The world famous, ninety-nine-acre San Diego zoo, is celebrating its 100th year of preserving, conserving and educating the public on wildlife. The San Diego Zoo is not only famous for its great animal exhibits and welcoming atmosphere, but also for the people who work to keep nature and wildlife thriving for generations to come. The San Diego Zoo is involved in over seventy countries around the world and has over one hundred and forty projects going on currently.
“The San Diego Centennial Celebration is many things to many people and our main focus really hasn’t changed that much over the last one hundred years,” said animal expert and stand-up comedian Chris “Zooman” Clobber. “We are trying to keep wildlife from becoming extinct and saving the natural habitat of plants and animals.”
Clobber has a personal connection to the San Diego Zoo. The Klauber-Shaw Reptile house was named after his great grandfather, Laurence Klauber. Chris stated his great grandfather was “not only a guy who worked on and off with San Diego Zoo, but was also considered to be one of the world’s greatest herpetologists.”
“During his lifetime he discovered at least 20 different species, that have his name on it, and his library, which is very extensive, is still considered to be the expert authority on reptiles and was just moved to the brand new Library downtown.”
Clobber is one of the many knowledgeable bus tour announcers you may find at the San Diego Zoo. However, he does his tour with a comedic twist with comments such as, “the reptile community is very small” and “everyone has a snake in their family.” This and his many other talents are why Clobber has been featured on many television shows. He has been perfecting his bird calls, various animal sounds, and nature noises throughout his career at the San Diego Zoo and was even featured making animals calls and noises in the hit show, “Malcom in the Middle.”
The San Diego Zoo is a nonprofit organization and part of a select few of nonprofits who have managed to last one hundred years. According to Clobber, “people don’t realize, it’s their zoo. It’s because of the generous donations of the public and our donors that make the zoo possible. This is quite literally your zoo and these are your animals. I think it’s amazing it’s been doing so well, and we look forward to doing it for another one hundred years.”
The San Diego Zoo is a leader in conservation efforts around the world and continues to fight to prevent the extinction of wildlife. The goal is an environment-friendly world for animals and people to co-exist peacefully. If you would like to help the San Diego Zoo it is as simple as buying a ticket, a pass, attending fundraisers, joining the adopt an animal program, or simply just donating as much as you can.
“Come out and go to the zoo, just by walking in here you are helping us,” Clobber said. “Have a wonderful day at the zoo, we would like that.”
If you would like to contribute to the San Diego Zoo by either donating or purchasing a ticket (kids are free through the end of Oct.), you can do so at the San Diego Zoo website.