title: Alhambra Decree

text: From the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, European countries expelled the Jews from their territories on at least fifteen occasions. Before the Spanish expulsion, the Jews had been expelled from England in 1290, several times from France between 1182 and 1354, and from some German states. The French case is typical of most expulsions: whether the expulsion was local or national, the Jews usually were allowed to return after a few years. The Spanish expulsion was succeeded by at least five expulsions from other European countries, but the expulsion of the Jews from Spain was both the largest of its kind and, officially, the longest lasting in western European history.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: Over the four-hundred-year period during which most of these decrees were implemented, the causes of expulsion gradually changed. At first, expulsions of Jews (or absence of expulsions) were exercises of royal prerogatives. Jewish communities in mediaeval Europe often were protected by and associated with monarchs because, under the feudal system, Jews often were a monarch's only reliable source of taxes. Jews further had reputations as moneylenders because they were the only social group allowed to loan money at a profit under the prevailing interpretation of the Vulgate (the Latin translation of the Bible used in Roman Catholic western Europe as the official text), which forbade Christians to charge interest on loans. Jews, therefore, became the lenders to and creditors of merchants, aristocrats, and even monarchs. Most expulsions before the Alhambra Decree were related to this financial situation: to raise additional monies, a monarch would tax the Jewish community heavily, forcing Jews to call in loans; the monarch then would expel the Jews; at the time of expulsion, the monarch would seize their remaining valuable assets, including debts owed them by other subjects of the monarch and, in some instances, by the monarch himself. Expulsion of the Jews from Spain was thus an innovation not only in scale but also in its motivations.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: Hostility towards the Jews in Spain was brought to a climax during the reign of the "Catholic Monarchs," Ferdinand and Isabella. Their marriage in 1469, which formed a personal union of the crowns of Aragon and Castile, with coordinated policies between their distinct kingdoms, eventually led to the final unification of Spain.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: Although their initial policies towards the Jews were protective, Ferdinand and Isabella were disturbed by reports claiming that most Jewish converts to Christianity were insincere in their conversion. As mentioned above, some claims that "conversos" continued to practice Judaism in secret (see Crypto-Judaism) were true, but the "Old" Christians exaggerated the scale of the phenomenon. It was also claimed that Jews were trying to draw conversos back into the Jewish fold. In 1478, Ferdinand and Isabella made a formal application to Rome to set up an Inquisition in Castile to investigate these and other suspicions. In 1487, King Ferdinand promoted the establishment of the Spanish Inquisition Tribunals in Castile. In the Crown of Aragon, it had been first instituted in the 13th century to combat the Albigensian heresy. However, the focus of this new Inquisition was to find and punish "conversos" who were practicing Judaism in secret.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: These issues came to a head during Ferdinand and Isabella's final conquest of Granada. The independent Islamic Emirate of Granada had been a tributary state to Castile since 1238. Jews and conversos played an important role during this campaign because they had the ability to raise money and acquire weapons through their extensive trade networks. This perceived increase in Jewish influence further infuriated the Old Christians and the hostile elements of the clergy. Finally, in 1491 in preparation for an imminent transition to Castilian territory, the Treaty of Granada was signed by Emir Muhammad XII and the Queen of Castile, protecting the religious freedom of the Muslims there. By 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella had won the Battle of Granada and completed the Catholic Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from Islamic forces. However, the Jewish population emerged from the campaign more hated by the populace and less useful to the monarchs.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: The king and queen issued the Alhambra Decree less than three months after the surrender of Granada. Although Isabella was the force behind the decision, her husband Ferdinand did not oppose it. That her confessor had just changed from the tolerant Hernando de Talavera to the very intolerant Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros suggests an increase in royal hostility towards the Jews. The text of the decree accused the Jews of trying "to subvert the holy Catholic faith" by attempting to "draw faithful Christians away from their beliefs." These measures were not new in Europe.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: After the decree was passed, Spain's entire Jewish population was given only four months to either convert to Christianity or leave the country. The edict promised the Jews royal protection and security for the effective three-month window before the deadline. They were permitted to take their belongings with them, excluding "gold or silver or minted money or other things prohibited by the laws of our kingdoms." In practice, however, the Jews had to sell anything they could not carry: their land, their houses, and their libraries, and converting their wealth to a more portable form proved difficult. The market in Spain was saturated with these goods, which meant the prices were artificially lowered for the months before the deadline. As a result, much of the wealth of the Jewish community remained in Spain. The punishment for any Jew who did not convert or leave by the deadline was summary execution.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: The Sephardic Jews migrated to four major areas: North Africa, the Ottoman Empire, Portugal, and Italy. Some Spanish Jews who emigrated to avoid conversion dispersed throughout the region of North Africa known as the Maghreb. The Jewish scholars and physicians among previous Sephardic immigrants to this area had reinvigorated the Jewish communities in North Africa. However, in the 1490s, parts of the Mediterranean world, including Morocco were experiencing severe famine. As a result, a number of cities in Morocco refused to let the Spanish Jews in. This led to mass starvation among the refugees, and made the Jewish refugees vulnerable to the predation of slavers, although the regional ruler invalidated many of these sales within a few years. A good number of the Jews who had fled to North Africa returned to Spain and got converted. The Jews who stayed in North Africa often intermingled with the already existing Mizrahi Arabic or Berber speaking communities, becoming the ancestors of the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian and Libyan Jewish communities.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: Many Spanish Jews also fled to the Ottoman Empire, where they were given refuge. Sultan Bayezid II of the Ottoman Empire, learning about the expulsion of Jews from Spain, dispatched the Ottoman Navy to bring the Jews safely to Ottoman lands, mainly to the cities of Thessaloniki (currently in Greece) and İzmir (currently in Turkey). Many of these Jews also settled in other parts of the Balkans ruled by the Ottomans such as the areas that are now Bulgaria, Serbia and Bosnia. Concerning this incident, Bayezid II is alleged to have commented, "those who say that Ferdinand and Isabella are wise are indeed fools; for he gives me, his enemy, his national treasure, the Jews."


title: Alhambra Decree

text: A majority of Sephardim migrated to Portugal, where they gained only a few years of respite from persecution. About 600 Jewish families were allowed to stay in Portugal following an exorbitant bribe until the Portuguese king entered negotiations to marry the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. Caught between his desire for an alliance with Spain and his economic reliance on the Jews, Manuel I declared the Jewish community in Portugal (perhaps then some 10% of that country's population) Christians by royal decree unless they left the country. In return, he promised the Inquisition would not come to Portugal for 40 years. He then seized the Jews who tried to leave and had them forcibly baptized, after separating them from their children. It was years before the Jews who fled to Portugal were allowed to emigrate. When the ban was lifted, many of them fled to the Low Countries, or the Netherlands.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: Throughout history, scholars have given widely differing numbers of Jews expelled from Spain. However, the figure is likely to be below the 100,000 Jews who had not yet converted to Christianity by 1492, possibly as low as 40,000. Such figures exclude the significant number of Jews who returned to Spain due to the hostile reception they received in their countries of refuge, notably Fes (Morocco). The situation of returnees was legalized with the Ordinance of 10 November 1492 which established that civil and church authorities should be witnesses to baptism and, in the case that they were baptized before arrival, proof and witnesses of baptism were required. Furthermore, all property could be recovered by returnees at the same price at which it was sold. Similarly the Provision of the Royal Council of 24 October 1493 set harsh sanctions for those who slandered these New Christians with insulting terms such as "tornadizos". After all, the Catholic monarchs were concerned with the souls of their subjects, and Catholic doctrine held that the persecution of converts would remove an important incentive for conversion. Returnees are documented as late as 1499.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: A majority of Spain's Jewish population had converted to Christianity during the waves of religious persecutions prior to the Decree—a total of 200,000 converts according to Joseph Pérez. The main objective of the expulsion of practicing Jews was ensuring the sincerity of the conversions of such a large convert population. Of the 100,000 Jews that remained true to their faith by 1492, an additional number chose to convert and join the converso community rather than face expulsion. Recent conversos were subject to additional suspicion by the Inquisition, which had been established to persecute religious heretics, but in Spain and Portugal was focused on finding crypto-Jews. Although Judaism was not considered a heresy, professing Christianity while engaging in Jewish practices was heretical. Additionally, "Limpieza de sangre" statutes instituted legal discrimination against converso descendants, barring them from certain positions and forbidding them from emigrating to the Americas. For years, families with urban origins who had extensive trade connections, and people who were learned and multilingual were suspected of having Jewish ancestry. According to the prejudice of the time, a person with Jewish blood was untrustworthy and inferior. Such measures slowly faded away as converso identity was forgotten and this community merged into Spain's dominant Catholic culture. This process lasted until the eighteenth century, with a few exceptions, most notably the Chuetas of the island of Majorca, where discrimination lasted into early 20th Century.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: A Y chromosome DNA test conducted by the University of Leicester and the Pompeu Fabra University has indicated an average of nearly 20% for Spaniards having some direct patrilineal descent from populations from the Near East which colonized the region either in historical times, such as Jews and Phoenicians, or during earlier prehistoric Neolithic migrations. Between the 90,000 Jews who converted under the Visigoth persecutions, and the 100,000+ Jews who converted in the years leading up to expulsion, it is likely that many of these people have Jewish ancestry. Genetic studies have explored local beliefs in the American South West that Spanish Americans are the descendants of conversos.


