Summer Fun at the San Francisco Zoo
If you're looking for fun this summer, be sure to check out the offerings from the San Francisco Zoo. The Zoo is presenting fun events every weekend in July, as well as bonus activities throughout the summer. Here's what's taking place for the remainder of the month at the Zoo. Unless otherwise noted, events are free after museum admission.
Wolverine Weekend
July 19 & 20, 10:30 am–4 pm
Come make the acquaintance of the newest Zoo residents: a seven-year-old male and a 13-year old female wolverine! Learn about the conservation challenges this amazing species faces in the wild, and meet the comic book character Wolverine in person!
Baby Loves Disco
July 26 & 27, 11 am–3 pm
Back by popular demand, this raucous and ridiculous dance party is guaranteed to give kids of all ages a serious case of boogie fever. Translation: Everyone will sleep through the night and then some. Come on by to get down at the Playfield Lawn, have your face painted, and build a cute conservation craft before you set out to visit your favorite animals.
March of the Penguins
July 26, 9–10 am
Don't miss this popular annual event—now open to the public! Watch the Zoo's five adorable adolescent Magellanic penguins waddle to their new home on Penguin Island. This event celebrates the penguin chicks' graduation from Fish School (where they lose their fluffy down, learn to eat whole fish, swim, and hang out with their human keepers) and their reunion with the rest of the penguin colony. Help them make their public debut in red-carpet style!
Washed Ashore
Through September 23, 11 am–4 pm
This unusual art exhibition of giant sea life sculptures made from ocean garbage is a project of the Artula Institute for Arts & Environmental Education. On view all summer in the Pachyderm Building, Washed Ashore is a collection of spectacular, giant sea life sculptures made with debris that has literally “washed ashore.” This project creates awareness about marine trash and plastic pollution and gives new meaning to the common man-made items we toss in the garbage every day.
In addition to these events, the Zoo's youth volunteer programs, Nature Trail and Talk on the Wild Side, also take place every day this summer. The Zoo's youngest educators and docent volunteers are stationed throughout the Zoo armed and ready with their fun facts and teaching tools. The Zoo’s summer schedule is also packed with Keeper Talks and Animal Enrichment every hour of the day.
If You Go
The San Francisco Zoo is located near Ocean Beach on Sloat Boulevard at the Great Highway. Admission is $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 65+, $9 for children 4–14, and free for children under 3. The Zoo is open daily from 10 am to 4 pm (last entry at 3 pm). For more information, call (415) 753-7080 or visit sfzoo.org.
Photos: SF Zoo
