I am excited to visit a zoo I’ve read about as a child. Growing up without tv, my parents made sure we knew contemporary culture from radio, books and periodicals. We always had National Geographic. I remember that when a big story came out about the San Diego Zoo, I was up to my heart in panda infatuation and primate fascination. I loved to know that there was a zoo without cages, more like a sanctuary for animals. After visiting some pretty cool zoos in places like Milwaukee and Anchorage, I expected the San Diego Zoo to be more avant-garde. But I guess it lead the charge over thirty years ago by building animal habitats that have been emulated by so many zoos today that the look of this zoo is what we think of when we think of a zoo—sculpted rock and water features, natural-looking barriers like ravines and subtle net to contain animals, not the obvious offense of jail-like bars. It all began at San Diego Zoo, and it continues today with some of the largest and most innovative “cages”.

My favorite device San Diego Zoo uses is attraction. Habitats for birds without cages maintain bird residents by providing such good quality of life that, according to one guide, “even local birds move in here.” One of the coolest devices to improve elephant habitat here is an acacia tree planted on top of a giant man-made “trunk” that resembles a tree, but also functions for animal training and scientific study. The tree will grow over creating a shade enclosure that looks like the real thing. But of course, the elephants know its not. sA good zoo basically does a good job of making humans feel less barbaric. And teaching habitat conservation. Education is the real value of zoos; zoos spark the passion of children. As one African scientist said (I’m sorry I don’t remember his name), “We protect what we love. We love what we know. We know what we are taught.”