title: Alhambra Decree

text: The Spanish government has actively pursued a policy of reconciliation with the descendants of its expelled Jews. In 1924, the regime of Primo de Rivera granted the possibility of obtaining Spanish citizenship to a part of the Sephardic Jewish diaspora. As stated above, the Alhambra decree was officially revoked in 1968, after the Second Vatican Council rejected the charge of deicide traditionally attributed to the Jews. In 1992, in a ceremony marking the 500th anniversary of the Edict of Expulsion, King Juan Carlos (wearing a yarmulke) prayed alongside Israeli president Chaim Herzog and members of the Jewish community in the Beth Yaacov Synagogue. The King said, "Sefarad (the Hebrew name for Spain) isn't a nostalgic memory anymore; it is a place where it must not be said that Jews should simply 'feel' at home there, for indeed Hispano-Jews are at home in Spain...What matters is not accountability for what we may have done wrong or right, but the willingness to look to the future, and analyze the past in light of our future."


title: Alhambra Decree

text: From November 2012 Sephardi Jews have had the right to automatic Spanish nationality without the requirement of residence in Spain. Prior to November 2012, Sephardi Jews already had the right to obtain Spanish citizenship after a reduced residency period of two years (versus ten years for foreigners but similar to nationals from Philippines, Equatorial Guinea, Brazil and about 20 other American republics that also require 2 years.) While their citizenship is being processed, Sephardi Jews are entitled to the consular protection of the Kingdom of Spain. This makes Spain unique among European nations as the only nation that currently grants automatic citizenship to the descendants of Jews expelled during the European medieval evictions. Although these measures are popular in the Jewish community, they have also sparked some controversy. A minority of thinkers hold that these policies represent less the abnegation of prejudice as a shift to Philo-Semitism. As of November 2015, 4300 Sephardi Jews have benefited from this law and acquired Spanish citizenship, swearing allegiance to the Spanish Constitution. In 2013, the number of Jews in Spain was estimated to range between 40,000 and 50,000 people. Goldschläger and Orjuela have explored motivations to request citizenship and the ways in which legal provisions, religious associations, and the migration industry become gatekeepers of and (re)shape what it means to be Sephardic.


title: Cabela's

text: Cabela's Inc. is an American retailer that specializes in hunting, fishing, boating, camping, shooting and other outdoor recreation merchandise. The chain is based in Sidney, Nebraska. Cabela's was founded by Richard N. Cabela in 1961. Cabela's was acquired by Springfield, Missouri-based Bass Pro Shops in 2017 and has been a subsidiary since then.


title: Cabela's

text: Cabela's mail-order catalogs are shipped to 50 states and 120 countries. More than 120 million catalogs were mailed in its first year as a public company. It also has "Trophy Properties LLC" (a real estate market), the "Gun Library" (for buying and selling new, used, and collectible firearms).


title: Cabela's

text: The company that would become a sporting goods reseller and chain was started in December of 1961. Richard (Dick) N. Cabela purchased $45 worth of fishing flies at a furniture expo in Chicago which he then advertised for sale in a local newspaper advertisement. When his first effort produced only one response, he placed an ad in a national magazine, "Sports Afield", which was more successful. Included with each order was a catalog of other products for sale by Cabela.


title: Cabela's

text: As the business grew, Cabela and his wife Mary moved their operation to Sidney, Nebraska in 1963. Dick's brother Jim also joined the business. From those beginnings, the company has since grown to a publicly traded corporation with over $3 billion in annual sales.


title: Cabela's

text: About half of Cabela's sales come from hunting-related merchandise with about a third derived from the sale of firearms, ammunition and accessories in 2012. Additionally, in 2012 30% of revenue came from direct sales (through catalog and online orders), and 59% from physical retail stores. The remaining 11% of revenue came from its financial subsidiary and credit card business.


title: Cabela's

text: In 1996, Gander Mountain, prior to declaring bankruptcy, sold its mail order business to Cabela's with a non-compete clause. In 2007, Cabelas brought suit against them to prevent their re-entry into the mail-order business. Gander Mountain won the lawsuit and began selling online as well.


title: Cabela's

text: In February 2013, Cabela's sued Gander Mountain for patent infringement over a fold-up cot that Gander was selling. In December 2013, Gander sued Cabela's for cybersquatting.


title: Cabela's

text: In March 2014, Cabela's sold their recreational real estate division, Cabela's Trophy Properties, to "Sports Afield".


title: Cabela's

text: In December 2015, Cabela's sold their Outdoor Adventures & T.A.G.S. divisions to Worldwide Trophy Adventures.


title: Cabela's

text: Currently, the largest Cabela's retail facility is in Hamburg, Pennsylvania, with more than of floor space.


title: Cabela's

text: In 2007, Cabela's purchased family-owned S.I.R. Warehouse Sports Store in Winnipeg. In 2010, the Canadian Head Office and Distribution Centre moved across the city, leaving the original location as only a retail store. The company had intended to be a part of the Lac-Mirabel project near Montreal, which was to include of retail space, and was planned to open in 2008. But instead, rival chain Bass Pro Shops became one of the mall anchors. In 2011 Cabela's opened a store in Edmonton, Alberta and a store opened in Saskatoon in 2012 another store in Calgary, Alberta opened in 2015.


title: Cabela's

text: In early 2012, Cabela's unveiled a new retail initiative called Cabela's Outpost Stores. The first outpost store opened in Union Gap in the fall of 2012.


title: Cabela's

text: Cabela's stores have been a target of gun thieves over the years. One store alone in South Carolina had guns stolen from it on three occasions within a one-year interval between 2017 and 2018.


title: Cabela's

text: On July 5, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission approved the acquisition of Cabela's by Bass Pro Shops. The acquisition was complete on September 25, 2017. The acquisition resulted in 2,000 jobs lost in Cabela's headquarters of Sidney, Nebraska.


title: Cabela's

text: Founded on March 23, 2001 (FDIC Certificate #57079), Cabela's financial subsidiary was named World's Foremost Bank (WFB, a play on Cabela's marketing moniker, World's Foremost Outfitter). The bank's primary activity was as a credit card issuer for the Cabela's Club Visa card, a branded rewards card. With 11% of total sales attributed to the subsidiary, in 2013 it ranked as the 13th largest issuer of credit cards in the US. Around a third of Cabela's customers have this Visa card.


