FEATURED EVENTS

Join us for an interactive learning experience with our resident chickens! Discover what they like to eat, where they sleep and other fun facts.

The festive Bunny Hut returns for another Spring, so families can meet the Easter Bunny in La Mesa. From March 28 through April 11, 2020, the Easter Bunny will be in residence at the Center’s courtyard gazebo. There, families can spend some time with the Easter Bunny for a unique, joyous holiday celebration and even come away from their visit to the Bunny Hut with a special photo keepsake of the day.

Get an up-close look at the delicate sea nettles in our Open Sea exhibit. Watch our sea nettles as their long tentacles and lacey mouth-arms move smoothly through the water. But don't let these unassuming invertebrates fool you — their graceful trailing parts are covered in stinging cells used for hunting. When their tentacles touch tiny drifting prey, the stinging cells paralyze it and stick tight. The prey is moved to the mouth-arms and then to the mouth, where it's digested.

You're watching a live stream of African penguins at the big, new Dan & Vi McKinney Penguin Habitat in Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks. You might also spot some of their pool mates, leopard sharks. But don't worry, the two species get along swimmingly! Our flock of African penguins can be seen in the big, new Cape Fynbos habitat at the San Diego Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Africa Rocks. The spacious Penguin Beach features a cobblestone beach, nesting areas, and rockwork that mimics the granite boulders found at Boulders Beach in South Africa—along with a 200,000-gallon pool with depths up to 13 feet, and underwater viewing. As one of the most endangered types of penguins, these little birds need your help! Their numbers have declined by 60 percent in the last 28 years. The African penguins at the Zoo are just the beginning of a large flock that we hope to have over the next couple of years and start breeding this species. It is important for people to learn about this endearing species.

Hop on over to Grossmont Center in La Mesa on Easter weekend, April 11, 2020, where our annual Easter Egg Hunt offers fun for everyone! People love to come to Grossmont Center year-round to discover amazing finds in our shops and restaurants such as a fashionable new outfit or a delicious menu item. During the Easter Egg Hunt, that search for treasure turns into a hunt for eggs that contain special surprises such as store coupons, candy, and small toys. Families can visit all the Center’s stores and eateries to hunt for eggs during this fantastic and festive holiday event.

Memorial Day is a day for remembrance of those who have died in service to our country. In the tradition of The Virtual Run Challenge paying tribute to these soldiers, we are introducing our first annual Memorial Day Virtual Running event. Our Remember the Fallen virtual run will be a distance of 21k. 21k was chosen for the distance because it is commonly recognized as the highest honor by many nations. Also, represented by the number 21 and is also depicted in this year’s finisher medal is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Let The Del’s soaring red turrets and the glittering Pacific Ocean be the backdrop to your family’s Easter memories. Savor the bounty of spring at the Champagne Easter Brunch in the magnificent Crown Room or Ballroom. Then, head out into the spring sunshine for an epic Easter celebration with egg hunts, an adorable petting zoo, a fun bonnet competition and the world’s largest beachfront bunny hop led by the Easter Bunny himself. Join us! There’s something for everyone on April 12, 2020.

Jumping in the time machine we went back to a day where video games were nonexistent and board games were a nightly family favorite. One game comes to mind as one that stood out as a favorite, Candyland! Back to the present day we at The Virtual Run Challenge have re-imagined this classic board game into the future and have come up with the Candy Run Challenge!

Foraging, grooming, exploring, relaxing—it's all part of a primate's day! Enjoy watching either our Hamadryas baboon troop or our Gelada monkeys (they share an exhibit with Nubian ibex, a wild goat species with large curved horns) in their habitats in Africa Rocks at the San Diego Zoo. You can tell the two species apart by their distinctive features: Hamadryas are tan-haired with red faces and rears, while Geladas have dark-colored faces with light eyelids and a red hourglass-shaped patch of skin on their chests.

Black and white and orange all over: The beautiful, striped coat and that powerful, mesmerizing gaze make the tiger one of the world’s most revered animals. It’s a reverence that’s mixed with a bit of fear, an appropriate reaction to a large, well-muscled, swift hunter with inch-long claws and 3-inch-long (7 centimeters) canine teeth. The tiger is a stalk-and-ambush hunter, and the distinctive stripes are good camouflage in the long grass or wooded forests of their diverse habitat. Dark stripes on a pale background break up the tiger’s outline as it lies in wait for prey to come near.