At a quiet, off-view area at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, wildlife care staff are celebrating a momentous milestone—the hatching of an endangered lappet-faced vulture chick.

Starting April 3, 2020, the San Diego Zoo is inviting anyone with a smartphone or computer to join a mission—if they choose to accept it—to virtually explore the wonders of wildlife by connecting to a myriad of delightful online happenings, including games, contests, livestreaming cams, videos, a dance party and much more.

For the next eight weeks, as part of San Diego Zoo Global’s effort to support the community during the ongoing pandemic, middle and high school teachers and students can gain access to 22 free, self-paced online courses covering a variety of taxonomic groups and individual animal species. 

The San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park are closed temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions, but members and guests can rest assured that the much-beloved animals and plants at both parks are being well cared for by teams of dedicated caregivers. 

The San Diego Zoo Safari Park wildlife care specialists know how popular the Safari Park’s annual spring Butterfly Jungle event is to the thousands of guests who visit each year. While the Safari Park is temporarily closed to on-grounds visitors due to COVID-19 restrictions, dedicated teams of wildlife care specialists and horticulturists are still busy working hard to care for the thousands of butterflies, plants and other wildlife that live inside the Hidden Jungle aviary.