title: Cabela's

text: The subsidiary consisted of a single-branch bank with a deposit market share in the state of Nebraska of just under 1.2 percent, with $505 million in deposits as of 2011. At the end of 2012, the bank claimed to have $3,731,567,000 in assets.


title: Cabela's

text: Sean Baker was appointed president of World's Foremost Bank and chief executive officer on January 1, 2013. Baker replaced Joseph M. Friebe, whose planned retirement was announced in June 2012.


title: Cabela's

text: In its annual report, Cabela's announced that it has reached a settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) regarding its credit card policies and practices. It was ordered to repay wronged cardholders $10 million plus a $250,000 penalty. The subsidiary did not admit to or deny the FDIC's finding, but agreed to do the following:


title: Cabela's

text: Additionally, the FDIC required WFB to make certain changes in their management policy to increase oversight of their credit card business and to prevent further unfair practices.


title: Cabela's

text: The Bank entered into a $411.7 million commitment with the Royal Bank of Canada under a series of variable funding notes issued by Cabela's Credit Card Master Note Trust. The loan is for three years and accrues interest at a variable rate of commercial paper plus a spread.


title: Cabela's

text: As part of the merger with Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's sold the World's Foremost Bank aspect of their business, including over $1 billion in assets, to Synovus who then proceeded to immediately sell Cabela's CLUB credit card program to Capital One.


title: Cabela's

text: Cabela's has produced several series of video games for a variety of gaming platforms, including "Cabela's Legendary Adventures", "Cabela's Big Game Hunter" series, "Cabela's Dangerous Hunts" series, and "Cabela's Outdoor Adventures" series.


title: Cabela's

text: Cabela's Legendary Adventures sponsors Richard Childress Racing driver Daniel Hemric in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series in partnership with Bass Pro Shops. Cabela's also has a deck lid space on Martin Truex Jr.'s Bass Pro Shops car.


title: Elvis sightings

text: Sightings of singer Elvis Presley have sometimes been reported following his death in 1977. The conspiracy theory that Elvis did not die and instead went into hiding was popularized by Gail Brewer-Giorgio and other authors.


title: Elvis sightings

text: The earliest known alleged sighting of Elvis was at the Memphis International Airport where a man resembling Elvis gave the name "Jon Burrows", which was the same name Elvis used when booking hotels. A series of alleged sightings took place in Kalamazoo, Michigan, in the late 1980s. Such reports encountered public ridicule and became fodder for humorous publications like the "Weekly World News". In California, many people believed to have seen Elvis at California's Legoland amusement park shortly after opening in 1999. It was later revealed that Elvis impersonators were hired as an attraction to commemorate the famous singer.


title: Elvis sightings

text: Elvis was rumored to have appeared in the background of an airport scene in the 1990 film "Home Alone". It was alleged that the bearded man wearing a turtleneck and a sports jacket who could be seen over the left shoulder of Catherine O'Hara's character while she is arguing with an airline employee was Elvis. Paranormal researcher Ben Radford responded to Elvis sighting believers with, "Why fake your death and then turn up as an extra in a popular movie? How could the cast and crew have failed to notice the presence of one of the most famous figures in the world? Even if he looked very different, could he have disguised his voice and mannerisms?" Radford was challenged to find the actor who played that part to prove it was not Elvis. He explained that the burden of proof was on the person making the claim. In an interview with "USA Today", director Chris Columbus responded "If Elvis was on the set, I would have known".


title: Elvis sightings

text: After being challenged by Radford to locate the true identity of this extra, Kenny Biddle investigated and found the man to be Gary Richard Grott, who died of a heart attack in February 2016. Biddle located Grott's son, Roman, who explained that his father was indeed the extra in the airport scene of "Home Alone", and that he had known director Chris Columbus personally. Because of this he appeared in a number of his movies as an extra, including "Home Alone".


title: Elvis sightings

text: Bill Bixby, who co-starred with Elvis in "Clambake" and "Speedway", hosted two television specials investigating the conspiracy: "The Elvis Files" (1991) and "The Elvis Conspiracy" (1992). The conspiracy was also featured in the 1990 video game, "", where the titular hero attempts to find Elvis (known in the game as "the King") to win a million-dollar contest.


title: Elvis sightings

text: Some believe that Elvis attended his own 82nd birthday. An old man by the name of Bob Joyce with security guards around him, all grey hair, grey beard, sunglasses and a ball cap on, was believed by conspiracy theorists to be Elvis.


title: Elvis sightings

text: A similar looking man was seen working as a groundskeeper for Graceland, and was also believed to be Elvis.


title: Elvis sightings

text: A group of people believe that Elvis was somehow involved with the Mafia during his time as a rock star, served as an undercover agent and was found out. Thus, they believe he faked his own death to try to fool the mafia.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo is a zoo in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, housing 4000 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies on of Balboa Park leased from the City of San Diego. Its parent organization, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, is a private nonprofit conservation organization, and has one of the largest zoological membership associations in the world, with more than 250,000 member households and 130,000 child memberships, representing more than a half million people.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in the concept of open-air, cageless exhibits that recreate natural animal habitats. For decades, the zoo housed and successfully bred giant pandas, with the largest giant panda population outside China, before the pandas were repatriated to China in 2019.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: With more than 4 million visitors in 2018, San Diego Zoo is the most visited zoo in the United States. Travelers have also cited it as one of the best zoos in the world. The San Diego Zoo is an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo grew out of exotic animal exhibitions abandoned after the 1915 Panama-California Exposition. Dr. Harry M. Wegeforth founded the Zoological Society of San Diego, meeting October 2, 1916, which initially followed precedents set by the New York Zoological Society at the Bronx Zoo. He served as president of the society until 1941. A permanent tract of land in Balboa Park was set aside in August 1921; on the advice of the city attorney, it was agreed that the city would own all the animals and the zoo would manage them. The zoo began to move in the following year. In addition to the animals from the Exposition, the zoo acquired a menagerie from the defunct Wonderland Amusement Park. Ellen Browning Scripps financed a fence around the zoo so that it could begin charging an entrance fee to offset costs. The publication "ZooNooz" commenced in early 1925.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Animal collector Frank Buck went to work as director of the San Diego Zoo on June 13, 1923, signed to a three-year contract by Wegeforth. William T. Hornaday, director of the Bronx Zoo, had recommended Buck for the job, but Buck quickly clashed with the strong-willed Wegeforth and left the zoo after three months to return to animal collecting.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: After several other equally short-lived zoo directors, Wegeforth appointed the zoo's bookkeeper, Belle Benchley, to the position of executive secretary, in effect zoo director; she was given the actual title of zoo director a few years later. She served as zoo director from 1925 until 1953. For most of that time she was the only female zoo director in the world. She was succeeded as director by Dr. Charles Schroeder.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo was a pioneer in building "cageless" exhibits. Wegeforth was determined to create moated exhibits from the start, and the first lion area at the San Diego Zoo without enclosing wires opened in 1922.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Until the 1960s, admission for children under 16 was free, regardless of whether they were accompanied by a paying adult.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The zoo's Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species (CRES) was founded in 1975 at the urging of Kurt Benirschke, who became its first director. CRES was renamed the division of Conservation and Research for Endangered Species in 2005 to better reflect its mission. In 2009, CRES was significantly expanded to become the Institute for Conservation Research.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The world's only albino koala in a zoological facility was born September 1, 1997, at the San Diego Zoo and was named Onya-Birri, which means "ghost boy" in an Australian Aboriginal language. The San Diego Zoo has the largest number of koalas outside of Australia.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In 2014, a colony of African penguins arrived for the first time in the zoo since 1979. They have since moved into Africa Rocks when it opened in 2017.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo has had a number of notable escapees through the years; the most noteworthy of them is Ken Allen, a Bornean orangutan who came to be known as "the hairy Houdini", for his many escapes.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In 1977, an animal control officer for the County of San Diego, Tom Van Wagner, a previous employee of the San Diego Zoo as a tour bus guide, captured a Tasmanian devil escapee in a south central San Diego home's garage. The animal was transported to the zoo and the zoo hospital staff took possession of the capture.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In March 2013, the zoo, which was hosting a private party at the time, had to initiate a lockdown when two striped hyenas somehow got past their barriers. They were "darted with a sedative and taken to the veterinary care clinic."


