The Famous San Diego Zoo

by Lucille Linhares

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.

Bus tours were started in the year 1926. These buses were manned by experts and they would provide facts and figures about the animals to the enthusiastic visitors as the bus passed them. These buses also provided an opportunity for the underprivileged children to see the zoo. The zoo continued to flourish until the World War II. World war II forced the Board of Directors of the zoo to start doubting its viability.

After the war drought, more visitors than ever returned to the zoo, especially in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the zoo’s attendance jumped to two million visitors a year! As always, the zoo’s main fan base was with the children in and around the San Diego area. From school trips to afternoon treats, the children of California love their zoo.

In the 1970s and 1980s when the animal expert and goodwill ambassador Joan Embery made his appearances of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson the zoo gained immense popularity. More visitors started visiting the zoo after watching these memorable appearances.

At the same time the focus of the zoo also changed from merely being a place showing animals to one that cared for the welfare of animals all over the world. The zoo's breeding programs and efforts to provide natural habitats for animals were an effort in this direction.

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 owner of F san diego, the web's premier resource for information about san diego. For more articles on san diego visit: http://www.fsandiego.com/articles
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