Akobi, a male calf. His birth marked the first pygmy hippo born at the zoo in nearly thirty years. They also share their enclosure with Wolf's mona monkeys.

Throughout the walking paths, visitors can also see West African slender-snouted crocodiles, different species of turtle, snake, lizards, and various African freshwater fish; these different animals live in a series of densely-planted paludarium- and riparium-style exhibits, complete with thick glass panels for close-up animal encounters. In smaller vivarium and terrarium exhibits, other reptiles such as pancake tortoises, Gaboon vipers, puff adders and Schneider's skinks can be seen. Monkey Trails utilized a newer concept for the displaying of arboreal animals; by making the exhibits two storeys high, with stairs, walkways and elevators for access, the habits of animals can be observed from ground level as well as from the treetops. Some of the horticultural highlights of Monkey Trails include several massive Banyan fig (Ficus) trees (viewable in public areas as well as in animal exhibits), cycads, and a bog garden with Sarracenia, Drosera, Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants.

Owens Aviary

The Owens Aviary contains about 200 individual tropical birds from around 45 species, mainly from Australasia, Oceania and Papua New Guinea. The aviary is built onto the side of an approx. 60' high canyon wall, being accessible via an entry/exit at the uppermost level and another at the lower end of the aviary (essentially the canyon floor). The walkway inside the aviary connects these entryways as it ascends and descends with the natural slope. The naturally steep location proves to be perfect for the exhibit's waterfall, which cascades downhill through the aviary before splashing down into a large pond. The ambient white noise of the waterfall is quite noticeable, but relaxing and tranquil, rather than very loud. The waterfall churns up mist, and a cool steam fills the aviary with ambient humidity; additionally, the outside of the structure is painted a dark green color, which helps to block any excess sunlight from penetrating inside. This further gives visitors the feeling of walking through a lush, dense jungle.

The entire aviary is lushly landscaped and thick with palms, ficus, ''Araceae'' species (such as ''Monstera deliciosa'' and ''Thaumatophyllum''), ''Clivia'' sp., ferns and many more varieties. The varied collection of bird life includes the Chinese hwamei, eclectus parrot, black-naped fruit doves, common emerald doves, red-billed leiothrix, Victoria crowned pigeons, Bali myna, Nicobar pigeons, the blue-crowned laughingthrush, white-rumped shamas, the maleo, Himalayan monal and great argus pheasants.

Scripps Aviary

The Scripps Aviary is home to many colorful birds from Africa such as the violet-backed starling, African grey parrots, blue-bellied rollers, tambourine doves, great blue turacos, hamerkops, superb starlings, black-headed weavers, white-headed buffalo weavers, white-faced whistling ducks, African spoonbills, Madagascar crested ibises and southern bald ibises.

Parker Aviary

The Parker Aviary houses various birds from South America including Andean cock-of-the-rocks, blue-crowned motmots, blue-headed macaws, crested oropendola, Inca terns, keel-billed toucans, ringed teals, sunbitterns and toco toucans. It is situated next to a complex of 20 smaller aviaries previously known as Wings of Australasia, exhibiting tropical birds from Southeast Asia and the Pacific. San Diego Zoo has the largest collection of birds in North America. Together the zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park hold America's most diverse collection of hornbills, with 15 species displayed in 2014.

Panda Canyon

As of April 2019, the panda exhibit is not in operation. The zone was previously called Giant Panda Research Station. The pandas were repatriated to China after successfully serving the larger conservation effort for pandas.

In the past, the San Diego Zoo was one of four zoos in the U.S. which had giant pandas on display, and was the most successful in terms of panda reproduction. The first two giant panda cubs in U.S. history to have been born in the U.S. and survive into adulthood—Hua Mei (female, born to Bai Yun and Shi Shi) and Mei Sheng (male, born to Bai Yun and Gao Gao)—were born at the San Diego Zoo, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. After that, three more giant panda cubs— Su Lin and Zhen Zhen (both females) and Yun Zi (meaning "little gift"), was born on July 29, 2012, and was let outside for visitors to see on January 9, 2013. All of the cubs have since been sent back to China to participate in the breeding program there.

In addition to being able to view this rare animal species, the nearby Giant Panda Discovery Center had interactive exhibits that let the visitor experience firsthand what the animals smell and sound like. Since the closing of Panda Trek, there are now exhibits of other Chinese animals, including golden takin, red pandas, Mangshan pit vipers, and an exhibit comparing several types of bamboo. There is also a feline area, featuring the critically endangered Amur leopard and snow leopards. The leopards' enclosures are located on both sides of the public walkway, and are connected with elevated climbing tunnels which arch over visitors at a height of about 20'. In addition to perfect photo opportunities, this exhibit provides stimulating enrichment for the leopards, who can be seen patrolling the tunnels and people-watching from above.

Throughout the 1980s, this part of the zoo also housed the first group of snub-nosed monkeys outside of their native China.

