San Diego Zoo Safari Park is celebrating its 50th and to celebrate an unsuspecting visitor, 10-year-old Ethan Kemerling, and his parents, Stacy and Eric, were greeted by Lisa Peterson, the Safari Park’s executive director. Peterson informed Ethan that he was the 50th guest to enter the Safari Park, and presented him with an oversized San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance lifetime membership card.
This surprise gift allows Ethan, who lives in Fargo, North Dakota, to have unlimited visits to the Safari Park and the San Diego Zoo, where he can explore and connect with wildlife for years to come.
In addition to the lifetime membership for Ethan, the family—visiting the Safari Park for their first time—was taken on a VIP tour visiting the Safari Park’s expansive savanna habitats, where they saw herds of cape buffalo, antelope, gazelles, giraffes, exotic birds and rhinos – the animal Ethan was most excited to see. They also made visits to presentation areas where they encountered wildlife up close—including a python, a serval and a tamandua.
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park (originally known as the Wild Animal Park) opened to the public on May 10, 1972, and was built to be the “Zoo of the Future.” This revolutionary approach forever changed what zoos could look like and what was possible in the fields of wildlife health and conservation.
Today, the Safari Park’s 1,800 acres are home to vital conservation efforts, with more than 3,600 individual animals from more than 300 species, and a botanical collection of more than 1.75 million plants. The Safari Park welcomes more than 1 million guests each year, providing an ideal setting for visitors to connect with nature and wildlife, while supporting San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s conservation efforts worldwide.