San Francisco Zoo

The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens is a 100-acre zoo located on the west side of the city, between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean. It is owned by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department and managed by the San Francisco Zoological Society. Visitors can see more than one thousand animals representing over 250 species. The zoo is known as the birthplace of Koko the gorilla and was the home of Elly, the oldest black rhinoceros in North America. It was ranked the 6th best zoo in the United States in April 2025.