San Diego Zoo Unveils Golden Statue of Its First Lion

A giant bronze statue of the animal that inspired the San Diego Zoo was unveiled Sunday at the zoo’s entrance.A large crowd gathered outside the zoo when the giant statue of Rex, the very first lion at the zoo and whose roar inspired the zoo’s founding back in 1916, was unveiled. Neighbor on a Mission to Help Family in Need “I think it’s just iconic and the San Diego Zoo is so well known that it just really makes it stand out even more,” a zoo visitor visiting from Minnesota said. The lion’s roar was heard during The California-Panama Expo in Balboa Park by Dr. Harry Wegeforth. That gave him the idea to start the zoo. Paralympian Tests Life-Changing Tech for Visually Impaired “Who knew that a little zoo that was started with a roar and a collection of animals would one day became the world-famous San Diego Zoo,” San Diego City Councilman Chris Ward said at the unveiling. Ward represents District 3, which includes Balboa Park.The golden Rex statue is more than 27 feet tall and weighs 20,000 pounds. The statue is the considered to the world’s largest work of its kind. Suspect in Carlsbad Costco Stabbing Arrested in Temecula “When you look at it from an engineering standpoint, he’s got one touch point and it’s not straight center,” zoo ambassador Rick Schwartz said. “So, this is over 20,000 pounds of a statue on that one touch point. It’s not only magnificent to look at but think about how they build that.”The statue certainly impressed a Wisconsin boy who was visiting the zoo.”The thing I like about it is it’s golden and it’s made of metal,” he said.Schwartz said the statue is meant to remind people where it all started and the connection between the zoo and the city of San Diego.Lauren Albritton, a zoo member, agreed.”It’s an amazing structure and it really embodies the spirit of the zoo,” she said.Photo Credit: NBC 7
Source: NBC San Diego