Please enable javascript to see this map. 32.735207 -117.150768 San Diego Zoo 10

Discover more about this destination below.

Biology

San Diego, California

San Diego Zoo

Destination Overview
Points of Interest
Helpful Tips

Seeing animals on television, in movies, or in books doesn’t even come close to seeing them in person. Nothing quite compares with the pleasure you get from watching them in their own environments and learning more about their God-given designs.

At the San Diego Zoo, the largest zoo in the world, your family has the opportunity to see a wide variety of God’s creatures interacting with others in their own unique environment. Whether it’s watching the orangutans swinging from a tree in their simulated Asian rain forest home, or the giant panda bears munching on bamboo, or the giant Galápagos tortoise meandering down a dirt path, a day spent here will be sure to create a rewarding learning experience and many lasting memories.

During your trip here, you may decide to take a bus tour of the entire zoo and then revisit your favorite parts, or you may grab a map and plan your own schedule. During the summer, weekends, and holidays, you might want to catch a show with Dr. Zoolittle. No matter what you decide, with so many great animals to see, you’ll probably want to come back again the next day.

Bamboo-Eating Pandas

The San Diego Zoo has more giant pandas than any other United States zoo. Four giant pandas currently reside at the Giant Panda Research Station, which can house up to six. Located nearby is the Giant Panda Discovery Center where you actually climb into a panda den and find out what pandas smell and sound like. The elevated viewing paths allow quality panda watching where you will see them eating bamboo with their enlarged wrist bones that act like extra fingers to break the tough shoots. To protect their throat from splinters, their esophagus is lined with a tough lining, and their stomach is lined with muscle.

Galápagos Tortoises

At the Reptile Mesa area, you will find some of the oldest residents of the zoo, the Galápagos tortoises. Known to live to the ripe old age of 152, these slow-moving reptiles can weigh up to 573 pounds (260 kg). The San Diego Zoo owns one of the largest captive colonies of Galápagos tortoises. Because of their ability to retain a great deal of water, they can survive the long and dry season on the islands. Because of their ability to store food and water so efficiently, they can even go without eating or drinking for up to a year.

So, how can they carry the load of their heavy shells? The honeycomb structure of small air chambers makes it lighter than if the shell were completely solid. While visiting, look for Old Number 5 as he’s called at the zoo. He is more than 100 years old.

Hanging Out Together at the Ituri Forest

Want to watch different species of animals interact with each other? The Ituri Forest, a simulated rain forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a fun place to be entertained as you observe swamp monkeys playing with spotted-neck otters—and even occasionally taking a ride down the stream on their back. You'll also get to watch the hippos bathing in their pool, both from above and below the water. Here, in the pool, you will find a mutually beneficial relationship where tilapia fish help keep the water clean by scraping away the algae and eating the hippo’s dung. And the hippos don’t mind the massage they get as the fish scrape away their old skin.