Walkthrough San Diego Zoo Safari Park ~ San Pasqual Valley, Escondido, CA

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Welcome to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where life-changing moments happen daily. Set out on safari and discover 1,800 acres of sprawling savannas teeming with wildlife as well as world-class botanical gardens—there's no place like it on Earth. Encounter rhinos, giraffes, wildebeest, and large herds of wildlife roaming together. Journey through bamboo forests and come face-to-face with Sumatran tigers. Hop alongside kangaroos and dive underwater to meet the only two platypuses outside of Australia. And experience the awe-inspiring giants of Elephant valley. When you're here, you'll discover adventure is in every moment. And a moment can change a lifetime.

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is a zoo and safari park in the San Pasqual Valley, in the northern part of the city of San Diego, California. Opening May 10, 1972, the park operates as a sister location to the San Diego Zoo in Balboa Park; it features a more specific focus on animals from arid environments.

The park houses over 3,000 animals representing more than 300 species. It hosts a large array of wild and endangered animals from every continent except Antarctica. It also includes a botanical garden with over one million plants. In 2022, the park attracted over 1.6 million visitors. Its parent organization, the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a private nonprofit conservation organization, and has one of the largest zoological membership associations in the world. The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance also operates the San Diego Zoo.

The San Diego Zoological Society became interested in developing a larger facility in 1964. The initial concept of the park was as a supplementary breeding facility for the San Diego Zoo, which would allow ample space for large animals and herding behaviors of ungulates.

The development proposed would differ significantly from that of a typical zoo in that animals would be exhibited in a naturalistic, spacious environment rather than in cages. In 1964, the park was assessed financially and then moved onto the next phase, with this resulting in three alternative developments—a conservation farm, a game preserve, or a ‘natural environment’ zoo. The natural environment zoo development was chosen over the conservation farm and game preserve even though it was the most expensive option. The estimated initial cost was $1.76 million.

The main purposes of this zoo were to be species conservation, breeding of animals for the San Diego Zoo (as well as trading between zoos) and providing areas where exotic animals arriving to the state of California could be quarantined and monitored. When it came to naming the park, five titles were considered: San Diego Animal Land, San Diego Safari Land, San Diego Wild Animal Safari, or the San Diego Wildlife Park; ultimately, the name chosen was the San Diego Wild Animal Park. The general layout of the park, designed by Charles Faust, included a large lagoon with a jungle plaza, an African fishing village, an aviary at the entrance of the park and approximately 50,000 plants were to be included in the landscaping.

The first two species to arrive at the park were the nilgai (an antelope from India and Nepal) and the Grant's zebra, native to East Africa. Subsequent species to arrive at the park included the gemsbok, a type of oryx from Southern Africa and Namibia, in addition to Zambian sable antelope, greater kudu, southern and northern white rhinoceros subspecies (which were both in-danger of extinction), the one-horned Indian rhinoceros, as well as ten South African cheetahs, brought to the park for breeding purposes.

On June 30, 2010, the San Diego Zoo board of trustees voted to change the name of the park from the San Diego Wild Animal Park to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to clarify what it offers, since the difference between the zoo proper and the "animal park" was unclear to some visitors. The name "safari" is supposed to emphasize "the park's spacious enclosures of free-ranging animals" (as opposed to "the closer quarters of the zoo"), encouraging visits to both locations.

The park formerly operated a monorail line, which was eventually retired partially due to high maintenance costs, and in March 2007 the Journey into Africa attraction, now renamed Africa Tram, opened. The Africa Tram tour runs counterclockwise and brings visitors to the field exhibits to see wildlife from different parts of Africa. In addition, another route is planned to bring visitors through the Asian field exhibits. As well as the tram, the park has also added a tethered balloon ride that allows visitors to see the plains exhibits from 400 feet in the air.