San Diego Zoo | San Diego Review

Located at 2920 Zoo Dr, San Diego, CA 92101
The San Diego Zoo is one of the main attractions in America's Finest City. Over four million people visit every year.
The zoo covers 100 acres and is home to over 14,000 rare and endangered animals.
Giraffes are the tallest land animals on earth standing up to 18 feet in height.
Their elongated necks permit them to reach leaves high among the trees. The favorite food of the giraffe are leaves from the acacia tree.
Although their necks are as long as a human standing straight up, they still have the same amount of neck bones as us. Their seven neck vertebrae are consistent with most mammals.
The heart of a giraffe must be strong enough to pump blood up to their head. It weighs 25 pounds and grows to a length of two feet.
Giraffes in the wild sleep for brief periods of 5 to 30 minutes. They normally sleep standing up to quickly escape any threats from predators. Their long legs allow them to reach speeds of 37 mph in short bursts.
Gazelles live in various habitats, from grasslands to deserts, or rocky terrain. They are known for their agility and speed to escape quickly. Their lightweight frame, long limbs, and narrow build enables them to accelerate at a moment's notice.
The movements of these gazelle show the potential they have of reaching up to 60 mph when running at full speed.
The safety of the zoo allows them to stroll about leisurely, without having to look over their shoulders all the time.
Other types of antelope at the zoo include bontebok and the gerenuk. Gerenuk actually means "giraffe-necked" in the Somali language.
Chacoan peccaries look a lot like pigs or boars, but they are, in fact, not in the same evolutionary family as either of them. Their bodies tend to be smaller and their smaller hooves can navigate terrain,
but they are not adapted to aggressive digging or rooting as seen with pigs searching for food underground. When they become excited
or defensive the bristles on their back stand up, just as our hairs stand up when alarmed. It's all to appear larger and more intimidating.
Wedgeforth Bowl is named after the founder and first president of the Zoological Society of San Diego.
It holds wildlife presentations daily at 2pm
and gives the audience a firsthand look at some of the animals at the zoo.
Of all the primates, which include us humans, gorillas are the largest. Adult male gorillas can stand upright as high as six feet in height and typically weigh 300 to 450 pounds. The heaviest wild gorilla on record weighed in at almost 600 pounds. Despite their size, gorillas are normally peaceful, gentle animals. They live in family groups led by a dominant silverback male. They are classified as herbivores. Although they occasionally eat ants or termites, gorillas usually eat plants, bark, flowers, or fruit.
An adult male will eat about 40 pounds of vegetation a day. That's equal to 23 heads of iceberg lettuce.
If threatened or surrounded, a silverback will charge at an intruder or display dominance by beating his chest.
Being the focus of a gorilla's aggression can be dangerous, as their bite force is 1,300 pounds per square inch, about double that of a lion.
With elongated, powerful arms, a gorilla is about four to ten times stronger than any human. Humans and gorillas share about 98% of the same DNA.
We both have opposable thumbs and fingernails instead of claws. We also share forward-facing eyes, and larger brains relative to our size. In some instances,
like when carrying food, gorillas can walk on two legs just like us. The quadrupedal walk distributes their weight more evenly.
Gorillas live from 35 to 40 years. In captivity, it can be significantly longer at around 50 years or more. Looking directly at a wild gorilla is understood as a threat, but these gorillas at the San Diego Zoo are accustomed to the attention they get from visitors.
Some even pose patiently for a picture or sketch drawn by visiting students.
Two siamangs are relaxing and playing in the sun. Notice how much longer their gangly arms are in comparison to us humans.
The siamang on the right sees something it likes, jumping over the other.
A small orangutan is behind this stump. The siamang pulls at the object the orangutan is holding.
It eventually gets it, climbing and swinging from above. Look at how easily it transfers the object from its mouth to its hand and then to its feet. This frees up its arms to taunt the orangutan once more. Orangutans are the most intelligent of the great apes and this young one has a plan to sneak up and lunge. The siamang is too quick and agile. As the orangutan gets up and walks closer again, the siamang jumps and hoists itself into the air. The object appears to be food or a tube containing food.
With the prize just out of reach, the young orangutan figures it needs to formulate a better plan.
The gorillas, orangutan, and siamangs we've seen don't have a tail and are considered apes. A monkey, like this Mandril seen here, usually has