A safari in your backyard
Written: May 30 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: natural setting, huge enclosures
Cons: animal may be far away or hidden
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| jaseroque's Full Review: San Diego Wild Animal Park |
The San Diego Wild Animal Park is a 2,000 acre haven for exotic and endangered animals from around the world. It was designed as an open-air captive breeding center, an adjunct to the Zoo, where animals would have enough space and natural habitat to behave normally and breed. It was later decided to open it to the public. The park has been successful in it's endangered species breeding program: over half the endangered California Condors in existence were hatched here; the male Southern white rhino who lives in the park sired 59 offspring over 13 years, which enabled that species to be removed from the endangered species list; and 30 endangered species have successfully bred here.
Keep this purpose in mind when you visit -- the park is designed for the animals first, and the people second. Some of the animals may be too far away to see clearly, and the big cats may be invisible in the vegetation. To me this is not a "downside" of the Wild Animal park, it simply reflects the conservation and breeding purpose of the facilities. If you want to be guaranteed to see animals up close, the San Diego Zoo may be a better place to visit.
Most of the park consists of five large open spaces, or "habitats," for grazing animals. Animals that are naturally found together are kept together; discrete fences separate the animals who are found in different regions of the world. There are five of these habitats: Eastern Africa, Asian Plain, Northern Africa, Southern Africa, and Asian Waterhole. To give you a sense of scale, the *entire* San Diego Zoo would fit in the "Eastern Africa" habitat! This may be as close as you get to a safari.
Smaller enclosures house some big cats (an endangered species of tiger, some lions) and elephants.
A few acres of the zoo are set aside for even smaller enclosures with smaller occupants -- waterfowl, small birds, meerkats (remember the Lion King?), turtles. This section looks more like a "typical" zoo, where patrons stroll between small exhibits. Make sure to see the waterfowl -- it is astonishing how many of the waterfowl are "visitors" too. The park accepts them and they have information signs just like the regular residents.
TRAM RIDE
Take the 45 minute tram ride around the enclosures to get a good overview of the park. Go in the morning -- I went in the afternoon and the line took about an hour. The ride is restful and shady, and provides a good view of the animals. The tram pauses at many of the exhibits, the the tram driver may point out some interesting behaviors (though I found the explanations to be shallow). Many of the enclosures can't be seen from anywhere but the tram.
For the zoo fanatic (like me), who likes to watch the animals for a while, the tram ride is frustrating because it moves so fast. We whipped by a chimpanzee who was playing with a ball, a male gazelle herding his harem and threatening other males, and a baby hippo. I would have loved to stop and watch them for a while, but the tram dragged us away. For the less rabid zoo visitor, however, the tram ride may go at just about the right speed.
WALKING
To be able to watch the animals in the habitats as long as you like, go to the viewpoints of the enclosures figured on the map. Be prepared to walk a lot -- the enclosures are large and you may tramp a mile or two throughout the day. Wear good walking shoes, a hat and sunscreen, and bring plenty of water (and maybe some snacks as the food is expensive and the lines are long). Also bring a pair of good binoculars. Unlike a regular zoo, the animals may be far away!
Note: This epinion was originally posted under Travel:San Deigo. It was moved by the epinions staff into the San Diego Zoo section, and I am taking the liberty of reposting it where it belongs, in the San Diego Wild Animal Park section.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jaseroque
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Location: California
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