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In 2014, a koala named Mundu escaped to a neighboring tree just outside its Koalafornia Australia Outback enclosure. Zookeepers lured him down the tree once the park closed that day.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In early 2015, two Wolf's guenons monkeyed around outside of their Lost Forest enclosure after escaping. One of the monkeys neared a fence line off of Route 163, but was brought back to safety without injury.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The zoo offers a guided tour bus that traverses 75% of the park. There is also an overhead gondola lift called the Skyfari, providing an aerial view of the zoo. The Skyfari was built in 1969 by the Von Roll tramway company of Bern, Switzerland. The San Diego Zoo Skyfari is a Von Roll type 101.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Exhibits at the zoo are often designed around a particular habitat. The same exhibit may feature many different animals that can be found side by side in the wild, along with native plant life. Exhibits range from an African rain forest (featuring gorillas) to the Arctic taiga and tundra in the summertime (featuring polar bears). Some of the largest free-flight aviaries in existence are here, including the Owens Aviary and the Scripps Aviary. Many exhibits are "natural", with invisible wires and darkened blinds (to view birds), and accessible pools and open-air moats (for large mammals).


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo also operates the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, which displays animals in a more expansive, open setting than at the zoo. Animals are regularly exchanged between the two locations, as well as between San Diego Zoo and other zoos around the world, usually in accordance with Species Survival Plan recommendations. San Diego Zoo has one of the world's largest and most diverse animal collections; however, the number of animal species held has reduced over the past two decades from 860 to approximately 650. This comes as exhibits are redeveloped into larger, more natural displays, and as a number of animals are transitioned to San Diego Zoo Safari Park.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The temperate, sunny maritime climate of California is well suited to many plants and animals. Besides an extensive collection of birds, reptiles, and mammals, it also maintains its grounds as an arboretum, with a rare plant collection. The zoo is also an accredited botanical garden; the botanical collection includes more than 700,000 exotic plants. As part of its gardening effort, some rare animal foods are grown at the zoo. For example, 40 varieties of bamboo were raised for the pandas when they were at the zoo on long-term loan from China. It also maintains 18 varieties of eucalyptus trees to feed its koalas.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Monkey Trails showcases primates and other animals native to the tropical and semi-tropical rainforests of Asia and Africa. Opening in 2005, it replaced a decades-old area of exhibits known as Bird and Primate Mesa. These were some of the oldest animal "houses" still in use (at the time) at the San Diego Zoo, being built in the 1930s, with little to no change until demolition for Monkey Trails. In addition to a few small bird aviaries and a troop of siamang apes living on a treehouse in the center of a pond, the site was centered around two square buildings; these plain structures contained many small exhibits lined up, one after another, on all four sides. One of the buildings was focused on monkeys, while the other was mainly songbirds, parrots, and tropical avian species. There had been a few efforts at landscaping these cages; however, the monkeys notably lived in bleak, "prison-cell" like cages. A number of Zoo members and guests left comments over the years regarding the exhibits and their lack of plant life, the (apparent) lack of enrichment for the monkeys and, mostly, the appearance of cement "cell blocks" as exhibits. The construction and debut of Monkey Trails and Forest Tails was undoubtedly a massive improvement, enriching for visitors but especially for the animals.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Monkey Trails is home primarily to monkeys such as the Angolan colobus, lion-tailed macaque, tufted capuchin, red-tailed monkey, DeBrazza's monkey, spot-nosed guenon, Douc langur and a group of colorful mandrill. There is also a pair of pygmy hippopotamus named Elgon and Mabel, who share their underwater-viewing pond with a large school of African cichlids and tilapia. On April 9, 2020 (during lockdown from COVID-19), after weeks of anticipation, Mabel gave birth to Akobi, a male calf. His birth marked the first pygmy hippo born at the zoo in nearly thirty years. They also share their enclosure with Wolf's mona monkeys.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Throughout the walking paths, visitors can also see West African slender-snouted crocodiles, different species of turtle, snake, lizards, and various African freshwater fish; these different animals live in a series of densely-planted paludarium- and riparium-style exhibits, complete with thick glass panels for close-up animal encounters. In smaller vivarium and terrarium exhibits, other reptiles such as pancake tortoises, Gaboon vipers, puff adders and Schneider's skinks can be seen. Monkey Trails utilized a newer concept for the displaying of arboreal animals; by making the exhibits two storeys high, with stairs, walkways and elevators for access, the habits of animals can be observed from ground level as well as from the treetops. Some of the horticultural highlights of Monkey Trails include several massive Banyan fig (Ficus) trees (viewable in public areas as well as in animal exhibits), cycads, and a bog garden with Sarracenia, Drosera, Venus flytraps and other carnivorous plants.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Owens Aviary contains about 200 individual tropical birds from around 45 species, mainly from Australasia, Oceania and Papua New Guinea. The aviary is built onto the side of an approx. 60' high canyon wall, being accessible via an entry/exit at the uppermost level and another at the lower end of the aviary (essentially the canyon floor). The walkway inside the aviary connects these entryways as it ascends and descends with the natural slope. The naturally steep location proves to be perfect for the exhibit's waterfall, which cascades downhill through the aviary before splashing down into a large pond. The ambient white noise of the waterfall is quite noticeable, but relaxing and tranquil, rather than very loud. The waterfall churns up mist, and a cool steam fills the aviary with ambient humidity; additionally, the outside of the structure is painted a dark green color, which helps to block any excess sunlight from penetrating inside. This further gives visitors the feeling of walking through a lush, dense jungle.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The entire aviary is lushly landscaped and thick with palms, ficus, "Araceae" species (such as "Monstera deliciosa" and "Thaumatophyllum"), "Clivia" sp., ferns and many more varieties. The varied collection of bird life includes the Chinese hwamei, eclectus parrot, black-naped fruit doves, common emerald doves, red-billed leiothrix, Victoria crowned pigeons, Bali myna, Nicobar pigeons, the blue-crowned laughingthrush, white-rumped shamas, the maleo, Himalayan monal and great argus pheasants.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Scripps Aviary is home to many colorful birds from Africa such as the violet-backed starling, African grey parrots, blue-bellied rollers, tambourine doves, great blue turacos, hamerkops, superb starlings, black-headed weavers, white-headed buffalo weavers, white-faced whistling ducks, African spoonbills, Madagascar crested ibises and southern bald ibises.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Parker Aviary houses various birds from South America including Andean cock-of-the-rocks, blue-crowned motmots, blue-headed macaws, crested oropendola, Inca terns, keel-billed toucans, ringed teals, sunbitterns and toco toucans. It is situated next to a complex of 20 smaller aviaries previously known as Wings of Australasia, exhibiting tropical birds from Southeast Asia and the Pacific. San Diego Zoo has the largest collection of birds in North America. Together the zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park hold America's most diverse collection of hornbills, with 15 species displayed in 2014.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: As of April 2019, the panda exhibit is not in operation. The zone was previously called Giant Panda Research Station. The pandas were repatriated to China after successfully serving the larger conservation effort for pandas.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In the past, the San Diego Zoo was one of four zoos in the U.S. which had giant pandas on display, and was the most successful in terms of panda reproduction. The first two giant panda cubs in U.S. history to have been born in the U.S. and survive into adulthood—Hua Mei (female, born to Bai Yun and Shi Shi) and Mei Sheng (male, born to Bai Yun and Gao Gao)—were born at the San Diego Zoo, in 1999 and 2003, respectively. After that, three more giant panda cubs—Su Lin and Zhen Zhen (both females) and Yun Zi (male)—were born to the resident giant panda parents Bai Yun and Gao Gao. Xiao Liwu (meaning "little gift"), was born on July 29, 2012, and was let outside for visitors to see on January 9, 2013. All of the cubs have since been sent back to China to participate in the breeding program there.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: In addition to being able to view this rare animal species, the nearby Giant Panda Discovery Center had interactive exhibits that let the visitor experience firsthand what the animals smell and sound like. Since the closing of Panda Trek, there are now exhibits of other Chinese animals, including golden takin, red pandas, Mangshan pit vipers, and an exhibit comparing several types of bamboo. There is also a feline area, featuring the critically endangered Amur leopard and snow leopards. The leopards' enclosures are located on both sides of the public walkway, and are connected with elevated climbing tunnels which arch over visitors at a height of about 20'. In addition to perfect photo opportunities, this exhibit provides stimulating enrichment for the leopards, who can be seen patrolling the tunnels and people-watching from above.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Throughout the 1980s, this part of the zoo also housed the first group of snub-nosed monkeys outside of their native China.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Urban Jungle houses different animals including a small herd of Masai giraffes, Soemmerring's gazelles, American flamingos, a Grant's zebra, a miniature Mediterranean donkey and cheetahs. Many of the Zoo's animal ambassadors live there including a binturongs, fennec foxes, Cape porcupines, southern three-banded armadillos, and southern ground hornbills. The giraffes living here are on what was Elephant Mesa. There is also a theater where the zoo has its "Animals in Action" show.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Polar Bear Plunge, which opened in 1996, and was renovated in March 2010, houses over 30 species representing the Arctic. The main animals in the area are the three polar bears, named Kalluk, Chinook, and Tatqiq. More animals that make their home in the Plunge include reindeer (or caribou), Canada lynx and black-billed magpies. An underwater viewing area is available to observe the polar bears swimming in their pool.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Farther down the path lies the arctic aviary, home to diving ducks including buffleheads, harlequin ducks, redheads, smews, Eurasian wigeons, northern pintails, canvasbacks, mallards, cinnamon teals, hooded mergansers and ruddy ducks. The aviary houses more than 25 species of duck. Some of the horticultural highlights include giant redwood trees, many different pine trees, and manzanita.