San Diego Zoo

http://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/

Opened 1916

City: San Diego

Country: USA

State: California

Species 680

Home to more than 3,500 rare and endangered animals, the San Diego Zoo is a world famous conservation organization where visitors view exotic animals in habitat environments. Zoo guests may view rare cuddly looking koalas, reptiles of various shapes and sizes and many more interesting species. 

San Diego Zoo
2920 Zoo Drive
San Diego
CA 92101
USA

Open minimum 9am-5pm

Entrance fee

• Adult 72,- dollars
• Child 62,- Dollars

Annual card (includes San Diego Zoo and Safari Park)

• Adult 149,- dollars
• Child 74,- dollars

There are several daily feeding shows, for the time please ask at the till station.


Historic time line:
 

• 1916:Drs. Harry Wegeforth, Paul Wegeforth, Fred Baker, Joseph C. Thompson and naturalist Frank Stephens hold their first organizational meeting. Articles of incorporation are submitted to the city, park commission, and state. They are duly executed on 12/11/1916. Dr. Wegeforth is president of the Society. The zoo's first animals arrives: "Caesar" a Kodiak bear
• 1917: Founding of the "Junior Zoo" by W.H. Porterfield of the San Diego Sun. Frank Stephens serves as active director of the Zoo. Society assumes responsibility for care of all animals in Balboa Park. Zoo consists of a line of cages along Park Boulevard. First lion cubs born
• 1918: Society enters legal agreement with City of San Diego transferring ownership of all animals, equipment and property to the City in return for jurisdiction over a permanent zoo site (not yet designated).
• 1920: Pits are built for the bears along Park Boulevard. Completed with cement floors in 1921 with funds from the City Council.
• 1921: Zoo's current site is approved by Board of Park Commissioners (140 acres). Nathanial Slaymaker, city planner, draws up plans. Ellen Browning Scripps donates $9,000 for fence. Formal dedication is held.
• 1922: First Guadalupe fur seals arrive. First cage that will house an African leopard is donated by the Hotel-Men's Association. Barless animal grottos are build. 
• 1923: Zoo's grand opening on the the 1st january 1923. First lion grotto constructed. Scripps' flight cage for shore and wading birds is beeing constructed. First Asian elephants, "Empress" and "Queenie", arrive from Bombay Lumber Co. First elephant seal. sun bears and mississippi alligator arrives.
• 1924: Zoo expands to 150 acres. New Bear Grotto completed; houses 5 bears—Kodiak, Black bear, Cinnamon, Himalayan and Malayan Sun bear. Double Tiger Grotto constructed. First exhibit of Sumatran tigers. First chimpanzees "Nina" and "Bondo" arrive as gifts from Ralph Granger.
• 1925: John Spreckles finances a trip to Australia for Zoo Director Tom Faulconer. Koalas "Snugglepot" and "Cuddlepie" are presented as gifts to the children of San Diego from the children of Sydney. (Marks the first foreign exchange. Other animals include: 40 kangaroos, 6 emus, wombats, dingoes, phalangers, birds of paradise, and an echidna.)
• 1927: Large parrot cage built. Peccary pen and warthog pens built.
• 1928: S.C. Charles is hired as keeper and first trainer for sea lions. First black forest cobra "Old Black" on exhibit. "Maggie" and "Jiggs" (two young orangs) arrive from Asia.
• 1929: First Andean condor, "Bum", arrives so does the first Californian condor. First Electus parrot, "Sassy Susie", at the Society and in the U.S.
• 1931: First collecting trip to the Galapagos Islands. A female and a baby fur seal are brought back. First captive birth is in 1934. First gorillas arrive. "Mbongo" and "N'gagi" 
• 1932: First Binturong, "Benny", born in captivity. County Assessor taxes the Zoo $100,000 and attempts to sell animals and property at auction when Zoo defaults. With no bidders the Zoo is declared the property of the State. The State refuses to accept and City Council declares the auction illegal.
• 1933: First Mangabey birth at the Zoo. Galapagos penguins arrive and spend their first spring inside the Reptile House for warmth. First amphibian joins the collection, a giant marine toad.
• 1934: First Baird's tapir, "Mickey" – a female, arrives from Ecuador.
