San Diego Zoo Why is the San Diego Zoo so large?

Ebirah766

Ebirah766

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
The size of it is just... surreal. :confused:

And it doesn't even have an aquarium... it would be a nice addition

it's such a weird zoo
 
I agree an aquarium would be a welcomed addition. When I visited in January 2018 I recorded only 7 fish species. I'm sure there are likely a few more present but it's still a very low number for the "world's greatest zoo".

The size is surreal I guess, but I wouldn't criticize it for that. I personally find it weird for being so well-funded yet still having downright egregious enclosures in some cases. On one hand you have the fantastic outdoor reptile displays and walk-through aviaries, but then on the other hand you have tiny bear grottos and metal corncrib cages. The consistency is just all over the place imo, especially for such a world-class zoo.

~Thylo
 
DavidBrown said:
San Diego already has Sea World, the Birch Aquarium, and a Sea Life in nearby Carlsbad. An aquarium probably is not a priority at the zoo with all of those other facilities near by. The new penguin and shark facility is an aquarium of sorts.
Click to expand...

You are absolutely correct as there are several aquatic ventures nearby. The link below, which is now almost a year old, mentions yet another aquarium possibility in the future. The proposal is for a 178,000 square foot aquarium that will be almost exactly triple the size of the nearby Birch Aquarium. If the project gets a green light then there will be a plethora of aquariums in the city of San Diego.

$1.5 billion Seaport San Diego to transform city's port | blooloop
 
I feel it's more the windyness of the zoo that makes it feel big. Like the Bronx Zoo is bigger but the paths and stuff are much neater/straighter
 
If talking about number of species, yeah it’s insane how many species of plants and animals they can fit in there. It’s actually not a super huge zoo in terms of acreage though, it’s not huge. It sits on 99 acres of land. For reference, LA zoo is 133 acres in size. San Diego Zoo looks so much bigger when visiting. Maybe it’s because of the varying terrain or placements of the exhibits.
 
Echobeast said:
If talking about number of species, yeah it’s insane how many species of plants and animals they can fit in there. It’s actually not a super huge zoo in terms of acreage though, it’s not huge. It sits on 99 acres of land. For reference, LA zoo is 133 acres in size. San Diego Zoo looks so much bigger when visiting. Maybe it’s because of the varying terrain or placements of the exhibits.
Click to expand...

I think your point on terrain plays a major role in how large the place appears. I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to get from one side of the zoo to the other before that bridge was put up!

~Thylo
 
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