What to Know
- The 100-acre San Diego Zoo is home to more than 3,500 rare and endangered animals
- The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has more than 3,000 animals representing more than 300 species
- The zoo was founded on October 2, 1916, by Harry M. Wegeforth, M.D.
The San Diego Zoo is one of a handful of parks in the running for North America's Favorite Zoo.
The competition launched by USA Today 10 Best is aimed at finding an attraction that excels in animal care while fostering meaningful animal and human interactions.
Close to two dozen zoos were selected as nominees by a panel of experts. Now, it's the public's turn to decide the 10 best zoos.
As of Thursday, our zoo was in 6th place on the contest leaderboard.
Votes will be gathered up until noon on Monday, April 30. Click here for contest information.
The San Diego Zoo has been considered one of the nation's most popular zoos since its inception more than 100 years ago.
Local
Recently, the zoo unveiled a statue of Rex the lion whose roar inspired Dr. Harry Wegeforth to build the zoo where it sits in Balboa Park, within walking distance of downtown San Diego.
