SOME UNUSUAL - AND DISTURBINGLY RARE - ANIMALS ARE AMONG THE SAN DIEGO ZOO'S WILD THINGS.

Byline: Story by Eric Noland Travel Editor

SAN DIEGO - It's when you read about the appalling extermination of wildlife in a place such as Zimbabwe - where rare animals are being trapped for food and critical habitat is being destroyed through scorched-earth malice - that you gain an even greater appreciation for the San Diego Zoo.

The way things are going in the world these days, this 100-acre animal refuge in Balboa Park may someday be one of the last places you can view the planet's most-threatened species.

Careful conservation measures ``come undone very quickly when the political conditions of a country go awry,'' said Carmi Penny, curator of mammals at the zoo. ``They're often the first thing to fall.''

And on a walk through the zoo, you can't help but feel the press of world events.

Here is a small herd of Bukharan red deer (also known as Bactrian wapiti), their languid behavior offering little clue as to the fate of their kin in central Asia. The deer are believed exterminated in Afghanistan because of a series of wars, and their numbers plunged in regions to the north following the collapse of the Soviet Union, as a breakdown in hunting enforcement resulted. Their numbers in the wild fell from 3,000 to 55 in just four years, and today Penny characterizes them as ``the most endangered large deer in the world.''

That hippo over there certainly is a noble beast - even though it looks as if it should hit the salad bar a little more frequently. Next to its enclosure is a map of Africa showing its distribution in 1959 (more than half the continent) vs. today (the tiniest slivers). Its preference for the same river-side habitat favored by farmers - and its considerable appetite for those crops - contributed to its demise, along with drought and the construction of hydroelectric dams.

The rhino exhibit, meanwhile, includes information about the devastation visited on the great beasts by poachers in the 1970s, when its horn was highly valued for dagger handles in Arabia and as a supposed aphrodisiac in the Far East. The poachers didn't exactly play fair, chasing down the rhinos in four-wheel-drive vehicles and opening up on them with automatic weapons.

Thankfully, all is comparatively peaceful in here. ``Zoos often have a negative stigma about them,'' said Penny, a reference to the captivity and unnatural world, ``but they really are a central part of wildlife management in modern times. We are losing our natural habitat. We don't know if we'll be able to stop it. At best, we'll just be able to protect pockets of habitat.''

The San Diego Zoo, which sets the standard for urban collections of no- longer-wild animals, places a high priority on approximating these habitat regions. Animals, birds and even plants are grouped according to how they occur in nature. Stroll through Tiger River and you're in Southeast Asian rain forest. Continue on to the Ituri Rainforest and you're in Central Africa. Right next to Gorilla Tropics are rain forest aviaries (with walkways high up in the canopy of trees). In one enclosure, you might see two different kinds of gazelle, a zebra and several oryx.

Other design touches enhance the visitor's experience. Some of the viewing areas at Polar Bear Plunge, for example, are about eye level with the surface of the water tank, behind a sheet of glass. You can thus watch one of the bears crawl off a rock into the artificially chilled water, then duck slightly to watch it paddle about with its massive, webbed paws.

Most of the enclosures have multiple viewing areas, so if a mob has formed at one, do a little exploring; you're likely to find another vantage point just as advantageous but much less crowded.

Another attribute is the children's zoo, which seemed to be enjoying a high squeal factor during our recent visit. Its Petting Paddock has the same type of animals you'll find at a county fair - sheep, goats, pigs - but the children's zoo also features a red panda from central Asia and several exhibits that are both educational and fun. There is a cross section of a working beehive (behind glass, of course), as well as a chick hatchery where tiny beaks can be seen poking out of holes in eggs.

One key tip for any visit to this zoo: Arrive early. We spread our visit over two days in mid-March and were surprised at just how much more active the animals were in the first hour or so after the zoo's 9 a.m. opening.

On the first morning, two polar bears frolicked on a rock, and then one of them tumbled into the water and began wrestling with a plastic toy. When we returned closer to midday, they were both snoozing.

On the second morning, a Transvaal lion - the MGM variety, with a shaggy mane - was up and pacing. Not far away, a north Chinese leopard was also on the prowl. It yawned, revealing daggerlike teeth, then emitted a throaty, grumbling growl.

As the days get hotter with the onset of summer, early arrival figures to be even more imperative, as many of the animals ride out the afternoon heat with a nap in the shade.

It would probably be a wearying undertaking to try to see everything this place has to offer in a single day. The zoo is built on a series of hills, and requires a fair amount of climbing. But if you just have one day allotted, it's possible to enjoy many of the highlights by simply wandering about. You're also likely to encounter a surprise or two. We took a wrong turn while looking for Tiger River and came upon a large grassy rectangle where a keeper was holding two gloriously colored blue-and-yellow parrots. The birds swept aloft several times for tandem flights in wide circles, returning each time to the trainer's arm for treats.

It's probably not a good idea to hurry through the zoo, checking off species like trophies on a safari. Sometimes it's fun to linger at one particular enclosure, especially if the animals within are active, and just enjoy watching the behavior for several minutes.

Inquisitive visitors will probably find many delights, as we did:

--Douc langurs, endangered primates from Vietnam, have elaborate coloring that bears a bizarre resemblance to human attire - albeit with an anarchic fashion sense. Let your imagination run free as you make out white shirt, gray coat, sable vest, black breeches, sable leggings, black gloves.

--The Hummingbird Aviary is justifiably one of the zoo's most popular exhibits. In here, we observed a paradise tanager, native to northern Brazil and the Guianas, resplendent with its shimmering blue breast and green face. In this aviary, it's not unusual for the birds to flutter up to someone wearing a floral shirt or blouse.

