UP CLOSE AND PRIMAL COMMUNE WITH THE EXOTIC CRITTERS AT SAN DIEGO'S WILD ANIMAL PARK.

Byline: Eric Noland Travel Editor

ESCONDIDO - Paw pads thrummed the hard-packed dirt like muffled thunder as the cheetah shot past. Shoulder muscles rippled beneath golden fur spotted black. It was a magnificent display of high-speed pursuit, at 70 mph.

But it was the eyes that most commanded your attention. They were unblinking, penetrating, chilling ... and absolutely riveted on this cat's prey.

Good thing, because we four dozen tourists were just a few feet away, lined up behind a low fence that didn't start looking puny and insubstantial until the cheetah was unhooked from its leash.

It's one of the latest and more intriguing offerings of the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, a sprawling reserve of exotic creatures just east of Escondido.

This is a tourist theme park, sure, overseen by the Zoological Society of San Diego, which also operates the famed San Diego Zoo. But the 1,800-acre layout bears little resemblance to the traditional zoo setup of cages and small pens.

In most cases, the animals roam wide-open areas that at least approximate their stomping grounds in the wild.

On a ride around the park on the balky Wgasa Bush Line Railway (thankfully, the decrepit 30-year-old monorail is ticketed for replacement), visitors might peer down into the rolling hills and plains of the East Africa enclosure and observe wildebeest strolling among southern white rhinos, while Thomson's gazelles, scimitar-horned oryx, sable antelope and greater kudu - with their peculiar corkscrew horns - mingle on a slope within a few dozen yards of one another.

These offerings and other special programs at the park move visitors closer to the animals so that they can observe them in a more natural state - feeding, caring for young, establishing dominance.

Standard admission ($28.50 for adults, $17.50 for kids) includes the monorail tour, trainer talks, giraffe feedings, and elephant and bird shows, but visitors who want to delve behind the scenes can pay extra to do so.

The Photo Caravan Safari loads folks into vehicles that resemble open-top livestock trucks and rumbles into the heart of the large-animal enclosures. Roar & Snore camp-outs allow you to sleep in a tent on the edge of the animals' territory - close enough to smell the elephant dung - and perhaps hear nocturnal cries rarely encountered this side of Africa's eastern savanna.

And then there is Cheetah Run Safari, which was launched last spring. Offered on weekends, it allows a prescribed number of guests (no more than 50 at a time) to watch as a trainer exercises a cheetah by having it chase a mechanical lure, much like at dog-racing tracks. Despite a surcharge of $69 per person on top of the park admission, it has proven to be a big hit with people who want an up-close encounter with this blazing-fast predator.

Some might wonder if this cheetah-on-display show is a mild form of animal cruelty, but senior animal trainer Janet Ramsay contends that quite the opposite is the case.

``Instinctively, cheetahs look at certain prey objects and they're built for speed, so there is that desire there,'' she said. Her contention is borne out after every sprint by Majani, a powerfully built male, because the big cat breaks into a thunderous purr.

Cathryn Hilker at the Cincinnati Zoo pioneered the idea of encouraging captive cheetahs to make an occasional sprint, as they do in the wild while running down antelope, rabbits, ostriches and other prey. Said Ramsay: ``These are animals that have had severe health issues - gastritis, digestive problems, very common in captivity - and, once given the opportunity to run, were definitely improved.''

Trainers here have been exercising the cheetahs in this way for some time. Recently, the park decided to let the public in on it, and generate another revenue stream in the process.

Guests are driven to a safari camp in a remote area of the park, where olive-green tents have been pitched, and snacks and drinks set out. The cheetah is usually coaxed into two sprints, after which it is fed.

A cable is strung out along a packed-dirt run, which is about 30 yards in length. Affixed to one end of the line is the object of Majani's desire: a lure made of rabbit pelt, lambskin, a trash bag (which gives the thing a rustling sound when it moves) and, just to spice things up a bit, a pillowcase sprinkled with female cheetah urine.

At a signal from a trainer, the cable is mechanically wound into a box at lightning speed, and Majani thunders past the onlookers just a step or so behind it.

It's an awesome sight. The next time you're barreling down the freeway at 70 mph, look out the side window and imagine a 140-pound spotted cat in the No. 2 lane, keeping exact pace with your front bumper. Why, even champion racehorses barely top 40 mph.

The park's animal handlers say the fence separating the cheetah from the dropped-jaw tourists is superfluous, so single-minded is the cat in its chase. But for those of us who aren't so comfortably acquainted with this creature, it is reassuring nonetheless.