• 1935: Pribilof fur seal arrives. Expidition to bring two Northern Elephant seals from Guadalupe Island, Mexico to the San Diego zoo.
• 1936: First Galapagos albatross, Babirusa and first Sambar deer. First Gray mangabey for the Zoo and first for the U.S. "Puddles" the hippo (born at the Brookfield Zoo 7/8/1935) arrives. First time a hippo is exhibited in a Pacific Coast zoo.
• 1937: A second flight cage, originally called "the Great Eagle cage", is built to house birds of prey on the north side of Primate Mesa. Reptile Mesa is completed with outdoor pits, a Galapagos tortoise enclosure, land tortoise pens and pools for alligators and crocs.
• 1938: Two giraffes arrive, "Lofty" and "Patches". First spectacled bears received.
• 1939: Zoo begins collaborative education program with San Diego schools.
• 1940: First cheetah and Bornean orangutan arrives. First Lesser pandas arrive, reproduce in 1941. First De Brazza's guenons arrive. First offspring 1945.
• 1942: First Andean condor hatched in captivity in U.S.
• 1943: First hippo born at the Zoo
• 1947: New animals at the Zoo: Paradise rifle birds, quetzals, ocellated turkeys, Blesbuck, Greater kudu, Bennett's wallaby and white-headed saki.
• 1948: First artificial insemination of ocellated turkey in the U.S. First captive breeding of the Aruba Island rattlesnake. Giant salamander "Hon Honsaki" arrives from Japan. New birds at the Zoo: Burmeister's cariama and a pair of crested screamers. Construction of new buffalo enclosure: one section for African water buffaloes and another for American bison. Old Buffalo Pastures are remodeled for moose (first time at the Zoo). New flamingo pool built in corner of Zoo.
• 1949: "Albert", "Bouba", and "Bata" arrive; first time three gorillas are raised together. First snow fall in San Diego in 99 years; coincides with arrival of first snow leopards. 
• 1950: First captive breeding of Northern fur seal. First zoo hatching of Florida sandhill crane
• 1951: First Hawaiian monk seal to enter and be exhibited in the Continental U.S.
• 1952: Four koala arrive from Sydney. First black rhinoceros "Sally" arrives from East Africa. 10 new cages for Bird of paradise exhibit. First tuatara arrives from New Zealand
• 1954: First captive breeding of Spectacled langurs and South American bush dogs. First Kiwi arrives from New Zealand. City Council allocates 2 additional acres of Balboa Park land for proposed Children's Zoo.
• 1955: Tasmanian devils arrive from Sydney
• 1956: First Okapi arrives, gift from Belgian government in the Congo. A pair of proboscis monkeys are received from Indonesia, first to be successfully exhibited in the Western hemisphere. First mud-mound nests built by flamingos
• 1957: First captive hatching of Cassowaries at the Zoo (also first in U.S.). First flamingo chick hatched. $150,000 raised for Children's Zoo. New animals: Emperor penguins, reticulated giraffe, Chinese alligator, flying snake.
• 1958: First successful captive breeding of Kea at the Zoo (also first in U.S.). First Galapagos tortoise eggs (5) are discovered in their incubator. The eggs laid 2/16/1958; hatched 10/21/1958. Penguin Pavilion opens. Scripps flight cage is transformed into a walk-through exhibit for shore and wading birds.
• 1959: Zoo receives 4 koalas (1 male, 2 females, and 1 joey in pouch) from NSW to establish a breeding colony. Zoo receives two rare Kagus of New Caledonia 
• 1960: First koala birth in North America. First Bonobo arrives from Africa, "Kakowet". 
• 1961: First hatching in the Western Hemisphere of a Kookaburra. First Hawaiian geese arrive.
• 1962: First Okapi born at Zoo. Zoo receives 2 rare square-lipped White rhinos from the Natal Parks Game and Fish Preservation Board. First Siberian tigers arrive.
• 1963: "Lasai", an Indian rhinoceros, arrives at the Zoo. First Gila monster conceived and hatched in captivity. Zoo receives a pair of Komodo dragons from Surabaja, Java.
• 1965: First Lowland gorilla "Alvila" is born. First Fijian banded iguanas at the Zoo.
• 1966: First 2 female Przewalski's horses arrive from Catskill Game Farm in New York. First Pygmy chimpanzee birth in the U.S. "Linette".
• 1967: First wattled cranes arrive.
