Are you a fan of Zoos?

I like to consider myself a wildlife enthusiast and explorer, so I generally steer clear of Zoos and Aquariums. Mostly because I just prefer to see animals in the wild, but partially because I have seen enough captive animals over the years to know that not all Zoos and Aquariums are created equal.

Some Zoos, however are doing great things in the name of science, conservation and the re-introduction of endangered plant an animal species into the wild. Once such organization is the San Diego Zoo.

 

When I visited, I had to choose between spending a day at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, or the San Diego Zoo. The ‘Safari Park’ as the name implies is a wide open, outdoor park fashioned to be like the great plains of Africa, where wild animals roam free. As I’ve been on Safari in Africa, I was more curious to see how the original San Diego Zoo was. Could it really live up to the hype I’d heard? After all, many people have claimed it to be the best Zoo in the world!

 

In short, the answer was yes.

There was only one exhibit – one animal – I saw in the San Diego Zoo that seemed to be unhappy. It was a cat, which I briefly saw pacing around in it’s enclosure. Obviously not a natural habit, it was evident that the cat wasn’t perfectly happy. But with that said, it was in a temporary enclosure at the time, so by now it is hopefully roaming around in a bigger space and enjoying life a little more.

 

All the other animals I saw, seemed to be in healthy, happy shape. Many of them were quite active and in most cases they had what seemed to be tons of space, compared to exhibits at some other Zoos I have been to.

I was particularly impressed with the Tiger enclosure.

 

One of the staff members was doing a talk about the Tigers when I arrived and it was evident that they had put a lot of time and effort into making sure the Tigers were staying active and as ‘wild’ as they could be.

The many different kinds of Bears as well as the always fun Meerkats were quite entertaining as well. Even the long wait in line to see the ever-popular Panda Bears was worth it. While the Pandas weren’t exactly putting on an exciting show, the Red Pandas did provide some entertainment during the time in line.

 

A sign that I had a great time was that the day went by fast, I arrived when the Zoo opened at didn’t leave until it was getting ready to close. I had planned to check out more local attractions that day, but in the end I just headed back to my hostel. (If you’re going to San Diego – I stayed at the HI in Point Loma, a really nice place in a quiet part of the city – one of the best hostels I’ve stayed at.)

 

While I’d love to be able to see every animal from the San Diego Zoo in their natural habitat, I know I likely won’t have the chance to travel to so many far flung forests and deserts. If you’re a fan of Zoos, don’t miss the one in San Diego and if you’re not a fan of Zoos, I recommend it any ways just to see how well run a Zoo can be.

It’s easily the best Zoo I’ve been to for both how free the animals seemed and how educated and enthusiastic the staff were.