San Diego Zoo

A New Era Zoos in general offer so much to the public, but zoos such as The Sand Diego Zoo and The Smithsonian National Zoological Park, exceed the expectations of any other zoo. Not only do they provide us with a huge variety of different species, introducing us to animals we would only dream of seeing, they go above and beyond, always keeping the animals’ best interest at heart to ensure them happiness. It’s always rewarding to witness the bliss and joy each animal displays, but a lot of hard work is behind each furry, little smile through all the conservation work behind the scenes. The San Diego Zoo and the Smithsonian National Zoological Park may be two completely different zoos, but they have one important similarity: their passion
An example for the San Diego Zoo would be a giant panda cub named Xiao Liwu. It was his first birthday, and they wanted to guarantee Xiao Liwu would never forget it. Many of us would be lucky if our friends and family spent a week planning our birthday, well the zoo spent a whole month planning this giant panda cubs first year of existence- that’s a long time, not to mention pretty costly as well. They provided Xiao Liwu with a 5 foot tall cake made out of ice, bamboo and carrot flavored icing, covered with carrots, yams, and apples. They also provided him with presents and ornaments, filling each box with a tasty treat such as alfalfa, Bermuda hay, and biscuits, hanging the ornaments from the trees, presenting this baby cub with a fun challenge before he received his gift. Just like the San Diego Zoo found a way to enrich this little giant panda’s life, the Smithsonian National Zoological Park found a way to refine the lives of orangutans by creating “Apps for Apes,” fitting perfectly into the new era of zoo keeping by changing up the day-to-day routine of the animals’ lives. They began participating in this program last year, and the orangutans absolutely love it! With the tap of a finger, zookeepers are introducing these apes to the world of iPads, providing unique stimuli to each orangutan. A thirty-six year old orangutan named Bonnie likes to bang on the drums, sixteen year
Unfortunately the lives of many other critters are threatened all around the world due to extinction. Both these zoos are taking matters into their own hands through their specific conservation programs, located right on the campus of each zoo. The San Diego Zoo has much to show for all their conservation work. To date, they’ve reintroduced thirty-three species back into the wild including: mountain yellow-legged frogs, five species of reptiles, seventeen species of birds, and ten species of mammals. In many of these cases, the efforts have meant the difference between extinction or survival. To no surprise, they have also been instrumental in increasing the number of giant panda bears, starting out with twenty-five, to currently over one-hundred. There are roughly about one-thousand and six-hundred giant panda bears left in the world, and the San Diego Zoo is committed to the conservation of this beautiful and remarkable animal. While the Smithsonian National Zoological Park doesn’t go into much detail about their contributions through their conservation work, they do have an established conservation program spreading “the understanding and sustaining of a biodiverse planet” (Smithsonian National Zoological Park para