San Diego Safari Park
15500 San Pasqual Valley Rd.
Escondido, California 92027.
About Museum:
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park, formerly known as the San Diego Wild Animal Park, is a zoo in the San Pasqual Valley area of San Diego, California, near Escondido. It is one of the largest tourist attractions in San Diego County. The Park houses a large array of wild and endangered animals including species from the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The park is in a semi-arid environment and one of its most notable features is the Africa Tram which explores the expansive African exhibits. These free-range enclosures house such animals as antelopes, giraffes, buffalo, cranes, and rhinos. The park is also noted for its California condor breeding program, the most successful such program in the United States.
Both the park and the San Diego Zoo are run by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The Park is 32 miles (51 km) away from the zoo, at 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road east of Escondido, California, along California State Route 78.
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.
Visiting the Safari Park
The park’s most famous and popular exhibits are the open-range enclosures. Visitors view various habitats representing the Asian Plains, East Africa (the largest of the enclosures; it alone is larger than the San Diego Zoo), North Africa, Asian Waterhole, Southern Africa, and the Mountain Habitat. A number of smaller enclosures visible only from the tram are home to Grevy’s zebras, Somali wild asses, kiangs (one of the world’s only captive populations of this endangered wild equine), Arabian oryx, gorals, Japanese serows, black rhinoceroses, bonobos, and Przewalski’s wild horses.
Species of note in the open enclosures include two subspecies of giraffe, rhinos (the park has the world’s most successful breeding program for Southern white rhinos and is the only New World zoo to have Northern white rhinos; Indian rhinos are also on display), gaur, vultures, Cape buffalo, markhor, elephants, and many species of antelope, gazelle, wild cattle, and deer.
The park formerly operated a monorail line, the Wgasa Bush Line, which ran through the Wild Animal Park. The name of the monorail was chosen by chief designer Chuck Faust, and is an acronym short for “who gives a shit anyway.”[11]
The Monorail line has been retired, partially due to high maintenance costs, and in March 2007 the new Journey into Africa attraction, (now renamed Africa Tram), opened. The Africa Tram tour brings visitors eye to eye with wildlife from different parts of Africa. In addition, another route is planned to bring visitors through the Asian field exhibits and into eight new ones that will house a variety of African animals from rock hyrax to Hartmann’s mountain zebras. The tour utilizes a wheeled tram that runs on biofuel instead of a monorail, and, unlike the monorail, the attraction now costs extra; however, it remains free for members of the San Diego Zoological Society.
As well as the tram, the park has also added a tethered balloon ride that takes visitors high in the air for a bird’s eye view of the exhibits. The balloon ride is not included in the entrance fee.
The park’s Nairobi Village houses numerous exhibits for smaller animals. Among these are meerkats, pudu, an African Aviary, lemurs, flamingos, babirusa, red river hogs, and bee eaters. A large lagoon is home to numerous species of waterfowl, among them shoebill storks. Lorikeet Landing and Hidden Jungle display feedable Lories and lorikeets, and butterflies, respectively. Also, there is a nursery where visitors can watch baby animals being hand-reared as well as a nearby petting corral. Finally, a gorilla habitat houses a troop of Western lowland gorillas.
African lionesses with cubs sitting on top of a converted Land Rover located at the Lion Camp exhibit
Condor Ridge displays endangered North American desert wildlife. The featured species are California condors (the wild animal park was the key force in the recovery effort for these birds and this is one of the only places in the world where the public can see them in captivity) and desert bighorn sheep. Other species displayed include Aplomado Falcons, Thick-billed Parrots, prairie dogs, black footed ferrets, magpies, and desert tortoises.
African Woods (formerly Heart of Africa) is one of the park’s feature exhibits. Visitors go down a trail which replicates habitats in Africa. The exhibit begins with scrub animals – vultures, lesser kudu, and giant eland. It then progresses to forest (okapi, duikers, and wattled cranes). It showcases plains animals – bontebok, warthogs, ground hornbills, cheetahs, and a research camp) against a backdrop of the open-range East Africa exhibit. A central lagoon displays lesser and greater flamingos, waterfowl, and an island with colobus monkeys.
The park is also noted for its extensive botanical gardens, many of which are their own attractions separate from the animal exhibits.