The San Diego Wild Animal Park is one of the main tourist attractions of San Diego and Southern California. It houses a variety of wild and endangered animals including species from the continents of Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and Australia. The park is in a semi-arid environment and one of its most notable features is its large, natural looking enclosures for the animals. The enclosures hold such animals as cheetahs, gazelles, lions, giraffes, hippos, zebras, Przewalski's horses, rhinos, and gorillas. The park is also noted for its California condor breeding program, possibly the most successful program in the country.

The park has an area of 1,800 acres (7 km²) and, in 2002, housed more than 400 species of animals and 3,500 species of plants. Access to the animal exhibits is by several miles of walking trails, a five-mile (8 km) electric railway, and by caravan on a flatbed truck inside some of the larger enclosures.

Both the park and the San Diego Zoo are run by the Zoological Society of San Diego. The Wild Animal Park is 32 miles (51 km) away from the zoo, at 15500 San Pasqual Valley Road in Escondido, California.

External link

• Wild Animal Park visitor information