Sometimes living in San Francisco is like living in a zoo. Yes, I could be referring to the chaos of life in a bustling city where so many diverse people are located within such a small geographic area. But in this case, I mean it much more literally than that. San Francisco is home to an astounding array of interesting wildlife, some of which is native to the area and some of which is not, but all of which is worth checking out to experience a bit of nature in an urban environment.
There are two quite famous wildlife breeds in the city. The first is the sea lions located at Pier 39. The second is the pocket of wild parrots on Telegraph Hill in North Beach. The former began to come to the area in 1990, just after the earthquake upset nature in the region. At that time, a small group of less than ten sea lions began to use the dock area as a haul-out spot. Word must have spread among the sea lion community because today there are hundreds of sea lions who call this spot home. Similarly, the Telegraph Hill parrots were first noticed not too many years ago when there was only a pair of them. Today, flocks fly above the city together in colorful displays.
In what other urban environment can one walk among the activity of tourist shops and famous landmarks and hear the barking of sea lions mingling with the near-laughter of cawing parrots? It is almost as if it was planned that way by a city looking to increase tourism, except that both of these sets of animals came here of their own accord and developed their animal communities oblivious to the people interested in seeing them.
And the sea lions and wild parrots aren’t all the wildlife there is to see here. A quick ride on the MUNI over to Golden Gate Park will let you explore a whole new range of animal life. Within the park is an enclosure of buffalo. They may not be natural to the environment, but in what other major city can you go to the park and see buffalo? Perhaps more common to parks is the chance to see the squirrels frolicking through the Botanical Gardens located there; but again, what major city is home to a park large enough to accommodate Botanical Gardens?
Of course, for those people who just aren’t satisfied with the wildlife making their homes all across the city, there’s always the option of heading over to the real zoo of San Francisco. The first Wednesday of every month is free admission day, although travelers are forewarned that the number of people who take advantage of that opportunity make it seem more like a human zoo than an animal one!
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