• 1968: First U.S. breeding of Superb bird of paradise. Douc langurs arrive.
• 1969: First Przewalski's horse born, "Bolinda". Society president Anderson Borthwick signs agreement with Mayor Frank Curran to establish wildlife preserve on San Diego City land. Ground breaking for development of 1,800 acres leased by the San Diego Zoo for development of a "natural environment zoo" in San Pasqual the 14th may.
• 1970: First Russian saigas arrive. Wild Animal Park receives South African sable antelope, greater kudu, and first gemsbok. San Diego community votes on Wild Animal Park plan. $6 million bond issue is approved by 75.9% of voters. 3 cheetahs born at the Zoo. Zoo's first Pygmy hippo birth.
• 1971: Southern white rhinoceros arrive at the Wild Animal Park, 18 animals including 8 born at the Zoo.
• 1972: Wild Animal Park (1800 acre preserve) Opens to the public 9am. 3,000 visitors on first day. First North African ground hornbill hatched at Wild Animal Park. First White rhino calf born at the Wild Animal Park, "Zibulo". Six Arabian oryx (4 males, 2 females) are transferred from the world herd at the Phoenix Zoo to the Wild Animal Park
• 1973: First captive hatching Red shining parakeet. First blue-crowned lory captive hatching. 
• 1974: First Tule wapiti (18) to be returned to the wild. First Arabian oryx born at Wild Animal Park.
• 1976: First Bearded dragon born in captivity. First bongo arrives. First Black rhino born, "Nanyuki"
• 1977: First multiple birth among San Diego Zoo's great apes, Orang-utan twins. First birth of prehensile-tailed skinks, birth to live young.
• 1978: First Tahitian lorie received. San Diego Zoo has the only captive breeding program outside French Polynesia. Wild Animal Park sends 4 male Arabian oryx to Shaumari Reserve in Jordan.
• 1980: First Tundra wolves in San Diego Zoo's collection.
• 1981:California Fish & Game Commission agrees to captive-breeding program for California condors. A breeding pair is to be taken from the wild and housed at the Wild Animal Park. First elephant born at Wild Animal Park ("Thor", an African elephant). First hatching of Fijian banded iguana
• 1982: First Indo-chinese leopard born at the San Diego Zoo. First Mhorr gazelles are born at the Zoo and in the Western Hemisphere. 
• 1983: First California condor, "Sisquoc", hatched at Zoo. Egg was laid in the wild. Sisquoc is sent to the Wild Animal Park "Condorminium". First Kiwi hatching. (First Kiwi arrived to Zoo in 1954.). First Asiatic lion cubs born at the Wild Animal Park. Pair of Chinese monals exhibited outside of China for the first time since 1800s. First koala loaned out in Koala Loan Program to the Denver Zoo. The program has loaned to over 65 cities and 12 countries since.
• 1984: Golden monkeys sent to San Diego Zoo as "Conservation Goodwill Ambassadors" from People's Republic of China. First to be exhibited in the Western World.
• 1985: Federal and State agencies approve bringing in the last of the remaining wild California condors into captivity. All condors now at L.A. Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park. First time a rare Poitou donkey is exhibited at the Children's Zoo. 9 Bali mynahs reintroduced into native habitat. First Western tufted deer in the Western Hemisphere.
• 1986: First Somali wild ass born in Western Hemisphere at the Zoo. First time an Easter kiang, from Beijing, is exhibited in the U.S. Zoo receives 4 pairs of Fijian banded iguanas from the Orchid Island Cultural Center in Fiji.
• 1987: Last California condor known to be living in the wild is brought into captivity. "AC9" is taken to the Wild Animal Park. Only 27 condors exist. Golden monkeys arrive for a 2-year stay from China. First time Giant pandas arrive, "Basi" and "Yuan Yuan", on loan from China.
• 1988: First fertile California condor egg laid in captivity. Reintroduction program for Addax
• 1989: First Sichuan takin born in the Western Hemisphere. Sun Bear Forest opens. Lion-tailed macaques exhibited for first time. Andean condors (5 males) hatched in U.S. Zoo are released in Colombia. Arabian oryx returned to Muscat, Oman. Wild Animal Park receives several Northern white rhinos from the Dvur Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic.
