Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
Moments in a longer story.
Selected milestones in the history of the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
On this page
A park, its plains and its trails
These dates describe the place you can learn about here. They are not a company timeline for Apollonaut.
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10 May 1972
Opening day
The San Diego Wild Animal Park opens in the San Pasqual Valley.
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1980
California condors
The park begins breeding California condors with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and the Los Angeles Zoo.
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1992
Back to the wild
Captive-bred California condors begin to be released into the wild.
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October 2004
Lion Camp
Lion Camp opens.
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March 2007
Africa Tram
A tram tour of the African field habitats begins.
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30 June 2010
A new name
The park becomes the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
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24 May 2014
Tiger Trail
Tiger Trail opens for Sumatran tigers.
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March 2026
Elephant Valley
The Denny Sanford Elephant Valley opens.
Follow the stories behind the dates
A timeline is a beginning. The longer history introduces the place and its work; the sources below provide further context.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.