San Diego Zoo

The world famous San Diego Zoo has been at the forefront of zoological issues since its founding in 1916. Coupled with fantastic public relations opportunities and great press coverage, it is no wonder why millions of visitors flock to the zoo each year. Do not miss any opportunity to see the animals that call the zoo home in all natural environments. The zoo strives to create learning opportunities for both children and adults alike in order to enforce the importance of zoos for the protection of animals.

The San Diego Zoo started with the Panama-California International Expedition back in 1916. Animals from all over the world were brought to Balboa Park in San Diego when Dr. Harry Wegeforth had the idea to make a permanent zoo in the area. After choosing a board of directors consisting of his brother and a standing member of the Natural History Society, Wegeforth created the first meeting in early October 1916 to discuss the development of the zoo.

The San Diego Zoo was finally ready in 1920. The natural canyons and mesas of Balboa Park proved to be a great asset for a zoo that worked within the natural confines to create paddocks and cages. Three years later, two elephants, Empress and Queenie came all the way from India to delight visitors to the budding zoo.

1926 saw the adoption of buses as a method of touring the zoo. Experts would man the buses and provide information and facts about the different animals as the bus passed. Also, the buses were used to provide underprivileged children with a way to see the zoo. The zoo began to thrive until the advent of World War II, when attendance plummeted and the board of directors began to wonder if they could keep the park open.

After the lull period during the war, the zoo saw more visitors than ever before. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the zoo’s attendance went up to two million visitors a year! As always, the zoo became the favorite haunt of children in and around the San Diego area who love to come there with school trips or as afternoon treats with parents.

The San Diego Zoo began to grow in strength during the 1970s and 1980s, especially with animal expert and goodwill ambassador Joan Embery’s appearances of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. These memorable appearances with the king of late night made the zoo more popular than ever, welcoming in more visitors than ever before.

Also during this time, the zoo began to make the transition from a place that shows animals to the public to a place that looks out for the welfare and well being of animals all over the world. By implementing breeding programs and installing natural habitats, the zoo began to shift their focus from the visitors to the animals.

The San Diego Zoo now is a fantastic source of information about the animals from all over the world. Irrespective of your age, you will definitely enjoy a visit to the zoo. You will leave with some useful information about earth and its animal inhabitants.

Lucille Linhares is the webmaster for F san diego, the #1 source on the internet for information about san diego, For questions or comments about this article visit: www.fsandiego.com/articles
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