News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:    
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance
Public Relations
619-685-3291
publicrelations@sdzwa.org
sdzwa.org

NEWS RELEASE

Spring Babies and Summer Fun at the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park

Recent Births and Hatchings Offer Guests Opportunities to Learn about Little-Known Species, All While Having Fun

SAN DIEGO (May 11, 2023) – From Arabian oryx to Nubian ibex, to spotted turtles and Amur leopard cubs, the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are brimming with babies!  A spring baby boom provides guests to both the Zoo and Safari Park with the opportunity to see and learn about amazing wildlife including an okapi calf, a Matschie’s tree kangaroo and Przewalski’s horse at the Safari Park and Andean bear cubs, Lord Howe Island stick insects and Fijian iguanas at the Zoo.

Babies are always delightful—cute and fun to watch grow—but more importantly, they serve as ambassadors for their species. Seeing a baby animal up close provides guests the opportunity to connect with them, with the hope they gain a greater appreciation for them, and the vitally important need to conserve and protect wildlife and their native habitats.

The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, as members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), participates in the AZA Species Survival Plan (SSP) to maintain a healthy, genetically diverse assurance population of various species. 

Guests visiting the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park can see new wildlife, while also enjoying special events and activities:

At the San Diego Zoo

Wild Weekend: Amazonia May 20–21
Get ready for a journey into the heart of the Amazon. Join us at the Zoo for Wild Weekend: Amazonia. The weekend places a focus on the incredible wildlife like jaguar, Andean bears, and tapirs who live in this lush ecosystem. Guests can meet with conservationists from across San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, talk with a horticulturist who cares for the Zoo’s plants, experience special culinary offerings, have a chance to listen to a book reading including Sloth’s Treehouse Inn and Teaching Tornero: A True Story of a Sloth Superstar from San Diego Wild Alliance Press authors, and enjoy entertainment all weekend long!

Nighttime Zoo May 26–Sept. 4
The San Diego Zoo’s annual after-dark extravaganza—Nighttime Zoo—offers guests live music, entertainment, special events and more while learning more about wildlife from an unusual nighttime perspective.  

This summer, two dazzling events will light up the night. "Call of the Night"—a 12-minute symphony of live music, lasers, moving lights, rhythmic acrobats, fog and bubbles—will be presented nightly at Hua Mei Plaza; and "Jambo Dunia!," a 15 -minute spectacular celebrating Africa along Front Street, will be led by the Zoo’s musical act, Chameleons, and showcase festive pageantry with giant, handcrafted puppets. 

At the Safari Park

Journey into the Wild – all new!
Join the Safari Park’s wildlife care specialists at an all-new conservation presentation highlighting a variety of wildlife ambassadors! Species will vary each day and represent San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s conservation work in South America (Amazonia) and right here in our own backyard in the Southwest. Journey into the Wild takes place daily at 2 p.m. at Benbough Amphitheater.

Safari Experiences
All summer long, guests at the Safari Park can experience up-close wildlife encounters, entertainment, culinary delights and more, making memories that last a lifetime. For those guests looking to upgrade their visit, the Safari Park offers memory-making Safari Experiences including:

• A Behind-the-Scenes Safari allowing guests to venture deep into the Safari Park and get a closer look at their favorite wildlife, and meet the wildlife care specialists who care for them.
   
• A Wildlife Safari is a great way to see antelope, giraffes, rhinos and more from the comfort of a covered, open-air safari truck, and journey into our African savanna habitats with an expert guide.
   
• The Flightline Safari is an exciting zip line adventure, allowing guests to soar like a condor over the Safari Park. Riders travel more than two-thirds of a mile over the Asian and African savanna habitats of exotic wildlife, including wildebeest and antelope.
   
• Roar & Snore Safari is an overnight tent-camping experience that overlooks the East Africa savanna habitat, the Safari Park’s largest, inhabited by giraffes, rhinos, and more.
   
• Sun Up Cheetah Safari gives visitors a chance to witness the fastest animals on land doing what they do best, all before the Safari Park opens. Safari guests take an early morning expedition with an experienced guide and enjoy the remarkable sights and sounds as a new day begins.

With every visit to the Zoo and Safari Park this summer, guests become allies for wildlife. With every admission, or purchase an item, or sharing about wildlife and conservation, visitors help San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance take another step in achieving its mission of saving animals and plants worldwide, and creating a world where all life thrives.   

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About San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance 
San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance is a nonprofit international conservation leader, committed to inspiring a passion for nature and working toward a world where all life thrives. The Alliance empowers people from around the globe to support their mission to conserve wildlife through innovation and partnerships. San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance supports cutting-edge conservation and brings the stories of their work back to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park—giving millions of guests, in person and virtually, the opportunity to experience conservation in action. The work of San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance extends from San Diego to eco-regional conservation “hubs” across the globe, where their expertise and assets—including the renowned Wildlife Biodiversity Bank—are able to effectively align with hundreds of regional partners to improve outcomes for wildlife in more coordinated efforts. By leveraging these skills in wildlife care and conservation science, and through collaboration with hundreds of partners, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has reintroduced more than 44 endangered species to native habitats. Each year, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s work reaches over 1 billion people in 150 countries via news media, social media, their websites, educational resources and the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Explorers television programming, which is in children’s hospitals in 13 countries. Success is made possible by the support of members, donors and guests to the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, who are Wildlife Allies committed to ensuring all life thrives.