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Just up the path of Polar Bear Plunge is Northwest passage, housing mountain lions, maned wolves, Patagonian maras, giant anteaters, gerenuk, bontebok, Grévy's zebras, lesser kudu, Speke's gazelles, Chacoan peccaries, as well as the Eagle Canyon, home to Andean condors, harpy eagles, ornate hawk eagles and Steller's sea eagles.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo spreads the word of animal conservation through education. The zoo has added a new exhibit called The Wildlife Explorers Basecamp. It has lots of new animals that kids would not normally be able to interact with. This can include prairie dogs, axolotls, or alligators. Kids can learn about these animals, play in the water fountain, climb the tree house, or scramble through the play areas. The zoo wants to provide active thinking through these activities to benefit the animals. There are 4 main zones in the basecamp that feature wildlife that live in the 4 main ecosystems: Desert Dunes, Wild Woods, Marsh Meadows, and The Rainforest.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Wildlife Explorers Basecamp is located in the southeastern corner of the zoo, near the entrance. It is where the reptile house is located along with the new reptile walk. Inside is the children's zoo and the Discovery Playground.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: There is a petting zoo, called the petting paddock, which is home to different breeds of sheep and goats. This is where people, mostly kids, can have more interaction with the animals. There is also a Fisher-Price Discovery Playground, perfect for kids who want to have some fun and play. The children's zoo is under renovation along with the Komodo dragon and hummingbird exhibits.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Other animals in the Children's Zoo include great horned owls, black-tailed prairie dogs, burrowing owls, naked mole rats, fennec foxes, South American coatis, common squirrel monkeys, Burmese star tortoises, southern tamanduas and prehensile-tailed porcupines.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: A small aviary that includes 3 species of hummingbirds, the Anna's, Costa's, and Honduran emerald hummingbirds, along with golden-collared manakins, various tanagers, violaceous euphonias, purple honeycreepers and spangled cotingas.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The zoo's insect house with an insect collection including live insects: Central American giant cave cockroaches, Madagascar hissing cockroaches, leafcutter ants, Goliath beetles, giant dead leaf mantises, ghost mantises, two-spotted assassin bugs, giant African millipedes, giant desert hairy scorpions, golden silk orb-weavers, Antilles pinktoe tarantulas, Brazilian black tarantulas, Mexican fireleg tarantulas, golden-eyed stick insects, goliath stick insects, jungle nymphs, thorny devil stick insects and western honey bees.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: This building houses fish, invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians. Some of the species housed here are axolotl, Chinese giant salamanders, Cuvier's dwarf caimans, eastern hooded scaly-foot, leopard geckos, Indonesian blue-tongued skinks, common chuckwallas, yellow-spotted river turtles, freshwater angelfish, giant danios, pinktail chalceus, threadfin acara, multiple Lake Malawi cichlids, South American lungfish and sunburst diving beetles.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Previously called Reptile Mesa, the Reptile Walk houses small outdoor yards, one housing European species like European pond turtles, marginated tortoises, scheltopusiks and ocellated lizards while the other contains African species, radiated tortoises, Sudan plated lizards and yellow-throated plated lizards.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Walking down the path leads to a building split in two. One side contains terrariums for amphibians such as the Amazon milk frog, Panamanian golden frog, brown mantella, magnificent tree frog, fire salamander, Kaiser's mountain newt and many species of poison dart frog including the dyeing poison dart frog, green and black poison dart frog, black-legged poison frog and splashback poison frog. The other side contains native Californian species like the Colorado River toad, California kingsnake, coastal rosy boa, Baja California rat snake, San Diego gopher snake and giant horned lizard.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The walkway then passes an enclosure for the endangered Chinese alligator and afterwards is a building housing turtles, including broad-shelled river turtles, Roti Island snake-necked turtles, Argentine snake-necked turtles, red-headed Amazon River turtles, Malayan snail-eating turtles, Parker's snake-necked turtles, mata mata and pig-nosed turtles.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Nearby is the gharial pond. Various turtles like Indian flapshell turtles, Indian narrow-headed softshell turtles, northern river terrapins, painted terrapins and others are also housed with the gharials.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Concluding the Reptile Walk are yards housing Asian forest tortoises, African spurred tortoises, Grand Cayman blue iguanas, Jamaican iguanas- Galápagos tortoises and leopard tortoises.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: This is a renowned Spanish-influence structure. Animals at the reptile house and green anacondas, king cobras, Chinese crocodile lizards, black-headed bushmasters, northern caiman lizards, emerald tree monitors, Fiji banded iguanas, banded water cobras, Boelen's pythons, green tree pythons, western green mamba, woma pythons, eastern diamondback rattlesnakes, Santa Catalina rattlesnakes, western diamondback rattlesnakes, side-striped palm-pit vipers, eyelash vipers, Ethiopian mountain vipers, West African Gaboon vipers, Malagasy ground boas, flower snakes, Argus monitors, Merten's water monitors, pancake tortoise, Gila monster, Mexican beaded lizards, Philippine sailfin lizards, shingleback skinks, prehensile-tailed skinks, along with various other species.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Based upon the real Ituri Forest in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the central part of the continent of Africa, this exhibit opened in 1999 as 'Ituri Forest' and houses different animal species from the rainforests of central Africa. The exhibit begins with a forested exhibit for okapi and black duiker, then winds past a recreation of two-leaf-covered Mbuti huts with signage about the people's customs and traditions. Next, the path leads to the hippopotamus exhibit housing two hippopotamus named Funani and her daughter Amahle, which also houses tilapia, and has an underwater viewing area. After the hippos, the path passes through a bunch of bamboo before reaching a clearing where aviaries have housed emerald starlings and other species. A thatched-roof gift shop and a food stand are located in a plaza near by. Immediately to the right is the red river hog exhibit, which also houses De Brazza's monkey, Allen's swamp monkey, the red-tailed monkey and the spotted-necked otter. The plaza leads to a bridge flanked by the red river hog exhibit on one side and an exhibit that only the small monkeys and otters can access on the other. Across the bridge is a creek where the otters can swim, with viewing both above and below the water's surface. Afterwards, the path joins the rest of the zoo.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: This exhibit opened on May 23, 2009, on the site of the former Hoof and Horn Mesa area. The main feature of the exhibit is the elephant habitat—more than three times the size of the zoo's former elephant exhibit Elephant Mesa (now the "Urban Jungle" exhibit area). Currently a herd of five, the herd includes three females and two twin brothers. It consists of a blended herd of three African bush elephants named Shaba, two new juveniles from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park and Reid Park Zoo named Tsandizkle and Inhlonipho, and two Asian elephants named Devi and Mary. Elephant Odyssey also features a glimpse of the past, with the Fossil Portal and life-size statues of ancient creatures of Southern California next to exhibits of their modern-day counterparts. The ancient life represented include the Columbian mammoth, the saber-toothed cat, the American lion, the Daggett's eagle, a Merriam's teratorn, the dwarf pronghorn, the dire wolf, the short-faced bear and the Jefferson's ground sloth. Elephant Odyssey's other animal exhibits include lions, jaguars, Baird's tapirs, capybaras, pronghorns, Linnaeus's two-toed sloths, Kirk's dik-diks, secretary birds, black-billed magpies, dung beetles, three species of rattlesnakes, desert tarantulas, toads, newts, frogs, dromedary camels, horses, burros, guanacos, llamas, western pond turtles, common ravens and California condors. The zoo's formerly extensive ungulate collection was significantly reduced with the demolition of Horn and Hoof Mesa.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Fossil Portal is an artificial tar pit that periodically drains to reveal man-made Pleistocene-era bones. The path turns a corner and opens up at the Mammoth Passage Plaza, with exhibits for jaguars and lions which has a lion exhibit to the left which houses a lion named Ernest and a lioness named Miss Ellen, as well as an exhibit that has houses two-toed sloths to the right, and the tip of the elephant exhibit, with a large wading pool, straight ahead. The path continues to the left along with the pool, passing by the jaguar exhibit on the left. The northern end of the elephant pool drains into the mixed-species exhibit, which houses Baird's tapirs, capybaras, guanacos, and llamas. The path meets up with the elephant exhibit again before it reaches the Elephant Care Center, where visitors can watch keepers care for the pachyderms. Next is an exhibit for secretarybirds with grasses, a tree, and a statue of the extinct Daggett's eagle nearby. Afterward, the path goes down a crevasse with a wall embedded with vivaria for dung beetles and diving beetles, among other aquatic insects. The path tunnels below the elephant exhibit to reach the other side, where it continues between the elephant exhibit and a creek for native reptiles and amphibians. Just past the source of the stream is a restaurant and gift shop, and after that are exhibits for pronghorns, horses, and camels. Next the path splits between a playground, a rattlesnake terrarium, and a California condor aviary with artificial rock spires and a stream. The paths then reunite and join the rest of the zoo.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Simulating the rainforests of central Africa, and opened in 1991, Gorilla Tropics has an enclosure for the eponymous species. The exhibit has waterfalls, a meadow, and tropical plants such as allspice, coral trees, and African tulip trees, as well as several species of bamboo. Guests can view the six western lowland gorillas, which are a family group consisting of Paul Donn, Jessica and their son Denny as well as a bachelor group consisting of three males named Ekuba, Maka and Mandazzi from a viewing window, across a waterfall, and across a creek. Nearby are the bonobo habitat, an enclosure for black crested mangabeys, an aviary housing crowned eagles and a small glass aviary by the bonobos housing a variety of smaller birds like exclamatory paradise whydahs, purple grenadiers, Red-billed firefinches, red-cheeked cordon-bleus, zebra waxbills and more. There is also a row of other mesh aviaries which include more birds like three species of bird-of-paradise, the Raggiana bird-of-paradise, magnificent bird-of-paradise, superb bird-of-paradise alongside others like Bali mynas, crested wood partridges, red-tailed black cockatoos, tricolored parrotfinch, mountain peacock-pheasants, western crowned pigeons, beautiful fruit doves, Guam kingfishers, Mindanao bleeding-hearts and blue-crowned lorikeets.