Having read and in some cases re-read the brilliant, two-volume San Diego Zoo centenary books it is a bit shocking to see how the zoo became world-renowned in such a short period of time. Apparently in 1925 there was a grand total of "1,200 creatures on exhibit" and San Diego was "the fourth largest zoo in the world"...I wonder what the other three would have been? The zoo was still in its infancy but with the Scripps Aviary it had already built the tallest flight enclosure on the planet. Scripps Aviary (1923) and Owens Aviary (1937) are still amongst the biggest and best aviaries of any American zoo.
