Photo Blog: San Diego Safari Park
I am a proud San Diego native, and one of my favorite places to visit when I go home is the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park. Okay, so I guess that’s two places, but I feel like they’re just extensions of each other on either end of the county.
Anyway, I was back in San Diego visiting my family last week and we made a stop at the Safari Park. I’m a nerd and love tours and facts and learning, so my mom, sister, and I booked one of their safari tours. They’re great because they drive you around in a giant truck into the animal enclosures (which are really giant habitats, not enclosures), and a guide tells you all about the animals in there.
So here are some pictures, and some random animal and zoo facts for you.
You can walk through the Australia exhibit right next to a bunch of kangaroos and wallabies. They also have two platypuses (is that even the right word?) that are the cutest little nuggets. The only mammal to lay eggs, they also have venomous spikes on their back legs!
Okay, this one isn’t an animal, but they have a Japanese garden with tiny trees that are HUNDREDS of years old!
Both the San Diego Zoo and Safari Pack create microclimates to mimic the natural environments of their animals. They do so by using a huge variety of plants and landscaping techniques…you can feel the changes as you walk through the park!
Giraffes have four stomachs. They also don’t sit down very often, like the one in the background. They only sit for 5-10 minutes per day, as having their necks that close to the ground leaves them very vulnerable.
There are only 2 Northern White Rhinos left in the world, and they are both females. Which means there will be zero left very soon. The sad part is, rhinos have no natural predators (I mean, look at those things! They’re 8,000 pounds! Also, a great example of how you can get HUGE gains on a vegetarian diet!) so the reason they’re going extinct is because of human intervention. So, the San Diego Zoo and safari park are working to remedy that. They currently have skin cells that their scientists are attempting to turn into other kinds of cells so that they can create an embryo and use one of their Southern White Rhinos to be a surrogate mother and bring back the Northern White Rhino babies! It’s all so exciting! (Read more about their insane amount of conservation work here!)
Anyway, the San Diego Safari Park is easily one of my favorite places to visit whenever I get to go home to San Diego. Be sure to check it out, and, if you’re able, splurge on the more private safari tickets. They’re worth it!
Have you been to the San Diego Zoo or Safari Park? What would you love to see there?
