Why the
San Diego Zoo
is special

The San Diego Zoo in California is the darling of zookeepers around the world. It creatively showcases several thousand animals, many in open-air exhibits. The organization's mission includes nurturing endangered species and making the zoo-visiting experience both enlightening and pleasurable.

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San Diego Zoo
tips & insights

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Visitor count

The San Diego Zoo is quite popular. This year several million visitors will pass through its gates.

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Most popular attraction

The pandas win that honor hands down. Other crowd favorites include polar bears, koala bears, tigers, lions and gorillas.

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Botanical garden

The San Diego Zoo is also a botanical garden, with thousands of plant species, including rare orchids.

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Wild Animal Park

It also operates the safari-like Wild Animal Park, about an hour's drive north. Open-top vehicles take you through a fenced-in expanse populated with giraffes and other animals.

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Landscape

The zoo has a hill/canyon/mesa landscape, a change of pace from the usual flat zoo topography.

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Doubledeck tour bus

First-timers should start their visit by taking the 40-minute tour on a doubledeck bus. It provides a good orientation prior to exploring the many exhibits. For the best vantage, sit in the open-air top deck.

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Skyfari Aerial Tram

You may also want to take the Skyfari Aerial Tram for an bird's eye view. The cable cars shuttle between the main gate area up to the Polar Bear Plunge exhibit.

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Foot-saving advice

The San Diego Zoo covers a large territory, with sloping paths. Be kind to your feet by wearing comfortable shoes. And, use the cable cars, up escalators, and hop-on-and-off busses to reach the high areas - then walk down.

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©2010 HQP / Hillman Quality Publications