Urban Jungle

The Urban Jungle houses different animals including a small herd of Masai giraffes, Soemmerring's gazelles, American flamingos, a Grant's zebra, a miniature Mediterranean donkey and cheetahs. Many of the Zoo's animal ambassadors live there including a binturongs, fennec foxes, Cape porcupines, southern three-banded armadillos, and southern ground hornbills. The giraffes living here are on what was Elephant Mesa. There is also a theater where the zoo has its "Animals in Action" show.

Polar Bear Plunge

Polar Bear Plunge, which opened in 1996, and was renovated in March 2010, houses over 30 species representing the Arctic. The main animals in the area are the three polar bears, named Kalluk, Chinook, and Tatqiq. More animals that make their home in the Plunge include reindeer (or caribou), Canada lynx and black-billed magpies. An underwater viewing area is available to observe the polar bears swimming in their pool.

Farther down the path lies the arctic aviary, home to diving ducks including buffleheads, harlequin ducks, redheads, smews, Eurasian wigeons, northern pintails, canvasbacks, mallards, cinnamon teals, hooded mergansers and ruddy ducks. The aviary houses more than 25 species of duck. Some of the horticultural highlights include giant redwood trees, many different pine trees, and manzanita.

Just up the path of Polar Bear Plunge is Northwest passage, housing mountain lions, maned wolves, Patagonian maras, giant anteaters, gerenuk, bontebok, Grévy's zebras, lesser kudu, Speke's gazelles, Chacoan peccaries, as well as the Eagle Canyon, home to Andean condors, harpy eagles, ornate hawk eagles and Steller's sea eagles.

Wildlife Explorers Basecamp

The San Diego Zoo spreads the word of animal conservation through education. The zoo has added a new exhibit called The Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. It has lots of new animals that kids would not normally be able to interact with. This can include prairie dogs, axolotls, or alligators. Kids can learn about these animals, play in the water fountain, climb the tree house, or scramble through the play areas. The zoo wants to provide active thinking through these activities to benefit the animals. There are 4 main zones in the basecamp that feature wildlife that live in the 4 main ecosystems: Desert Dunes, Wild Woods, Marsh Meadows, and The Rainforest.

The Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is located in the southeastern corner of the zoo, near the entrance. It is where the reptile house is located along with the new reptile walk. Inside is the children's zoo and the Discovery Playground.

There is a petting zoo, called the petting paddock, which is home to different breeds of sheep and goats. This is where people, mostly kids, can have more interaction with the animals. There is also a Fisher-Price Discovery Playground, perfect for kids who want to have some fun and play. The children's zoo is under renovation along with the Komodo dragon and hummingbird exhibits.

Other animals in the Children's Zoo include great horned owls, black-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls, naked mole rats, fennec foxes, South American coatis, common squirrel monkeys, Burmese star tortoises, southern tamanduas and prehensile-tailed porcupines.

Hummingbird Habitat

A small aviary that includes 3 species of hummingbirds, the Anna's, Costa's, and Honduran emerald hummingbirds, along with golden-collared manakins, various tanagers, violaceous euphonias, purple honeycreepers and spangled cotingas.

Spineless Marvels

The zoo's insect house with an insect collection including live insects: Central American giant cave cockroaches, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, leafcutter ants, Goliath beetles, giant dead leaf mantises, ghost mantises, two-spotted assassin bugs, giant African millipedes, giant desert hairy scorpions, golden silk orb-weavers, Antilles pinktoe tarantulas, Brazilian black tarantulas, Mexican fireleg tarantulas, golden-eyed stick insects, goliath stick insects, jungle nymphs, thorny devil stick insects and western honey bees.

Cool Critters

This building houses fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Some of the species housed here are axolotl, Chinese giant salamanders, eastern hooded scaly-foot, leopard geckos, Indonesian blue-tongued skinks, common chuckwallas, yellow-spotted river turtles, freshwater angelfish, giant danios, pinktail chalceus, threadfin acara, multiple Lake Malawi cichlids, South American lungfish and sunburst diving beetles.

Reptile Walk

Previously called Reptile Mesa, the Reptile Walk houses small outdoor yards, one housing European species like European pond turtles, marginated tortoises, scheltopusiks and ocellated lizards while the other contains African species, radiated tortoises, Sudan plated lizards and yellow-throated plated lizards.

Walking down the path leads to a building split in two. One side contains terrariums for amphibians such as the Amazon milk frog, Panamanian golden frog, brown mantella, magnificent tree frog, fire salamander, Kaiser's mountain newt and many species of poison dart frog including the dyeing poison dart frog, green and black poison dart frog, black-legged poison frog and splashback poison frog. The other side contains native Californian species like the Colorado River toad, California kingsnake, coastal rosy boa, Baja California rat snake, San Diego gopher snake and giant horned lizard.

The walkway then passes an enclosure for the endangered Chinese alligator and afterwards is a building housing turtles, including broad-shelled river turtles, Roti Island snake-necked turtles, Argentine snake-necked turtles, red-headed Amazon River turtle

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