Santiago Zoo
Submitted by Dale L. Martin (Last visited: May 1997)
I visited the Santiago Zoo (about 60 miles north of Cabo San Lucas) a couple of years ago. It resides in a small town of probably no more than 2,000 people. From what I saw of the zoo, it seemed to be a privately run operation that is operating on a shoestring (there was no real signage to say who owned the zoo).
The exhibit areas for the animals were concrete and steel. The tiger and lion cages (one in each) were within visitor's arm's
reach (when I was there both animals were busy in the back of their cages with a leg of something). Many of the cages, especially the bird cages, were in need of maintenance and repair. While I was there, a group of children obviously on a field trip from school were there and they, in spite of the grim housing conditions of the animals, were having a great time observing the animals.
I left a number of my pesos/centavos in the donations box on my way out. This nice, but struggling, little zoo in need of a sister zoo. I'm looking forward to returning soon to see what changes may have been made.