Wild Animal Park Name Change!

[SaveTheWAP]

Greetings MiceChat,

I have some unfortunate and outrageous news that needs to be shared. The San Diego Zoological Society is looking to change the name of the beloved Wild Animal Park to the "San Diego Zoo's Safari Park." They are going have the marketing tag-line be, "Wild at Heart." I have confirmed this with several sources at the WAP and they are beginning to have employee meetings to inform everyone working there. According to those same sources, the park is going to transition away from focusing on conservation and the animals, and begin focusing more of the "adventures" that are offered, such as the upcharge zip-lines and Segway tours.

This change in focus is completely insane considering the facility was founded to help endangered species breed and teach conservation to the public. In the last several years, they discontinued the extremely popular (and free!) WGASA Monorail for the upcharge Journey into Africa Tour using large (and loud) parking lot trams. Because of this change, the Asian enclosure with many endangered species cannot be seen unless you take the upcharge Segway tour ($80/person). To give people more thrills, they built an upcharge zip-line attraction ($70/person). What is next, an upcharge rollercoaster?!?

In addition to the change in focus, the name change could cost millions of dollars that could go towards helping endangered species, or improving the existing facilities at the Wild Animal Park. As a member of the Zoological Society, I do not wish my dues and donations be wasted on this name change.

What can you do to help? Please contact the Zoological Society and let them know what you think about this name change. Their phone number for the Customer Service office is: (619) 718-3000 or (800) 407-9534.

You can also contact them via their website at: San Diego Zoo.org

Only with the support of the public does it look like we will be able to change the minds of the Zoological Society administration and save the Wild Animal Park. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

[DisneyFan28]

First the beloved Rhino logo sign and the masks are gone for a more current style
Now this...

At leas most of the exhibits are able to be walked around and seen like Congo fishing river, Gorillas,Lion Camp,the walkway and the Condor Ridge
hopefully the new tiger exhibit wont be a extra area where you need to pay for a tour.. ( i saw a blueprint for it on the site last year and now nothing)

and the name change...it...kinda fits due to the heart of africa tour ride
but the money could be used for other things though like fix the parking lots
or build new exhibits ( i keep hoping they put up a 2nd tram for the other animals like the deer on the stone mountain..)

[JerrodDRagon]

This sucks, I love the name "Wild Animal Park"

[SaveTheWAP]

It appears that I am not the only whistle-blower about this horrible name change. Several media outlets have already posted articles:

EXCLUSIVE: Wild Animal Park considering name change - Make sure to read the comments as they are spot on. Not a single person seems to be in favor of the change here.

Wild Change on the Horizon? | NBC San Diego - Love the polls here as 88% of those taking the poll are either furious or sad about the name change, and 86% do not want the name to change at all.

Wild Animal Park To Change Its Name - Short but sweet article.

Hopefully the more that media picks up on this, the more the Zoological Society realizes this is a mistake.

[dhp8nt]

Folks a name change would not be all that bad. It would better define the park for the out of town visitors. The WAP is more like a Safari adventure than a traditional zoo so a Safari Park name would be more fitting. Keep in mind most locals already know what to expect but those from out of town do not. Things change in business just like with the recent DCA name change. Companies look at the pros and cons prior to re-branding and I am sure this was taken into account.

[CoasterMatt]

As somebody who did a lot of selling of CityPass multi-attraction tickets, I can tell you that a lot of people had no idea what the Wild Animal Park was, especially when they had to choose between the San Diego Zoo or Wild Animal Park- most would choose "zoo" because Wild Animal Park sounded like "just a park, with wild animals".

[Druggas]

Any press is good press and the WAP is struggling.

This recession has hit hard and even DL has felt it's wrath.

[sunnydii]

I like the new name...depicts what is really there...not really a 'zoo' but a safari...

[FormerDiz]

If the new name brings in more guests and they use that extra money for more conservation and rescue efforts, I'm all for it.

[SaveTheWAP]

This just in: The Zoological Society has officially announced their plans to change the Wild Animal Park to the "San Diego Zoo's Safari Park."

ESCONDIDO: Park name change to emphasize safari experience

My favorite part of the article:

The San Diego Zoo Board of Trustees, which governs both the zoo and animal park, voted June 30 to approve the name change, which had been under consideration for about nine months, McClure said.
He said the park did not conduct a marketing study.

Also:

McClure said park officials haven't studied the potential cost of the name change.

So they did not ask the members of the Zoological Society or their donors or anyone about what they thought, and apparently have have not looked into how much it is going to cost them to make these changes.

While some of their arguments on the name change makes sense, wouldn't the money necessary to changing the name be better spent on raising awareness of what the Wild Animal Park is?

Someone has already started a Facebook group dedicated to keeping the Wild Animal Park name and it has over 200 members in under 24 hours, so I know there are people who agree with me. If you also agree that this name change is rediculous please join this group and hopefully they can organize and get the Zoological Society to reconsider their decision.

Save The Wild Animal Park

The best thing to do is still to contact the Zoological Society directly and let them know what you think. The phone numbers and web address are listed in the first post and also in my signature. Let's hope we can get them to see reason.

[Barbossa]

I haven't been to the Wild Animal Park since 1994, but, when did they get rid of the monorail?

[techskip]

My wife and I just finally picked up a membership... we used to go about once a year, and this time around the price made sense to just buy a pass.

If they implement the name change over time (replacing napkins, cups, maps etc as old stock runs out) then the cost shouldn't be too much more. The signs would probably cost the most and they might get a sponsor for that. In the end if the new name brings in new revenue to help even more animals then I am fine with it.

[CaliforniaAdventurer]

/\
Me too, but I haven't been to the Wild Animal Park to check it out lately.

[Wanda Woman]

How about the "Escondido Wild Animal Park"? Non-locals understandably think the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Wild Animal Park are located near one another.

Heh heh.

[Dutchman]

The only problem with that is , it's really in the city of San Diego, not Escondido. Most of the San Pasqual valley is within the city limits beleive it or not.