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: This exhibit opened in 2003, as a major renovation of the former "Whittier Southeast Asian Exhibits", which had opened in 1982. It houses three female Sumatran orangutans and one male infant named Karen, Indah, Aisha and Kaja (a Bornean orangutan was also kept here; Aisha and Kaja are the offspring of Indah) and even three siamangs named Unkie, Eloise and their daughter Selamat in an exhibit, which is flanked by a glass viewing window. The exhibit provides sway poles and artificial trees for the apes to swing on and a fake termite mound for them to fish condiments out of. The viewing area is designed to resemble the mulch-lined exhibit side of the viewing window by having rubber mulch, and miniature sway poles for kids. Some plant species in the exhibit are toog trees, carrotwood trees, and markhamia trees. Silvered leaf monkeys also reside in this area.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: This $3.5 million exhibit opened in 1989, and exhibits Bornean sun bears, Angola colobus and François' langurs. One end of the complex houses lion-tailed macaques in a grassy exhibit with a stream and climbing ropes. The oblong sun bear exhibit straddles the path along the rest of the complex, and an aviary houses some species of birds, including Asian fairy-bluebird and Red-billed leiothrix. A large glass-covered exhibit with artificial vines is designed for crested gibbons. Farther down the path, visitors can see grizzly bears, sloth bears, spectacled bears, North American river otters and aye-ayes.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Tiger Trail, located in a sloping canyon, opened in 1988 and houses three male Malayan tigers named Conner, the eldest, and Cinta and Berani, the twins, they are all brothers. From the top of the canyon, the path first goes through a pavilion with a pool home to Siamese crocodiles. It proceeds to another pavilion, this time flanked by the a bunch of aviaries which feature Asian fairy-bluebirds, Baikal teals, blue-crowned laughingthrushes, Edwards's pheasants, common emerald doves, tricolored parrotfinch, red-billed leiothrix, and there are also exhibits for fishing cats and the rare coconut crabs. Farther down the canyon is an exhibit for the Malayan tapir, North Sulawesi babirusas, Indian rock pythons and the tiger habitat, which has a hillside stream, waterfall, and glass viewing window.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: A new Australian Outback area, nicknamed "Koalafornia", opened in May 2013. The San Diego Zoo has the largest koala colony outside of Australia. It has twice as much exhibit space for koalas, including more outdoor enclosures based on a realization that koalas need sun exposure for their health. The new area includes other Australian marsupials, such as brush-tailed bettongs, parma wallabies, as well as Australasian birds, such as kagus, laughing kookaburras, blue-faced honeyeaters, common emerald doves, fawn-breasted bowerbirds, metallic starlings, masked lapwings, Gouldian finches and palm cockatoos. Since October 2013, the exhibit also houses Tasmanian devils, the first American zoo to do so; the animals are now kept in half a dozen zoos in the Americas as part of the Australian government's Save the Tasmanian Devil Program.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Conrad Prebys's Africa Rocks highlights the biodiversity of Africa. The exhibit opened on July 1, 2017, but was not completed until December 6, 2017. The exhibit cost US$60 million to construct. The money was donated to the zoo by 3,800 donors. Africa Rocks replaced Dog and Cat Canyon, which featured grottos that were built in the 1930s.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Cape Fynbos exhibit features African penguins, an endangered species native to South Africa. The exhibit was designed to mimic the giant granite boulders that are found on Boulders Beach in South Africa, a place where these birds live. The long and wide habitat also includes a pool for the penguins that stretches , with depths up to . Along with the large pool, the exhibit features a cobblestone beach and a nesting area. A group of 20 penguins moved in on June 22, 2017, to get ready for when the exhibit opened on July 1, 2017.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The penguins also share their exhibit with leopard sharks and opaleyes. Twelve leopard sharks arrived at the San Diego Zoo on June 23, 2017, from SeaWorld San Diego. The sharks were introduced to their exhibit and their penguin neighbors on Wednesday, June 28, 2017. The sharks range in age from 5 to 20. African penguins do not live alongside leopard sharks in the wild; however, they do live with similar shark species. Leopard sharks feed on crustaceans on the bottom floor and do not pose a threat to the penguins.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Acacia Woodland exhibit features a leopard exhibit, a troop of vervet monkeys, and an aviary. The leopard exhibit does not feature the African subspecies of leopard, but rather exhibiting the Amur leopards, from as far as Russia to Northern China. This is due to the fact that the Amur leopard is critically endangered, as there are only around 60 individuals left in the wild. The San Diego Zoo participates in the Amur leopard Species Survival Plan, a breeding program that focuses on preserving the genetics of this endangered cat. The Acacia Woodland exhibit will allow the Zoo to have more breeding spaces for the cats. The Zoo has a spotted and a black leopard.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Along with the leopard exhibit, the Acacia Woodland exhibit in Africa Rocks features a vervet monkey troop. The vervet monkeys are very agile and one of the only primate species that lives in a woodland habitat. The aviary in this exhibit features two species of bee eaters, the white-fronted and white-throated, as well as white-headed buffalo weavers and several other bird species. The exhibit also features African silverbills, African pygmy geese, violet-backed starlings, splendid sunbirds, blue-naped mousebirds, common waxbills, emerald-spotted wood doves, golden-breasted starlings, exclamatory paradise whydahs, magpie mannikins, Namaqua doves, pin-tailed whydahs, purple grenadiers, red-billed firefinches, red-cheeked cordon-bleus, snowy-crowned robin-chats, village indigobirds, white-bellied go-away-birds, white-headed buffalo weavers, yellow-crowned bishops, yellow-mantled widowbirds, and zebra waxbills. There are also Mozambique girdled lizards in the aviary.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Madagascar Forest exhibit features lemur species that the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) Prosimian Taxon Advisory Group (TAG) has identified as needing sustainability assistance for the North American population. By building this new exhibit, the Zoo will be able to participate in breeding programs that will help ensure healthy populations of lemurs in zoos. The exhibit houses a ring-tailed lemur family consisting of mom Tweena, dad Mathew, and their baby Bijou along with five other ring-tailed lemurs. The red ruffed lemurs, one of the most endangered primates in the world, include mom Mortica and her baby Ony (Malagasy for "river"). The Zoo is hoping their collared brown lemur pair Pierre and Zaza will produce offspring. Aykroyd and Belushi, two male blue-eyed black lemurs, are still awaiting mates. Ared collard, lemurgrippina, and Thrax are Coquerel's sifakas, the final lemur species exhibited in Africa Rocks. Some of the lemur species will be exhibited together even if they do not live with each other in the wild.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Along with lemurs, the Madagascar Forest exhibit houses the lemurs' main predator the fossa as well as the honey badger.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The Ethiopian Highlands exhibit houses two primate species: the gelada and the Hamadryas baboon. The San Diego Zoo is only the second zoo in North America to house geladas, the other facility being the Bronx Zoo in New York City. Alpha male Juma leads the all-male members including Mahbub, Saburi, Abasi, Diwani, and Valentino. the group arrived at the Zoo on September 7, 2016, from the Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart, Germany where they lived with 44 other geladas. This move was based by the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (EAZA) European Endangered Species Programme (EEP) for geladas—the European equivalent of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums' (AZA) Species Survival Plan (SSP) program. The bachelor group will be introduced to females later on.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The word kopje in Dutch means "small head" which describes the rock formations that seem to pop out in the savanna. Kopjes are homes for well adapted animals. The San Diego Zoo's Kopje Woodland in Africa Rocks is home to animals including klipspringers, rock hyraxes, and the dwarf mongoose. Each animal has well adapted feet that allow them to cling to the rocks. The exhibit also includes southern ground hornbills, as well as meerkats, servals, trumpeter hornbills and the red-leaved rock fig, a tree species that manages to grow wherever its seeds disperse including the rocky kopje.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The West African Forest exhibits the dwarf crocodile. They are one of the smallest crocodile species, only measuring about in length. Behind the crocodile exhibit features Rady Falls, a tall waterfall, the largest man-made waterfall in San Diego. The west African exhibit also features Madagascan big-headed turtles, West African mud turtles, and the floating fig tree.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The zoo is active in conservation and species-preservation efforts. Its Institute for Conservation Research (formerly the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species) raises California condors, tigers, black rhinos, polar bears, orangutans, peninsular pronghorn, desert tortoises, African penguins, mountain yellow-legged frogs, Pacific pocket mice, caracals, dholes, Francois' langurs, giraffes, quino checkerspot butterflies, Hawaiian crows, light-footed clapper rails, Gray's monitors, tree lobsters, clouded leopards, Galapagos tortoises, Tahiti lorikeets, lion-tailed macaques, mhorr gazelles, gorillas, Przewalski's horses, koalas, burrowing owls, elephants, African wild dogs, ocelots, Tasmanian devils, okapi, raccoons, Southwestern pond turtles, bisons, Pallas's cats, and 145 other endangered species. As a result, they have reintroduced more than 30 endangered species back into the wild, and have conserved habitat at 50 field sites. They also have over 200 conservation scientists working in 35 countries around the world. It employs numerous professional geneticists, cytologists, and veterinarians and maintains a cryopreservation facility for rare sperm and eggs called the frozen zoo.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research is the largest zoo-based multidisciplinary research effort in the world. Based at the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Center for Conservation Research adjacent to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, more than 200 dedicated scientists carry out research vital to the conservation of animals, plants, and habitats, locally and internationally.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Zoo Corps is a volunteer program at the San Diego Zoo that enlists high school students to teach guests at the zoo about the animals they are seeing and their place in the ecosystem. It enrolls students between 13 and 17 years of age. The goals are to promote public education about animals and conservation, and to help the students develop their ability to speak in public. The program runs year round in two sessions, one from May through November and one from January through May. Members of the Zoo Corps are expected to volunteer at least once a month.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The program utilizes a series of "Kits", which are set on tables throughout the zoo. The kits contain objects that can be used to explain why an animal is endangered or to shed light on the animal's lifestyle. The four kits are "Backyard Habitats", "Saving Species", "Animal Care", and "Sustainability".


