ABSTRACT
Harry Wegeforth, a well-known doctor with a practice in San Diego, was fascinated by animals and had long thought that the city needed a zoo. Prompted by the plight of the deserted animals, he persuaded The San Diego Union to publish an article outlining a proposal to promote a zoological society and garden. The response to his suggestion resulted in the formation of a board of directors and the subsequent foundation of the Zoological Society of San Diego. When the Zoo decided to buy more animals, Harry Wegeforth discovered that the market was so managed that zoos were obliged to pay whatever the dealers demanded. San Diego Zoo is able to provide koalas with their natural diet of eucalyptus leaves, is due to another aspect of Wegeforth's zoo plan. The Zoo's education courses are organized in cooperation with city and county schools, and summer schools are run at the zoo in the long vacation.
