Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.
Note: This cache has just been added to the "Specialty Cache HoF" by FlagMan. This means that finding it will also count as one find in the Specialty Cache Hall of Fame cache series.
You will need to bring a working digital camera or camera equipped device, plus a physical item related to geocaching or other workable item (see instructions below).
And make sure those batteries are charged!
A short history.
Legend has it that after the close of the 1915-1916 Panama-California International Exposition at Balboa Park, Dr. Harry Wegeforth and his brother were driving by, and the Doctor heard the roar of a lion, a male named Rex, that was part of the animal exhibits left after the close of the exposition, many on loan from a menagerie that had closed-down during the event.
And with that roar, he had an idea; San Diego's very own Zoo!
What followed was much promoting, wheeling & dealing, and the formation of the San Diego Zoological Society. But it would be slow-going for that early Zoo, not getting a proper director, Belle Benchley, until 1927, and reaching the Great Depression & the war years, still without reliable funding.
But then in 1954, Dr. Charles Schroeder became the new director. With him at the helm and with finances now secure, he immediately set to work with big changes, beginning with the construction of the Children's Zoo. With their designer, Charles Faust, he then began to develop Wegeforth's early ideas for moats & berms instead of cages & fences for enclosures. Not just designers, but curators, veterinarians, behaviorists, and other staff were brought into the loop to add their own insights on what was needed.
Then in the early 60's a new idea; to have an off-site closed-to-the-public facility to breed animals, receive incoming ones for quarantine, prepare outgoing ones, and house those whose exhibits were undergoing construction or renovation. Eventually, it was decided to make it open to the public, as an entirely different kind of Zoo, where most of the animals roamed free and the visitors were "in the cage" instead, in the form of a monorail safari train, called the WGASA Bushline Monorail.
And so in 1972, it was opened to the public as the San Diego Wild Animal Park.
In the meantime, the Zoological Society was rethinking their main Zoo. Rather than basing the presentation and display of animals by species or type, it was decided to borrow the free-roaming habitat ideas from the Wild Animal Park and present them as members of whole, integrated communities. With the "Heart of the Zoo" makeover in 1982, the concept was introduced, and then reached full scale with "Tiger River" in 1988.
And now this year, 2018, they have just opened their latest, "Africa Rocks".
At least as far back as 1952, Kenneth C Lint and Belle Benchley had proposed a captive breeding plan for the even then endangered California Condor, a plan that was stopped by lawsuits from people & groups that opposed it.
This marked the beginning of what would become another new direction for the San Diego Zoo, the active recovery of endangered species. A research facility, the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species, or CRES, was created at the Zoo in 1975 to develop methods to improve animal reproduction, including cutting edge technologies such as in-vitro fertilization, and a system of cryogenic preservation of genetic materials called 'The Frozen Zoo". It would eventually move to the Wild Animal Park, now called the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and itself be remamed the Institute for Conservation Research, or ICR.
And Lint's vision would eventually come to fruition in the early eighties, with the creation of the California Condor Recovery Program.
Now the San Diego Zoo is proposing its next and most ambitious goal ever; collaborating and working with other zoos, organizations, government agencies, and others all around the world, for nothing less than the goal of ending extinction! And with it, the Zoo, the Safari Park, ICR, and all other parts of the organization are now under one new name, San Diego Zoo Global.
And finally, one other change, the basis for this virtual cache. To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Dr Wegeforth's inspiration in 1916 (two years late to the party in 2018), the plaza in front of the main entrance to the Zoo has been completely redone, with a massive bronze statue of Rex the Lion, and numerous associated features in the form of brass pavement inlays.
Logging with photos.
To log this cache, visit the plaza in person, log your visit, AND include a photographic record of your visit.
Be sure to add the photos to your log.
Photos should include one of Rex or a part of Rex and one of an inlay feature, with one of the photos including a geocaching related item, such as your GPS display, a handheld device showing the Geocaching App, a Travel Bug or Geocoin with the tracking number hidden, a geocaching team patch or decal, signature swag, or anything with the Groundspeak logo, Signal the Frog, Travel Bug logo, other Groundspeak feature, or the International Geocaching Symbol.
If you don't have any such items, anything clearly "local" will also do, such as a local newspaper or a Zoo map or drink cup.
Or add another photo of any other distinctive feature in the vicinity of the site, which is not truly connected to the theme.
If photos of items with Rex do not come out clear, try them on the ground next to the inlays instead. They will have a much better chance of having everything in focus. Do not try to hang or attach anything directly to Rex.
Be sure to inspect all your planned logging photos before leaving the site to make sure that they came out as you want them. "Nat-Geo" standards aren't essential, but they do need to have all the noted features be clear enough to see. Selfies, family, or group photos are at your discretion, but keep them "safe".
If you are in a geocaching group or family, the group or family photo will count for all present.
No non-visit or "armchair" logging, all visits must be in person at the actual physical location and must include the indicated photos. All logs and photos are subject to verification for this after logging, and those that are found to be not valid, or those in question that cannot be validated on follow-up will result in deletion of the log.
Access
The cache is in the public plaza outside of and in front of the San Diego Zoo entrance, with no fees. permits, or Zoo admission needed to park or visit the plaza or to take photos. It is also my first cache to be fully wheelchair accessible.
For reasons of after-hours "demographic changes" and uncertain lighting for photos, this cache is not recommended at night, except maybe during the Zoos "Nighttime Zoo" hours during the summer, when the demographics will still be family-friendly until 9:00 P.M., and with a good flash unit or extra lighting.
Wild critters outside of the Zoo are unlikely during the daytime, but watch out for the "usual suspects" at night.
And with nearby areas of Southern California open & semi-open land, ALWAYS watch out for Snakes!
Congratulations to dm92 for the First to Find!