Jaunted

The Zoo has pandas, koalas, and awesomely awesome polar bears, plus walking paths lined with large cats, monkeys, and bears. The pandas and koalas, admittedly, don't do much romping. The highlights at the Wild Animal Park include apes, elephants, and their pride of lions. Then in the back there's a huge open field, measuring hundreds of square acres, where dozens of African and Asian species intermingle.

There's nary a bar or a cage to be seen anywhere here. That's particularly important because when the Animal Revolution comes you're not going to want photos of you posing in front of some miserable, caged animal. They wouldn't play well at the show trial.

Now is a particularly good time for a visit. The Southern California winter - or as it's known locally, February - is finally receding. The Zoo and the Wild Animal Park are starting up the special events they host through the rest of the year. They have everything from family activities to weekend camps to blessedly child-free dinners, photography tours, and overnights.

If you have any interest in animals or conservation - or, alternatively, in your future well-being - you could do much worse than dropping in for an outing or event. Hours are 9am to 5pm, with extended hours during Spring Break.