I have mixed feelings about zoos.  I don’t do well in a caged environment myself, so always feel very sorry for the individual animals that live their lives there, but at the same time I can recognize the excellent educational and conservation work that the zoos do.  So maybe the good of the many outweighs the good of the few??  In general I rather avoid zoos since I find them depressing, but the San Diego Zoo has an excellent reputation and is world famous for it’s work and it’s animals, so I thought I’d give it a try.

I started my day out with a stroll along the beach with coffee near where I was staying in Capistrano.  My cold symptoms are much better, but I have a bit of bronchitis now, so I’m not sure if the sea air was good or bad for me — but it was a beautiful beach anyway.

I’m told that the zoo covers about 100 acres in Balboa Park in San Diego, and houses about 3,700 animals of about 650 species and subspecies.  The zoo itself is certainly a bit of a maze, and the maps provided were an absolute necessity for getting around.  It would be nearly impossible to get lost for long, however, because of the remarkable number of staff and volunteers stationed at every intersection and wandering thoughout the park.  Every time I stopped and looked  a bit confused, one of them was there asking if they could help me!  Truly, it was quite amazing, and I think it showed the love that the community has for the zoo!  There were often keepers at the exhibits to explain the animals’ behavior, where they came from, their current breeding status, and what enrichment activities they liked.  Frequently the keepers would explain in detail the personality of the individual animals, showing how closely they know and care for them.

The rest of this post is mainly going to be pictures of some of the many animals I liked there, loosely in the order that I saw them.  I’d have to say that they were all extremely healthy looking, and in general seemed quite happy and energetic in spite of the mid day heat, so my fears about being made sad by their entrapment were mostly unfounded.

Zebra on a mission.

Grizzly Bear without much grizzle.

Giraffe nursery play time.

 

Cheetah, with dog companion.

Many people getting excited by the sight of an exotic koala!!

Elephants just being big.

The elephant care facility where grooming and health checks take place, also being big.

There were a wide variety of antelope, but I liked these dainty ones best.  They look like they know they’re prey, don’t they?

Serval kitty.

Meerkats!

Meerkat who needs a beer while he watches TV.

Polar Bear playing in imported snow.

Mother and daughter hippos.

The most beautiful Mexican Jaguar in the world!!

El Tigre, sleepy.

Lions being all majestic and stuff.

Okapi!

And I wrapped up the day in the reptile house, where I found this green tree python.  So pretty, green, and squeezy!

The zoo also runs a safari park that I was tempted to visit, but since my bronchitis has me sounding a bit lethal, I decided that no one would greatly appreciate being confined in a truck with me for several hours while we did the tour.  So maybe next time.

San Diego in general has left me with a really nice impression, however.  It’s a much smaller, more rational, and easier to navigate city than Los Angeles, while still having great weather and facilities and things to see and do.  Yeah, I like it a lot more than I thought I would!