San Diego Zoo

There are more than 4,000 creatures at the 100-acre world famous San Diego Zoo. The giant pandas are the zoo's most popular attraction, but the zoo has many other rare and wonderful species in addition to the zoo's traditional lions, elephants, giraffes, tigers and bears. The zoo has a tremendous collection of tropical birds that are viewed via walk-through aviaries with 50-foot trees. Many animals are located in moated enclosures, allowing animals to roam in environments that resemble their natural habitats. hippos, which are superbly viewed underwater from a glassed-in enclosure; The zoo also features a 2.2-acre Polar Bear Plunge, where you'll find a summer tundra habitat inhabited by polar bear, Siberian reindeer, yellow-throated martens and diving ducks.

The zoo is also an accredited botanical garden, with more than 700,000 plants from every location where animals were acquired, ensuring a naturalistic environment. In many cases (such as the eucalyptus for the koalas), the plants also serve as the primary diet of the animals.