You tread planked bridges over alligator swamps in the "Everglades," hike the "African Rift Valley" to gaze down on grazing rhinos and lolling cheetahs and experience a lush "Amazon Rain Forest" filled with exotic birds and spider monkeys.

Two of the newer residents hail from the Far East but look right at home in their spacious enclosures. These are the Komodo dragons (who can fell deer and devour small animals whole) and the Japanese Giant Salamander, one of the world's largest amphibians at 65 pounds. Fans of Disney's "Pumbaa" will want to visit the warthog exhibit, where "A Day in the Life of a Warthog" is outlined.

There is a reptile house, an aquarium, an aviary and a "Fun Farm" with barnyard mammals and fowls, as well as a special "Children's Zoo" area. This month marks the opening of the new Gibbons Exhibit -- 100 feet long, so the gibbons can speed-swing to their hearts' content. And, of course, there are "lions and tigers and bears! Oh, my!"

You can take a leisurely boat ride down the San Antonio River, past assorted fish and fowl. At walkways overlooking the river, special fish food is available from vending machines to toss to the marine life below. Consult the brochure with map (given to you at the admission gate) for scheduled animal feedings and demonstrations. The reptiles are fed on Mondays and Tuesdays (no set time), if you'd like to learn what's on the menu for an anaconda. (There's a brand new Anaconda House, by the way.)

There are numerous snack-bar areas -- bearing such fanciful names as "Leopards Lair" -- where one can pause for refreshments, plus shady, park-like areas with benches and animal sculptures dotting the winding trails. Delightful playground areas also abound throughout the zoo. There are swaying rope bridges to treetop lookouts, huge tunnel slides and a variety of fun things to climb and explore, including a sandbox playground sprouting ridable animal statuary.

The zoo is also involved in breeding programs to ensure species survival, and special symbols designate "Vanishing Animal" and "Species Survival Plan" program inhabitants. (The San Antonio Zoo was the first outside of Africa to breed the endangered white rhino.) Native Texan species are designated with a starred Texas symbol.

The San Antonio Zoo is waiting for you to explore in Brackenridge Park at the end of North St. Mary's Street and can be accessed off U.S. Highway 281 by taking the North St. Mary's or Hildebrand exits and following the signs. Or, from Broadway, take Mulberry west to North St. Mary's. It's one wild experience -- "naturally."

San Antonio Zoo; 3903 N. St. Mary's; 210.734.7183.
62 - plus and 3 - 11 years: $5
2 years and under: free
Open daily, 365 days a year
9 am - 5 pm