title: San Diego Zoo

text: Local architect Louis John Gill designed the original buildings, cages and animal grottos and later in 1926, the Spanish Revival-style research hospital, for which Gill received an Honor Award from the San Diego Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Gill also designed a bird cage at the zoo in 1937, then the largest bird cage in the world.


title: San Diego Zoo

text: The San Diego Zoo has received numerous awards for its exhibits, programs, and reproduction and conservation efforts. This list includes only awards given to the Zoo specifically, not to its parent organization; for those, see: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Awards.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: Upon its release, "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" received highly positive reviews, with praise directed at its characters, animation and worldbuilding. In October 2022, CD Projekt announced that the anime would not be receiving a second season and went on to state that the series had always been planned as a standalone work.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" is set in Night City, a self-reliant metropolis located in the Free State of California that suffers from extensive corruption, cybernetic addiction, and gang violence. The city is split into six districts, each of which has its own precise living requirements, and is controlled by a number of different megacorporations, including Arasaka and its rival Militech. The anime's story is primarily set in Santo Domingo, the oldest, poorest, and most industrial district of Night City.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: In a dystopia overrun by corruption, crime, and cybernetic implants, an impulsive but talented street kid named David, after losing everything he has in a drive-by shooting, makes the choice to survive on the wrong side of the law as an "edgerunner": a high-tech, black-market mercenary also known as a "cyberpunk".


