Postcards From the West: San Diego Zoo

At the San Diego Zoo, two Galapagos tortoises square off in a contest for dominance. These giants are the zoo’s oldest residents.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Caribbean flamingos are the first residents that most visitors meet when arriving at the San Diego Zoo. Their pond is just beyond the entrance gate.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The youngest giraffe at the San Diego Zoo, Penelope, gets a nudge and a little love in the Urban Jungle exhibit.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

They may not look like it, but the toenails on the elephants at the San Diego Zoo are carefully manicured.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A male lion at the San Diego Zoo bites into lunch. Visitors watch from a safe distance.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Some of the amazing reptiles and amphibians are behind glass at the San Diego Zoo. This is a black-legged poison dart frog, Phyllobates bicolor.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A pair of emerald tree boas curl on branches in the San Diego Zoo’s reptile house.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The California condor came close to extinction. With help from biologists at the San Diego Zoo, the population has increased from a low of just 22 birds to more than 417. Visitors to the San Diego Zoo can view condors through a glass window.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Meerkats watch a busload of tourists passing their enclosure in the San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An elephant in the Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo gives itself a dust bath, which keeps away insects and serves as sunblock.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

At the San Diego Zoo’s Australian Outback exhibit, quiet little koalas such as Burley are at home in the trees with a constant supply of eucalyptus leaves. [For the record, 9:20 a.m. PDT Oct. 28: A previous version of this caption incorrectly referred to koalas as bears. They are not bears.]  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

A secretary bird keeps an eye on visitors to the San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

An Australian rainbow lorikeet tucks his head at the San Diego Zoo’s Australian Outback exhibit.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors on the Backstage Pass tour can feed the flamingos. The Backstage Pass enables visitors to experience some of the animals in a quieter, more interactive setting.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Kaya, a clouded leopard, licks some food from her keeper’s hand during a Backstage Pass tour of the San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Visitors on a behind-the-scenes tour watch the lions from beyond heavy netting and fences.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

No dogs-and-cats behavior here. A cheetah presents a rather blithe demeanor during a Backstage Pass visit.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Just after daybreak koala keeper Lindsay King fills the water containers and provides fresh eucalyptus for the koala bears at the San Diego Zoo’s Australian Outback exhibit.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Zookeeper Doug Kresl uses his friendly personality and a few snacks to charm the San Diego Zoo’s greater one-horned rhinoceros, Surat. Visitors who buy a Backstage Pass excursion can get close to Surat, pose for photos and touch his rough skin. An inhabitant of the Urban Jungle area, Surat is also watchable from visitor pathways.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

In addition to all of the animals, the San Diego Zoo has a world-class collection of plants like this hibiscus.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The entrance to the San Diego Zoo is a busy hub where visitors choose among options and ticket packages.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Young visitors pose with a statue of Ngagi, a male mountain gorilla who lived at the San Diego Zoo until his death in 1944.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Skyfari at the San Diego Zoo offers a ride across the park, giving visitors a lofty view of the lush gardens and exhibits.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The San Diego skyline, viewed from Harbor Island, glows in the early evening.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Island Prime and C Level lounge on Harbor Island offer dining and drinks with a view of downtown San Diego. C Level is the more casual of the pair; Island Prime is open for dinner only.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Lafayette Hotel is known for its Old Hollywood connection and for the giant swimming pool in the center of the complex.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Lafayette Hotel is about two miles from the San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Balboa Park Fountain is a quick, refreshing, five-minute walk from the gates of the San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

The Botanical Building and Lily Pond in Balboa Park. Visitors can purchase a passport to multiple Balboa Park attractions at a discount.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

American Voodoo restaurant is located in San Diego’s trendy University Heights. The New Orleans-style spot opened in September.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Dining options in Balboa Park include Prado restaurant, with indoor and outdoor seating.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Albert’s Restaurant at the San Diego Zoo offers finer dining surrounded by lush trees and waterfalls.   (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

Buona Forchetta, which opened early this year in the South Park neighborhood, serves sophisticated pizzas, pastas and salads. It’s about 2.3 miles from San Diego Zoo.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

This branch of casual Pizzeria Luigi is less than two miles from the San Diego Zoo. Luigi also has an older location in the Golden Hill neighborhood.  (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)