The Wild Animal Park delivers many rewarding experiences, even for those who don't spring for a cheetah run or a photo safari. Among other offerings:

Your lion eyes

Stalking lions can be an unfulfilling experience at many zoos. The cats always seem content to sack out for hours at a time in a cavelike den in the far reaches of their pens.

The Wild Animal Park flipped the concept with Lion Camp - it built a den with a huge plate-glass window at the front of the enclosure, alongside the tourist pathway. A giant rock next to the glass is even heated, encouraging the half-dozen lions within to hang out here.

Lion Camp, opened a little over a year ago and populated with lions from a South Africa preserve, has proven to be a hit for the access it provides. Out back, the lions like to lounge on a grassy hillside and crawl around in what appear to be abandoned vehicles from some ill-fated safari.

Close and personal

--The park's giraffes also congregate in an area far from the tourist walkways, but they can't ignore a grumbling stomach. In the Heart of Africa region, giraffes are fed periodically during the day, and the viewing platform is at human-eye level.

Visitors may purchase food and feed the giraffes themselves at certain times of the day - as appetites dictate, the handlers hasten to note.

--Much smaller creatures can be hand-fed at Lorikeet Landing, a leafy aviary that is home to resplendent birds from the rain forests of New Guinea and Australia. The feathering of the rainbow lory really is remarkable: blue head, orange beak, red breast, yellow patch behind the neck, green and yellow swaths on the back and wings.

The birds have become so accustomed to people - and so keen on dipping a beak in the paper cups of nectar, which are available for purchase - that they commonly land on shoulders, arms, hands and fingers, preening for the cameras as they feed.

--Animal Encounters are conducted throughout the day as handlers exhibit a creature and offer a few minutes of educational information about it. (Times and locations of these sessions are listed in the daily schedule, handed out at the entrance.)

During my visit, Tara Streu had a white-faced Scopps owl from Africa perched on her arm. She noted that it has 14 to 16 neck vertebrae - twice as many as humans - which give it a phenomenal turning radius. Those cartoonists aren't taking artistic liberties: Yes, Streu said, ``It can almost turn its head all the way around.''

Up and away

The Wild Animal Park has always had a bird show, but recently revamped it as Frequent Flyers, showcasing birds of prey.

Members of the audience oohed as an East African crowned crane glided over the amphitheater. The flight of a Eurasian eagle owl was eerie for other reasons - it is absolutely silent in flight so as to better sneak up on its prey.

Theme park stuff

Sometimes the concept of exotic animals from remote corners of the globe can be lost on young children. They might be unimpressed by the rare birds in the Weaver Aviary, for example, and be much more interested in a nearby lagoon holding ducks - unexceptional residents of San Diego's north county that drop into the park's boundaries for the free food and safe swimming.

So although the park has a strong educational and conservation thrust, it also accommodates these visitors with play areas, jungle gyms, a carousel and a petting enclosure, as well as some attractions that are utterly incongruous with the setting - simulator rides.

Still, the Holy Grail of a visit here is to see an animal behaving somewhat as it does in the wild. To that end, park officials don't worry about upsetting the delicate city-bred sensibilities of its visitors.

Early one morning, a group of us happened upon two western Ruppell's vultures just after they had been fed - on the menu today was rabbit, raised at the park and killed for the vultures so that they don't have to go hunting for their own carrion. Bloody flesh hung from their sharply hooked beaks, and the ground was littered with tufts of white fur.

Later, at the cheetah pen, the spotted cat - different from the one that sprints for the spectators - sat on its haunches and munched hunks of meat, gazing vaguely at the crowd of humans that gathered to snap pictures.

Those of us who'd earlier been treated to Majani's spectacular dash couldn't help but reflect on what a cheetah in the wild must do in order to relax over such a meal.

Eric Noland, [phone]

eric.noland(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

(1 -- 4 -- color) Among the animal encounters awaiting visitors to the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park in Escondido are rhinos interacting with their young, flamingos lounging in a lagoon, cheetahs in full sprint and giraffes peering around tree trunks for a bite to eat.

(5 -- color) no caption (Speed Limit 70 MPH - cheetah sign)

Two rhinoceroses, among other creatures, roam the open range at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park.

(6) A seemingly attentive meerkat rests on its haunches.

(7 -- 8) A cheetah, right, breaks a sprint as viewers watch nearby. The spotted cat can reach speeds of 70 mph. A gorilla, below, pauses for a moment in an enclosure, where visitors are instructed not to stare back at the great apes.

(9) Two rhinoceroses, among the creatures, roam the open range at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, as tourist tram passes in the distance.

Courtesy of Zoological Society of San Diego

Eric Noland/Great Escapes