A large zoo with all the animals you'd expect, and then some. Some of the highlight exhibits are the African area (where you'll see many African animals living together in the same exhibit), a primate center, a children's zoo, and a family farm (a large petting zoo), but there's plenty more, along with events like wildlife shows. A flock of free-roaming peacocks also inhabits the zoo, outside of the enclosures.

The San Francisco Zoo and Gardens is a 100-acre zoo located on the West Side of San Francisco, in the southwestern corner of the city between Lake Merced and the Pacific Ocean along the Great Highway. The zoo's main entrance is to the west, on the ocean side. The SF Zoo is owned by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, and managed by the San Francisco Zoological Society, a non-profit 501(3) organization. under a public-private partnership since 1993, receives $4.2 million annually from the city. As of 2016, the zoo housed more than one thousand individual animals, representing more than 250 species. It is noted as the birthplace of Koko the gorilla, and, from 1974 to 2016, the home of Elly, the oldest black rhinoceros in North America. In April 2025, the zoo earned the distinction of being ranked the 6th best zoo in the United States.