SDZWA Stories

In the dappled light of the forest, a flash of orange, black, and white moves like a shadow. Tigers are masters of contradiction: boldly striped yet perfectly camouflaged. Even more interestingly, each tiger sports a completely unique stripe pattern. No two are alike... Unfortunately, despite their incredible adaptations, tigers face a fragile future. All six subspecies of tigers across the globe are endangered due to threats including wildlife trafficking, habitat loss, and challenges related to human-wildlife coexistence. The good news is we’re working with partners across the globe to secure their striped future.

He’s large, in charge, and the hair on his back is silver-gray. There’s someone new at Gorilla Forest at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and you’ll want to meet him—if you haven’t already! Paul Donn, a 36-year-old silverback with an incredible presence and a patch of red hair on his forehead, recently joined the family group at the Safari Park. He’s their first silverback since the passing of longtime leader Winston last year, and we look forward to seeing how he will carry on his generational heartwarming legacy.

For parents of newborns, forming a strong bond with their baby is of the utmost importance. Feeding them day and night, snuggling them close, and keeping them safe are just a few ways to nurture a relationship that helps a little one grow happy, healthy, and secure. These parental responsibilities are equally vital for koala moms like Adori and Merindah, who recently welcomed their joeys, Inala and Bunji, to the colony at the San Diego Zoo.

Picture a vast, 1,800-acre haven where wildlife thrives in sweeping savannas, lush tropical forests, and chaparral landscapes. That’s the magic of the “no place like it on Earth” San Diego Zoo Safari Park, where you can step into ecosystems from across the globe and connect with wildlife in whole new ways. There’s so much to see and do here, whether you enjoy a little bit of everything or immerse yourself in one unique area at a time.

The sun is shining warmly on your face, birds are chirping, and the calls of wildlife echo in the distance. It’s a brand-new day and you’re ready for an adventure like no other. Ahead of you stands the recently opened Safari Excursions, a welcoming lodge nestled within lush foliage, just waiting to transport you to worlds you’ve only dreamed of visiting. At the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, your adventure begins before you even step foot on a safari truck.

San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance won top honors at the 136th annual Rose Parade® Presented by Honda with a float commemorating the historic arrival of giant pandas. For the second consecutive year, the Alliance received the Sweepstakes Trophy given for most beautiful entry, encompassing float design, floral presentation and entertainment.

In the mid-morning hours of July 6, 2023, guests to the San Diego Zoo were treated to a rare and remarkable sight. Red panda Adira entered her outdoor habitat in the Zoo’s Asian Passage with someone new: her small and curious 1-month-old cub. This milestone was immensely significant, as the new cub is the first red panda born at the Zoo since 2006, and this marked the first time staff and guests were able to get a glimpse of the youngster outside its den.

Veterinarians gave their first exam this morning to four capybaras, members of the world’s largest rodent species, born Monday at the San Diego Zoo. The four capybaras, which weighed between 3.5 and 4 pounds, were born on-exhibit in the Harry and Grace Steele Elephant Odyssey. Capybaras are the world’s largest rodent and are found east of the Andes, on Central and South American riverbanks, beside ponds and in marshes, or wherever standing water is available.

In 1969, Charles L. “Chuck” Bieler had just started as group sales manager in the marketing department at the San Diego Zoo when a young Joan Embery, who worked in the Children’s Zoo, offered to introduce him to one of the big cats. After some trepidation, he agreed. Walking away from that encounter, he confided to a colleague that he had never petted a lion before. When she realized he wasn’t joking, she whispered back, “I know you are new to the Zoo, Chuck, but the cats with stripes are tigers."

When guests see a red panda at the San Diego Zoo, their first reaction is often “what’s that?” What they see is a fiery red-orange and reddish-brown mammal about the size of a large house cat, with a round face, keen eyes, distinctive white and brown markings, a long, fluffy tail, and a fondness for climbing trees. But it’s not a cat. It’s not a fox or a raccoon. And it’s not a bear. It's a red panda!

Cameroon’s Ebo forest is one of the last remaining sites inhabited by forest elephants in the entire Gulf of Guinea biodiversity hotspot—the area of tropical Central Africa to the northwest of the Congo basin. Since we first established trail cameras in the forest in 2016, we have gathered a wealth of evidence of African forest elephant Loxodonta cyclotis presence, despite the fact that the cameras are currently restricted to the relatively small area (approximately 40 square kilometers, or roughly 15 square miles) of the Ebo gorilla range.