San Diego Zoo

There comes a day when even the most popular of shows has to close. "Oklahoma!," "Cats," even "The Lion King" -- each dazzled Broadway for years and then departed. And so the elephant show at the Wild Animal Park, an attraction at Tembo Stadium since 1977, the most popular show in park history, will close Sunday. The puppet and bird shows will remain, but the five Asian elephants who star in the elephant show are off to a new gig.

The director of the San Francisco Zoo and the city's police chief said Wednesday that they still didn't know how a tiger managed to escape its enclosure on Christmas Day, mauling a teenager to death and seriously injuring two men. At a news conference just outside the zoo property, Director Manuel Mollinedo said he would bring in outside experts to assess the safety of the outdoor enclosures for lions and tigers.

Zhen Zhen, the newest charismatic mega-vertebrate at the San Diego Zoo, was climbing a downed tree branch in her grotto Friday when she went wobbly and plopped to the ground, 3 feet below. Not to worry giant panda-philes, it's all part of the maturation process. Plus, if anything had gone seriously amiss, her mother, Bai Yun, was nearby having a bamboo breakfast.

As the sons of a troubled parent, life has not been easy for Scout and Montana. Their mother just could not keep away from people and their trash. And so when she broke into a -- thankfully -- unoccupied camping tent near Moose Creek, Idaho, authorities took action. In a two-day operation, the grizzly bear sow and her cubs were captured. The mother was sent to the veterinary school at Washington State University to be watched and studied.

Ann Marie Duffy and Joseph Rawlings Thompson -- plus their families, friends and, most important, their wedding planner -- were not going to let fire disrupt the most important day of their lives. And so, the couple from Tampa, Fla., were married Saturday at the Wild Animal Park, with 125 guests in attendance and a few curious shoebill storks looking on.

Bai Yun, a giant panda at the San Diego Zoo, gave birth Friday to a healthy cub, her fourth offspring. Gao Gao, also at the zoo, is the father. The cub's gender will not be determined for months, officials said. Bai Yun and the cub will stay off exhibit for several months but they can be seen on the Panda Cam at www.sandiegozoo.org. Including the cub, the San Diego Zoo has five pandas, more than any other U.S. zoo.

Bai Yun, the giant panda at the San Diego Zoo, is pregnant, zoo officials said Tuesday. The father is Gao Gao, also at the San Diego Zoo. Bai Yun, 16, has had three cubs at the zoo: Hua Mei in 1999, Mei Sheng in 2003 and Su Lin in 2005. Bai Yun has been taken off exhibit and is expected to give birth within weeks, officials said.

The male panda Mei Sheng will be shipped to China, probably in October, zoo officials announced Tuesday. The 3-year-old panda was born at the San Diego Zoo but, under the terms of a loan agreement with the Chinese government, must be sent to China.

Aloud bird-like squawk breaks the night silence. Then the unmistakable sound of a lion's roar. An angry lion. The lion sounds close by but not as close as the snoring from the tent next door. The first thing to know about the appropriately named "Roar and Snore" sleepover program at San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park is that very little sleeping occurs. But the morning vista from the door of our tent more than makes up for the sleepless night.

In their songs, the Maasai tribesmen of East Africa have long celebrated the killing of lions as a test of their manhood. But now the Maasai that live in the Mbirikani Group Ranch in southeastern Kenya are trying to change their traditional antipathy toward the majestic-looking beasts.