SAN DIEGO (July 7, 2022) – San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has achieved a conservation milestone with the hatching of a North Island brown kiwi—the first time this species has hatched at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. The male chick hatched on June 13, and brings valuable genetic diversity to the very small brown kiwi population in North America. 

SAN DIEGO (May 18, 2022) – A new study has found contaminants that were banned decades ago are still imperiling critically endangered California condors. The condors may be at increased risk for reproductive impairment because they consume dead marine mammals along the California coast.

SAN DIEGO (May 10, 2022) – Today marks 50 years since the opening of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. While festive music played and Safari Park team members and entertainers welcomed guests, an unsuspecting visitor, 10-year-old Ethan Kemerling, and his parents, Stacy and Eric, were taken aside by Lisa Peterson, the Safari Park’s executive director. Peterson informed Ethan that he was the 50th guest to enter the Safari Park, and presented him with an oversized San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance lifetime membership card. This surprise gift allows Ethan, who lives in Fargo, North Dakota, to have unlimited visits to the Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo, where he can explore and connect with wildlife for years to come.

SAN DIEGO – (April 12, 2022) San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance announced today that Erika Kohler will take over as the executive director of the 100-acre San Diego Zoo. Kohler has been a member of the organization since 2015, when she was hired as the Zoo’s director of operations—bringing nearly two decades of experience from her time with the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. She has served as the San Diego Zoo’s interim executive director since November 2021.

SAN DIEGO (March 3, 2022) – This spring break, the San Diego Zoo Safari Park invites guests to celebrate in full color—with an escape into nature. Spring Safari Featuring Butterfly Jungle, March 19 through May 8, will allow guests to experience wildlife up close while enjoying the open spaces and stunning vistas of the Safari Park.

SAN DIEGO (January 27, 2022) – Western burrowing owls, a declining species in Southern California, are increasingly being forced from their homes by development. A research team led by San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, in collaboration with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Palm Springs office, developed novel techniques using a bit of creative advertising to protect the displaced owls, including painting rocks to look like stains from bird droppings and playing recorded vocalizations.