In a zoo showdown with San Diego, we think Phoenix stacks up
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Photo: Jeremy Duda/Axios
👋 Jeremy here. My wife and I love the zoo and enjoy taking our kids, so on vacation in Southern California earlier this month, we had to take a family trip to the famous San Diego Zoo.
State of play: The San Diego Zoo is great, and I was thrilled to return after last visiting as a teenager nearly 30 years ago.
- Still, we walked out thinking our local Phoenix Zoo might be just as good, despite lacking the reputation of its counterpart in San Diego.
- Our colleague Andrew Keatts of Axios San Diego was on hand to compare and contrast.
Why the Phoenix Zoo is great:
- It's not as big as San Diego's, but if you're towing a 5- and 3-year-old in a wagon, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Phoenix seemed more child-friendly generally, and easier to navigate.
- We get better views of some animals here in the Valley. I left California with a renewed appreciation for the lemur exhibit at the Phoenix Zoo, not to mention the World Wildlife Zoo in the West Valley.
Yes, but: We probably didn't get to see half the San Diego Zoo, so I'll concede there's likely a lot I'm not taking into consideration.
- Also, San Diego has something important that our local zoos lack: My favorite animal, the red panda, even if all I saw was a tuft of red fur asleep in the trees.
👋 Andrew here. As a local, the best part of San Diego Zoo is the privilege of a low-commitment trip — we take the kids for a quick hour on a near-weekly basis. It's nice not to have any pressure to take it all in at once. I concede that's not a luxury enjoyed by weekend visitors.
- Still, I think that's the attitude for any zoo trek. There are incredible habitats with remarkable animals in any direction — just pick one and see what you can.
Why the San Diego Zoo is great:
- It's designed for stress-free navigation. Wherever you start, you can stroll through a series of seamlessly connected lush habitats. The zoo prides itself on its commitment to naturalistic habitats for over 600 species.
- It's always changing — the zoo is a well-heeled institution that can't stop evolving. The newest is the Wildlife Explorers Basecamp, an immersive, 3-acre nature play area that kids lose it for. They can scramble through different habitats, learning (and exhausting themselves) along the way.
- San Diego's best craft beer is sold throughout the park. Stroller-pushing parents knocking the suds off a West Coast IPA are a common sight.
One plug: If I may, let me recommend making your way to the Hamadryas Baboons prowling over the vast Ethiopian Highlands exhibit. I've never been there when they weren't demonstrating a remarkable, sometimes confrontational social dynamic that's almost concerningly human.
The bottom line: If you're a zoo person, you can't go wrong with either option.