San Diego Zoo

San Diego Zoo Review

Balboa Park's—and perhaps the city's—most famous attraction is its 100-acre zoo. Nearly 4,000 animals of some 800 diverse species roam in hospitable, expertly crafted habitats that replicate natural environments as closely as possible. The flora in the zoo, including many rare species, is even more costly than the fauna. Walkways wind over bridges and past waterfalls ringed with tropical ferns; elephants in a sandy plateau roam so close you're tempted to pet them.

Exploring the zoo fully requires the stamina of a healthy hiker, but open-air double-decker buses that run throughout the day let you zip through three-quarters of the exhibits on a guided 35- to 40-minute, 3-mi tour. There are also express buses, used for quick transportation, that make five stops around the grounds and include some narration. The Skyfari Aerial Tram, which soars 170 feet above the ground, gives a good overview of the zoo's layout and, on clear days, a panorama of the park, downtown San Diego, the bay, and the ocean, far past the San Diego-Coronado Bridge. Unless you come early, expect to wait for the regular bus, and especially for the top tier—the line can take more than 45 minutes; if you come at midday on a weekend or school holiday, you'll be doing the in-line shuffle for a while.

In any case, the zoo is at its best when you wander its paths, such as the one that climbs through the huge, enclosed Scripps Aviary, where brightly colored tropical birds swoop between branches just inches from your face, and into the neighboring Gorilla Tropics, one of the zoo's bioclimatic zone exhibits, where animals live in enclosed environments modeled on their native habitats. The zones look and sound natural, thanks in part to modern technology: the sounds of the tropical rain forest emerge from a 144-speaker sound system that plays CDs recorded in Africa.

The zoo's simulated Asian rain forest, Tiger River, has 10 exhibits with more than 35 species of animals. The mist-shrouded trails winding down a canyon into Tiger River are bordered by fragrant jasmine, ginger lilies, and orchids, giving you the feeling of descending into an Asian jungle. Tigers, Malayan tapirs, and Argus pheasants wander among the exotic trees and plants. Ituri Forest —a 4-acre African rain forest at the base of Tiger River—lets you glimpse huge but surprisingly graceful hippos frolicking underwater, and buffalo cavorting with monkeys on dry land. In Sun Bear Forest playful beasts constantly claw apart the trees and shrubs that serve as a natural playground for climbing, jumping, and general merrymaking. At the popular and newly remodeled Polar Bear Plunge you can watch the featured animals take a chilly dive, and learn about their arctic lifestyle through a series of interactive exhibits. The lush, tropical environment at Absolutely Apes, where orangutans and siamangs climb, swing, and generally live almost as they would in the wild, is lined with 110-foot-long and 12-foot-high viewing windows that offer a unique opportunity to view these endangered apes close up.

The San Diego Zoo houses the largest number of koalas outside Australia, and they remain major crowd pleasers even though they are overshadowed by the pandas, and especially the baby pandas that result from the work of the zoo's department of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species.

For a hands-on experience there's the Children's Zoo, where goats and sheep beg to be petted. There is one viewer-friendly nursery where you may see various baby animals bottle-feed and sleep peacefully in large cribs. Children can see entertaining creatures of all sorts nearby at the Wegeforth National Park Sea Lion Show in Wegeforth Bowl and at the Wild Ones Show in Hunte Amphitheater, both put on daily.

Joan B. Kroc's Monkey Trails and Forest Tales spans 3 acres representing African and Asian forests. You can follow an elevated trail at treetop level and trek paths on the forest floor, observing some of nature's most unusual and threatened animals and birds, including African mandrills, Asia's clouded leopard, the rare pygmy hippopotamus, Visayan warty pigs from the Philippines, weaver birds that build the most elaborate nests of any species, not to mention flora such as endangered mahogany trees, rare, exotic orchids, and insect-eating plants.

In the Elephant Odyssey exhibit, guests can get a glimpse of what animals lived in Southern California 12,000 years ago and meet their living counterparts. The 7.5-acre, multispecies habitat features elephants, California condors, jaguars, and more.

The zoo rents strollers, wheelchairs, and cameras; it also has a first-aid office, a lost and found, and an ATM. It's best to avert your eyes from the two main gift shops until the end of your visit; you can spend a half day just poking through the wonderful animal-related posters, crafts, dishes, clothing, and toys. There is one guilt-alleviating fact if you buy too much: some of the profits of your purchases go to zoo programs. Audio tours, behind-the-scenes tours, walking tours, tours in Spanish, and tours for people with hearing or vision impairments are available; inquire at the entrance. Lastly, when you've finished here, you haven't seen it all until you've seen the San Diego Safari Park, the zoo's 1,800-acre extension to the north at Escondido.