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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. The San Diego Zoo started with the Panama-California International Expedition back in 1916. Animals from all over the world were brought to Balboa Park in San Diego when Dr. Harry Wegeforth had the idea to make a permanent zoo in the area. After choosing a board of directors consisting of his brother and a standing member of the Natural History Society, Wegeforth created the first meeting in early October 1916 to discuss the development of the zoo. 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 lull period during the war, the zoo saw more visitors than ever before. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the zoo's attendance went up to two million visitors a year! As always, the zoo became the favorite haunt of children in and around the San Diego area who love to come there with school trips or as afternoon treats with parents. The San Diego Zoo began to grow in strength during the 1970s and 1980s, especially with animal expert and goodwill ambassador Joan Embery's appearances of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. These memorable appearances with the king of late night made the zoo more popular than ever, welcoming in more visitors than ever before. 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. Whether you are eight or eighty, everyone is sure to enjoy a trip to the zoo and take home some valuable lessons about the state of our planet and the animals that call earth home.
Lucille Linhares is the webmaster for F san diego, the best place on the internet for information about san diego, For more articles on san diego why not visit: www.fsandiego.com/articles Visit our san diago article directory for a completely unique version of this article.
Article Source: http://www.changingearth.org
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