The San Diego Zoological Society became interested in developing a larger facility in 1964. The initial concept of the park was as a supplementary breeding facility for the San Diego Zoo, which would allow ample space for large animals and herding behaviors of
ungulates. The development proposed would differ significantly from that of a typical zoo in that animals would be exhibited in a naturalistic, spacious environment rather than in cages. In 1964, the park was assessed financially and then moved onto the next phase, with this resulting in three alternative developments—a conservation farm, a game preserve, or a ‘natural environment’ zoo. The natural environment zoo development was chosen over the conservation farm and game preserve even though it was the most expensive option. The estimated initial cost was $1,755,430. However,
In Defense of Animals disputes this, claiming that new fencing costing many times less than the capture and transport would have ended the need to remove any elephants from Swaziland, and that the Save Wild Elephants Coalition reported that there were three other sanctuaries in Africa that had offered to take the elephants. Five of these elephants are now at the park, In March 2012, five elephants were moved to the
Reid Park Zoo in
Tucson, Arizona, to form a new herd. A bull elephant, two cows, and two baby bulls were moved and, in return, two female elephants that had been together for years. Connie, an
Asian elephant, and Shaba, an African elephant, were sent to the San Diego Zoo. Connie died from cancer in July 2012, just five months after the move. Shaba was slowly introduced into the herd in February 2013. On July 12, 2012, Ndulagave birth to Umzula. A male calf named Zuli was the largest elephant born at the park. The
California wildfire season in 2007, which officially started on October 21 that year, burned of native
chaparral lands within the park and caused the park's temporarily closure. The park moved many of their endangered animals out of danger of the fire. The flames did not reach any of the main enclosures, and no animals were killed or burned by the fire, though the flames could be seen clearly from several of the exhibits. The incidental deaths of a
clapper rail and
kiang were attributed to indirect effects of the blaze. On June 30, 2010, the San Diego Zoo
board of trustees voted to change the name of the park from the San Diego Wild Animal Park to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park to clarify what it offers, since the difference between the zoo proper and the "animal park" was unclear to some visitors. The name "safari" is supposed to emphasize "the park's spacious enclosures of free-ranging animals" (as opposed to "the closer quarters of the zoo"), encouraging visits to both locations. In July 2019, the park opened a new exhibit specifically for their rhinoceroses, the Nikhita Khan Rhino Centre (named after animal lover and lawyer Nikhita Khan), debuting as the home for six white rhinos. A few days after the center's opening, one of the rhinos (named Victoria) gave birth to Edward, a male calf, becoming the first rhinoceros in North America to be born via
artificial insemination. In April 2024, the
Ellen Trout Zoo's male southern white rhinoceros, Bwana, permanently moved into this zoo to officially join its large crash. ==Exhibits and attractions==