• 1990: First successful Mountain anoa birth at Zoo.
• 1991: First King Cheetahs arrive from De Wildt, South Africa. First Eastern kiang born in Western Hemisphere, "Druzhba". Zoo begins program to reintroduce Loggerhead shrikes to San Clemente Island.
• 1992: First 2 California condors released into Los Angeles National Forest. First harpy eagle hatched in U.S. Komodo dragon exhibited.  First black rhino, "Werikhe", born at Zoo. San Diego Zoo receives first bearded pigs in a zoo in the Western Hemisphere.
• 1993: Zoo joins U.S. Fish & Wildlife and the Peregrine Fund to save Hawaiian crow (Alala). 11 eggs are incubated. Birth of first Asian elephant in San Diego, "Omar". Zoo begins negotiations with China for a breeding loan of 2 pandas. Panda exhibit built to Chinese specifications. Building is begun but import permit is challenged by WWF and Bruce Babbitt (Secretary of the Interior) rejects request. Appeal by the Zoo is again denied by the US Fish & Wildlife.
• First African open-billed stork chick bred in captivity hatches at Wild Animal Park. First L'Houests's guenon born in U.S. First successful Harpy eagle bred in North America.
• 1995: U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Bruce Babbit, authorizes U.S. Fish and Wildlife to issue panda import permit. First Tuatara breeding colony outside of New Zealand is established with donation from the Atiawa Iwi Tribe of Arapawa, Brothers Island, New Zealand. Hippo Beach opens
• 1996: Polar Bear Plunge opens with 130,000 gallon pool maintained at 65 degrees; 5,500 sq ft play area. Female panda "Bai Yun" and male panda "Shi Shi" arrive from People's Republic of China. 12 year research loan begins ($1,000,000 / year for panda conservation in China).
• 1997: First European river otter is born in U.S. (Pair received from Zurich Zoo in 1991). Zoo receives a breeding pair of Kagus. The Zoo successfully breeds bearded pigs.
• 1998: 2 white bearded manakins and 2 black-headed herons are first hatches in North America.
• 1999: Ituri Forest opens. Includes 6 species: Okapis, hippos, forest buffalo, river otters, guenons, turacos, and peafowl. First births of Chacoan giant peccaries. First birth of Malayan tigers. Renewal of the Parker Aviary. The original bird of prey aviary (built in 1937) becomes the new Owens' Rainforest Aviary, housing more than 200 birds from Southeast Asia. The $4 million renovation has 1,000' of linear walkways and complies with earthquake and wheelchair regulations. "Bai Yun" gives birth after being artificially inseminated with "Shi Shi's" sperm -- Giant panda cub "Hua Mei" is born. Somali wild ass imported from Hai Bar, Israel.
• 2000: Condor Ridge opens at the Wild Animal Park. 13 North American species are featured.
• 2001: 100th condor hatched at the Wild Animal Park. First egg laid by a re-introduced California Condor. First successful captive breeding of Anegada iguanas. Four Storm stork chicks hatch at Wild Animal Park Breeding Complex. First Chinese dholes (Alex, Ivana, and Yuri) arrive at the Wild Animal Park from the Moscow Zoo.
• 2003: Wild Animal Park's Hunte Nairobi Pavilion opens, replacing Village Amphitheater. Giant panda, Bai Yun, gives birth to male cub, Mei Sheng. First condor chick fledges at Arizona's Grand Canyon.
• 2004: First Bornean sun bear born in North America, "Danum". Po'ouli, male bird thought to be last of the species, dies.
• 2011: Panda Trek exhibit opens to the public, featuring giant pandas, red pandas and Sichuan takins. Rodrigues flying foxes (fruit bats) debut in a newly opened bat house exhibit in the Safari Park's Nairobi Village.
• 2012: Critically endangered Lord Howe Island stick insects hatch at the San Diego Zoo, marking the first time in San Diego Zoo Global History that the organization has participated in the reproduction of a critically endangered insect. The San Diego Zoo's Reptile Walk exhibit opens to the public, featuring reptiles and amphibians, including native California species. 
• 2014: A colony of African penguins arrived for the first time in the zoo since 1979.
• 2016: Baba, the last pangolin on display in America at the time, died at the zoo
• 2017: Africa Rocks opens
• 2019: The beloved Giant Pandas leave the zoo