Founded in 1916, the world famous San Diego Zoo has attracted visitors from far and wide year after year. It has been at the forefront of zoological issues since the beginning. It has great public relations opportunities and very good press coverage, which helps it to create learning opportunities for both children and adults alike. The zoo aims to enforce the importance of zoos for the protection of animals by showing them in their natural environment. The zoo traces its roots to Panama-California International Expedition of 1916. It was the brainchild of Dr. Harry Wegeforth. Dr. Harry Wegeforth planned to establish a permamnent zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego and therefore animals from all over the world were brought here. He selected a board of directors which included his brother and a standing member of Natural History Society. A meeting was conducted in this regard by Dr. Wegeforth in October 1916. The San Diego Zoo was finally ready in 1920. The natural canyons and mesas of Balboa Park proved to be a great asset for a zoo that worked within the natural confines to create paddocks and cages. Three years later, two elephants, Empress and Queenie came all the way from India to delight visitors to the budding zoo. In 1926, buses were introduced for touring the zoo. Experts would take the tourist on a guided tour, providing information and facts about the different animals as the bus passed. These buses were used to provide underprivileged children the opportunity to see the zoo. The zoo was thriving until World War II broke out and the board of directors began to wonder if they could keep the park open. After the war drought, more visitors than ever returned to the zoo, especially in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when the zoo’s attendance jumped to two million visitors a year! As always, the zoo’s main fan base was with the children in and around the San Diego area. From school trips to afternoon treats, the children of California love their zoo. The San Diego Zoo progressed in leaps and bounds in 1970s and 1980s. Its progress was further boosted by the appearances of animal expert and goodwill ambassador John Embery on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show. These were higly memorable encounters and added to the popularity of the zoo resulting in more visitors to the zoo. At the same time the focus of the zoo also changed from merely being a place showing animals to one that cared for the welfare of animals all over the world. The zoo's breeding programs and efforts to provide natural habitats for animals were an effort in this direction. Today, the San Diego Zoo is a great place to learn about animals from all corners of the globe. You get to learn some valuable lessons about the state of our planet and the animals that live on it. Of course, it still holds great charm for everyone from eight to eighty.
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Founded in 1916, the world famous San Diego Zoo has attracted visitors from far and wide year after year. It has been at the forefront of zoological issues since the beginning. It has great public relations opportunities and very good press coverage, which helps it to create learning opportunities for both children and adults alike. The zoo aims to enforce the importance of zoos for the protection of animals by showing them in their natural environment.
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