The pictures on this page were taken at the world famous San Diego Zoo located in sunny Southern California. The San Diego Zoo is just one of many attractions that are encompassed by Balboa Park.

Balboa Park covers 1,200 acres of real estate near downtown San Diego and has over 85 attractions including museums, performing arts theaters, tropical horticultural gardens, cultural exhibits, and children’s playgrounds.

A non profit society known as the Zoological Society of San Diego is responsible for operating the zoo and managing the hundred acres of property that is leased from the city of San Diego.

The 32 images in this photo album only represent a tiny glimpse of the thousands of animals and hundreds of unique species that you will encounter on your visit to the San Diego Zoo.

The San Diego Zoo has a convenient elevated gondola lift (a kind of tram system) that travels over most of the zoo’s 100 acres and allows for excellent picture taking opportunities.

Lush green hills and grassy fields dominate the premium real state that the Zoological Society of San Diego has been able to lease from the city of San Diego.

From the gondola you can also see part of the San Diego Wild Animal Park, where animals are allowed even more freedom than the zoo. You’ll need a large zoom lens if you want to snap photos of individual animals instead of just scenery.

A few of the larger species are rotated back and forth from the San Diego Zoo to the Wild Animal Park in order to give them a vacation from their smaller habitats.