They did have penguins until the 1970s when Sea World opened their new Antarctic penguin exhibit. From what people have mentioned in other threads the zoo actually sent their penguins to Sea World at that time. Sea World was the only place to see penguins in Southern California until fairly recently. The Santa Barbara Zoo and Aquarium of the Pacific now both have Magellanic penguin exhibits (SBZ in 2006, AotP in 2012).
I read a news article that stated that there will be penguins Will 2015 expo make Balboa Park a 5-star attraction? Page 4 of 5 | UTSanDiego.com quote San Diego Zoo: Open Australian Outback in 2013 with a new home for koalas and bring back the Tasmanian Devil; start if not complete Africa Rocks in Cat and Dog Canyon and introduce South African penguins; ramp up plans for the zoo’s centennial in 2016.
Tassie Devils are coming to town! Yeah! Have they actually made any plans yet or are they just planning it? ~Thylo
I hear that the devils are here and will be out on May 25th with the opening of the new australian outback. There will also be some new marsupials and new ausssie bird aviaries. They already got common wombats out that will be part of the new exhibit. Specifically named animals include wallabies, kookaburras, cockatoos and a statement that says "with 7 different marsupials and 25 colorful bird species". At the park they got three female sugar gliders and they were all pregnant so I bet some of them will be at the zoo.
i was looking through some things and found kali the cuscus is in the backstage pass program. She could be in the new aussie outback. I think they also have a spotted tailed quoll. The echidna in the childrens zoo is no longer in his exhibit, maybe he is being moved over. My absolute dream would be if they got a platypus!