The History of San Diego Zoo

From 1915 to 1916, the Panama-California International Exposition was held in Balboa Park. Many animals had been imported for the exhibition and placed on display for the public. Dr. Harry Wegeforth, a prominent orthopedic surgeon in San Diego, was inspired to open a permanent zoo. He wrote an article in the newspaper detailing his plan and the public responded with enthusiasm and donations; many of his colleagues also supported the endeavor financially. Wegeforth successfully acquired the animals from the exhibition, but they had to live in circus-like cages while he and the Board of Directors of the fledgling San Diego Zoological Society sought a location for the zoo and secured the permits. In 1922, the San Diego Zoo was completed on a 100-acre plot of land in Balboa Park. (The Zoological Society also created a 1,800-acre Zoo Safari Park outside San Diego, which is managed by the San Diego Zoo today.) Belle Benchley was chosen to serve as the zoo’s first official director beginning in 1927; she lead the Zoo through the Great Depression and World War II, serving in her role until Dr. Charles Schroeder took over in 1954. The zoo’s bioclimatic zones were established in the 1960s and were intended not only to give animals a more naturalistic experience, but to highlight to visitors the interdependence of species within specific environments. This new zoo layout was combined with third-generation enclosures that were designed to better address the animals’ physical and psychological needs. Reportedly, Wegeforth wanted to build a zoo where the animals could live outside of cages in realistic habitats that mimicked their native environments. An animal welfare study conducted at the San Diego Zoo in the 1980s later inspired other zoos to change their animal care techniques and update their design principles, such as replacing cages and concrete floors with more natural habitats. And just a few years earlier, in 1975, the Zoological Society of San Diego established the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES), which famously helped two Giant Pandas named Shi Shi and Bai Yun breed. Today, the members of the CRES continue to conduct research intended to help animals facing extinction. A related conservation effort called Frozen Zoo holds cryogenically frozen reproductive material and other cells from endangered animals. Similarly, the Botanical Conservation Center at the San Diego Zoo was established in 1999 as a seed bank for rare or threatened plant species. Today, the San Diego Zoo is considered one of the premier zoos in the world and is home to over 3,500 animals representing more than 650 species, many of which are threatened or endangered.