--Meerkats, from southwest Africa, are crowd-pleasers at any zoo, undoubtedly because their behavior so closely resembles that of humans. The meerkats here certainly obliged on our visit, sitting back as if on a park bench, standing erect, craning their necks to fix you with a quizzical gaze. And sunbathing. That's no joke - a keeper said they stand erect and face the sun to warm their underbellies.

--A sign at the giraffe enclosure provided information on the two female calves born late last year, one in October, one in November. The two youngsters dutifully lounged nearby, flashing their black tongues as they munched on leaves. One of them, Milenna, measured 5 feet 10 inches tall and weighed 143 pounds at birth. Ooph.

--An ominous-looking Indochinese tiger was walking about in a distant corner of its enclosure, as far as it could get from peering eyes but not enough the hide the brilliance of its coloring and coat. Its stare was faintly unnerving, and brought to mind the scene in ``Apocalypse Now'' where Frederick Forrest's character animatedly marvels about the irony of dodging bullets in Vietnam only to be nearly eaten by a tiger.

At the raptor enclosure, elevated walkways enable you to come eye to eye with enormous birds of prey, including an Andean condor (which, alas, perched sedately in a tree, not treating us to a display of its 12-foot wingspan). Two Steller's eagles took flight, but they could only get in a few good flaps before having to come in for a landing. The net- topped enclosures seemed cruelly small, almost prisonlike, for these creatures. It seemed appropriate, then, that the harpy eagle's facial feathering resembled a medieval torture mask.

--The most unattractive animal on the face of the Earth? The Red River hog, from sub-Saharan Africa, can make an emphatic claim. The tips of its pointed ears trail hair that looks like bicycle handlebar streamers.

--A little girl of about 3 was bouncing through an exhibit in Tiger River when she stepped up to a glass pen and beheld a python - stretched out, inert, and about as big around the middle as she. The girl visibly jerked back and announced to her mom, ``Scar-y!''

--A cage of Angolan colobus primates were attracting a lot of attention, perhaps because the long, white hair that protruded from their shoulders and the base of their necks - set off by their black fur - gave them the look of 1970s metal rockers.

The zoo's standard admission is just under $20 for adults, but many visitors opt for a deluxe admission ($32), which includes a guided bus tour, unlimited rides on an express bus that regularly circles the complex (for those occasions when your legs get weary), and a couple of rides in a skyway bucket over the top of the zoo.

The 30-minute guided bus tour doesn't get close enough to most of the enclosures for optimal viewing of the animals, but it provides an introductory overview and might better enable you to plan your day.

It is also rich with nuggets of information - some of which you might prefer to forget. Our guide related, for example, that the okapi (a cousin of the giraffe) has such a long and nimble tongue that it uses it to clean its entire face ... uh, and ears.

Your guide might also dazzle you with the zoo's statistics: 4,000 rare and endangered animals representing more than 800 species and subspecies; more than 4,500 species of exotic plants, many of which provide food for animals when they are trimmed; 1,850 birds of 450 species, the largest such collection in the Western Hemisphere.

You probably won't hear that the zoo and its sister Wild Animal Park could someday be among the last vestiges for these animals' existence.

That's implicit.

IF YOU GO

GETTING THERE: The San Diego Zoo is located in Balboa Park, just north of downtown. From Interstate 5 south, exit at Pershing Drive and follow the signs. Unfortunately, this route is a bit circuitous, but at least it's well-marked. Highway 163 south offers a more direct approach. Exit at Park Boulevard and follow the signs. San Diego is 121 miles south of downtown Los Angeles via I-5.

HOURS, COSTS: The zoo is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (no new visitors allowed in after 4 p.m.). From June 22 through Sept. 2, it will go to summer hours, staying open until 9 p.m. Tickets cost $19.50 for adults (you're considered an adult here at age 12), $11.75 for children (ages 3 to 11); ages 2 and under are free. Deluxe admission, which includes a guided bus tour, unlimited use of the express buses and two one-way rides on the aerial Skyfari, is $32 for adults, $19.75 for children, $28.80 for seniors (age 60 and up). Keep an eye out for special discount cards in tourist brochure racks around town; they'll knock $3 off the adult admission, $2 off the child admission. There is no charge for parking.

EATS: There are numerous fast-food outlets throughout the zoo, and tables are often positioned in shady, inviting spots. If you're seeking something a little more refined, head to Albert's, named after the silver-backed gorilla who lorded over the zoo from 1949-78. The restaurant is built on the site of his former enclosure. You'll get table service here, whether indoors or on the patio, with a menu of appetizing salads, sandwiches, main courses, pastas and pizzas priced in the $11 to $17 range. If your trudge through the zoo is getting the best of you, you'll also find San Diego microbrews and 11 California wines by the glass.

INFORMATION: Call [phone] or visit www.sandiegozoo.org. The zoo recently began offering its deluxe ticket for sale online (regrettably, the standard ticket is not available in this way). Tickets are mailed to customers. It's something to consider, given the chronically long lines at the ticket booths when the zoo opens.

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7 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) The flamingo, top, is something of a symbol of the San Diego Zoo. A flock of them beguiles visitors just inside the front gate. Gorillas, left, also number among the zoo's crowd-pleasers.

(3 -- color) Hippo enclosures are constructed so that visitors can simultaneously observe the beasts above and below the water surface.

(4) Visitors enjoy an up-close view at a gorilla habitat through windows at the San Diego Zoo.

(5) A family watches as waterfowl frolic beneath a footbridge.

(6) A harpy eagle strikes a profile pose at the raptor enclosure.

(7) Darriel Miller, 14, of Canyon Country, enjoys a cool sip from a souvenir tiger-head cup.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer

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IF YOU GO (see text)