Safari Park
San Diego Zoo Safari Park
Escondido
An 1,800 acre zoo that houses more than 2,600 animals in free-range enclosures that allow you to see the animals up close on safari excursions
The SD Experience
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is an amazing 1,800 acre zoo that houses more than 2,600 animals in free-range enclosures. It is unlike most other zoos because you can choose from several adventures to see the animals up close in their own habitats. The Africa Tram tour brings visitors to the field exhibits to see wildlife from different parts of Africa. The park has also added a tethered balloon ride that allows visitors to see the plains exhibits from 400 feet in the air. The balloon ride is not included in the entrance fee. If you're looking for something even more exhilarating, then you should try the Flightline Safari, which is a zip line flight that will take you 130 feet above the ground and provide a bird's-eye view of the rhinos, giraffes and other wildlife. This trip is two thirds of a mile long and reservations need to be made in advance.
Species of note in the open enclosures include two subspecies of giraffe and rhinos. The park has the world's most successful breeding program for southern white rhinos. They also house gaur, vultures, markhor, and many species of antelope, gazelle, and deer.
The Lion Camp houses the park's thirteen African lions in a 1-acre exhibit. One side of the enclosure is dominated by an artificial rock which has a 40-foot-long glass viewing window and heated rocks. The path continues along an acacia-studded ravine and leads to a replica observation tent. This has a smaller viewing window as well as a Land Rover for the lions to rest on. During the summer months, you can make reservations to stay overnight and camp near the lions. It's quite an experience to be sleeping under the stars and hearing the lions roar!
History
The San Diego Zoological Society became interested in developing the Wild Animal Park in 1964. The idea of the park began as a supplementary breeding facility for the San Diego Zoo, which would allow ample space for large animals and ungulates. The development proposed would differ significantly from that of a typical zoo in that animals would be exhibited in a natural environment rather than in cages. The Wild Animal Park officially opened on May 10, 1972 and changed the name to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in 2010.
In the summer of 2003, the San Diego Zoological Society and Lowry Park Zoo orchestrated the capture of 11 wild African elephants from the Hlane Royal National Park in Swaziland. The zoos said the animals were scheduled to be killed due to overpopulation. Five of these elephants are now at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and cumulatively they have produced thirteen babies. In March 2012 five elephants were moved to the Reid Park Zoo in Tucson, Arizona, to form a new herd. A bull elephant, two cows, and two baby bulls were moved and in return two cow elephants that had been together for years. Connie, an Asian elephant, and Shaba, an African elephant, were sent to the San Diego Zoo. Connie died from cancer in July 2012 just five months after the move. Shaba was slowly introduced into the herd in February 2013.
The California wildfires that officially started on October 21, 2007, burned 600 acres of native habitat preserved in the park and caused it to temporarily close. The park also moved many of their endangered animals out of danger. The fire did not reach any of the main enclosures, and no animals were killed directly by the fire, although deaths of a clapper rail and kiang were attributed to indirect effects of the blaze.