California's best zoos

With a wide range of environments, its coasts, desert, temperate areas and mountains , California is a state that is well suited to hosting different kinds of zoos and wildlife parks. And it does. California has over 25 zoos, including several that are among the best of their kind, and key players in international wildlife conservation programs.

Six of the best zoos and wildlife parks in California

• San Diego zoo . Reputedly one of the world's top zoos, the main zoo covers a 100 acre / 40 hectare site in San Diego, and is run for the city of San Diego by the non-profit San Diego zoological society. It has over 4000 animals from 650 species, many of them in open enclosures. Check out tickets with Citypass.

   The second part of the zoo is the much bigger San Diego Zoo Safari Park, located in the hills 30 miles northeast of the city. This is a 2000 acre / 800 hectare wildlife park , with its huge  enclosures where animals can be seen in a semi-wild natural environment. 
  San Diego's warm dry climate provides an ideal habitat for many exotic species from Asia,; Africa and the Americas, which can live in the open all year round.
   The zoo is involved in multiple programs to save endangered species; for many years it was home to giant pandas on loazn from China, and six baby pandas were born in the zoo. Hoaver the panda program ended in 2019 and for the time being there are no pandas in this zoo – though they may return.


• Micke Grove Zoo. A small zoo - just 5 acres -  located in Northern California, between the San Francisco Bay area and Yosemite. It specializes in small animals and reptiles, and is involved in the SSP program for the protection of endangered species.
Sea otter at Monterey Aquarium
•     Monterey Aquarium - Non-profit public-owned aquarium on Cannery Row, Monterey. One of the world's best aquariums, participating in oceanographic research projects and ocean species rehabilitation. Attractions include Pacific coast sea otters.
•     SeaWorld San Diego - A large aquarium complex that includes a section directly connected to the ocean. After much criticism of its use of animals for entertainment, SeaWorld San Diego now concentrates on showing large marine mammals, such as orcas and dolphins, as sea creatures, not as performing animals.  
•  Living Desert Zoo and gardens in Palm Desert - Palm Desert, Riverside County.  The desert is not lifeless. Covering over 1800 acres, mostly maintained as a natural habitat area, this facility contains 80 acres of enclosures with desert animals from the USA and around the world, including Arabian Oryx which were once extinct in the wild, but have been reintroduced in Arabia following breeding programs in the USA
• Oakland Zoo  - A non-profit zoo run by the  Conservation Society of California. Covering 100 acres (40 hectares) it is home to more than 850 animals, and has been cited as a world leader for its efforts in  wildlife conservation. Its areas include tropical rain forest, African savannah, a children's area, and and a California trail which is reached by an aerial cablecar. The zoo's 850 animals include African elephants and lions, tigers, meerkats, zebras and many more.