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: The series was announced during a "Night City Wire" livestream for the game on June 25, 2020, as a collaboration between CD Projekt and Studio Trigger. Hiroyuki Imaishi directed the series, with Masahiko Otsuka and Yoshiki Usa writing scripts, Yoh Yoshinari designing the characters and serving as animation director, Yuto Kaneko and Yusuke Yoshigaki serving as assistant character designers, Hiroyuki Kaneko serving as assistant director, Hiromi Wakabayashi serving as creative director, and Akira Yamaoka serving as the show's composer. The anime's opening theme is "This Fire" by Franz Ferdinand, while its ending theme is "Let You Down" by Dawid Podsiadło. "Edgerunners" also utilized songs from "2077"s in-game radio stations. Rosa Walton's song "I Really Want to Stay at Your House" was featured prominently and critically praised.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: Jonathon Wilson wrote for "Ready Steady Cut" that in "many ways, this is the Cyberpunk story the Cyberpunk game wanted to tell and couldn’t." Matt Kim of "IGN" praised the exploration of the hostile life in Night City, specifically the visual effects, noting more of the focus was on the city rather than on some of the characters, and calling it "a wild ride, but worth every blistering second". In a review for "Polygon", Kambole Campbell praised the "visual language for various in-game concepts," as well as the "sonic diversity in its score" and found that the show's best aspect was "[its] ability to depict the psychological unmooring of its characters without feeling inauthentic."


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: Video game director Hideo Kojima lauded the show as well, calling it "a miracle of squeezing the trigger to the world", and compared the art and world design favorably to the 1990 OVA series "Cyber City Oedo 808". Mike Pondsmith, the creator of the original "Cyberpunk" role-playing game also praised the show, writing "It's like seeing my brain in a big screen anime." The publisher of the tabletop "Cyberpunk" game, R. Talsorian, announced plans for an "Edgerunners"-based expansion in November 2022.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: The show's release caused interest in "Cyberpunk 2077" to rise dramatically, with more concurrent players on Steam than during the game's launch, and which continued for at least four weeks following the show's release.


title: Cyberpunk: Edgerunners

text: In an interview with Famitsu, CDPR community manager Satoru Honma said of "Cyberpunk: Edgerunners" that no plans exist for a second season but that if ever there would be, it would not be a continuation of the first season but "something completely different."


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Bollin in the east of the county, on the edge of the Cheshire Plain, with Macclesfield Forest to its east; it is south of Manchester and east of Chester.


title: Macclesfield

text: Before the Norman Conquest, Macclesfield was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia and was assessed at £8. The manor is recorded in the "Domesday Book" as "Maclesfeld", meaning "Maccel's open country". The medieval town grew up on the hilltop around what is now St Michael's Church. It was granted a charter by Edward I in 1261, before he became king. Macclesfield Grammar School was founded in 1502. The town had a silk-button industry from at least the middle of the 17th century and became a major silk-manufacturing centre from the mid-18th century. The Macclesfield Canal was constructed in 1826–31.


title: Macclesfield

text: Hovis breadmakers were another Victorian employer. Modern industries include pharmaceuticals. Multiple mill buildings are still standing and several of the town's museums explore the local silk industry. Other landmarks include Georgian buildings such as the Town Hall and former Sunday School; St Alban's Church, designed by Augustus Pugin; and the Arighi Bianchi furniture shop.


title: Macclesfield

text: The population of Macclesfield at the 2021 census was 57,539. A person from Macclesfield is referred to as a "Maxonian".


title: Macclesfield

text: Situated in the ancient Hundred of Hamestan, the town is recorded in the "Domesday Book" as "Maclesfeld" and in 1183 it was referred to as "Makeslesfeld". The English Place-Name Society gives its name as being derived from the Old English name, "Maccel", and "field", yielding the meaning "Maccel's open country".


title: Macclesfield

text: Although "Silk Town" seems to be its preferred nickname, the traditional nickname of Macclesfield is "Treacle Town".


title: Macclesfield

text: This refers to an historical incident when a horse-drawn wagon overturned and spilt its load of treacle onto the street, after which the poor scooped the treacle off the road.


title: Macclesfield

text: Before the Norman Conquest, Macclesfield was held by Edwin, Earl of Mercia, who also held much of the east of the county. Three crosses survive from this period, originally located in Sutton, and J. D. Bu'Lock speculates that there might have been a Pre-Conquest church. The area was devastated by the Normans in 1070, and had not recovered by 1086; the Domesday Book records the manor as having fallen in value from £8 to 20 shillings. Hugh d'Avranches, Earl of Chester held the manor himself after the Conquest; there was a mill, meadow for oxen, and woodland 6 leagues by 4 leagues. A Norman castle was built at Macclesfield. Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by Ranulf de Blondeville, Earl of Chester, in the early 13th century, and in 1261 a second charter was granted by the future King Edward I, allowing a market, fair and judicial court. The medieval town stood on the hilltop, centred on the parish church of All Saints, which was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220. In 1357, a hall was built in the town for the mayor's court and the borough court (portmote). The town lacked industries at this date and was described as poor, remaining a small market town until the end of the 15th century, with a population numbered in the hundreds.


title: Macclesfield

text: The Cheshire archers were a body of elite soldiers noted for their skills with the longbow that fought in many engagements in Britain and France in the Middle Ages. Battles at which there were sizeable numbers of Cheshire archers include Agincourt and Crecy. In 1277 Edward I employed 100 of these archers from the Macclesfield area as his personal bodyguard, his successor Richard II also employed a bodyguard of these yeoman archers who came from the Macclesfield Hundred and the forest districts of Cheshire.


title: Macclesfield

text: The borough had a weekly market and two annual fairs: the Barnaby fair on St Barnabas day (11 June), the other on the feast of All Souls (2 November). In recent years the Barnaby fair has been reinvented as the Barnaby Festival, a cultural festival in mid-June. The weekly market no longer happens but on the last Sunday of each month the Treacle Market is held, a large market selling locally produced food and handmade items such as clothing, handmade goods and pottery.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the Hundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire. The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary extended to Disley. The manor house was on the edge of the deer park, on the west of the town. In the 14th century, it had a king's chamber and a queen's hall, as well as a large stable, and the manor served as a stud farm for Edward the Black Prince. The Earls of Chester established the Forest of Macclesfield, which was much larger than its present-day namesake. It was used for hunting deer and pasturing sheep and cattle. By the end of the 13th century, large areas of the forest had been ploughed because of the pressure of population growth. In 1356, two trees from the forest were given to archer William Jauderell to repair his home.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield Castle was a fortified town house built by John de Macclesfield in the later Middle Ages. Construction began in 1398, and that year an application was made for a licence to crenellate, or fortify, the building. Two chantries were founded in the town: one in 1422 by the Legh family, and one in 1504 by Thomas Savage. In 1502, Macclesfield Grammar School was founded by Sir John Percyvale.


title: Macclesfield

text: No proof exists that Macclesfield was ever a walled town. When the settlement was first established and for some centuries afterwards there would have certainly been some sort of ditch and palisade round the western side of the town which was not naturally defended. This was necessary in order to keep out undesirable people and stray animals. No physical trace of a ditch remains though measurements and the shape of certain streets suggest where such a ditch could have been and most of the medieval building were within this area. It is unlikely that the ditch and palisade were succeeded by a wall for no record has been found of a murage tax, which would certainly have been levied to keep the wall in repair. The suffix "Gate" in the names of several Macclesfield streets has been taken to indicate the former presence of a gate in the sense of a guarded opening in a wall, however, this is very unlikely as the term 'gate' is derived from 'gata', Scandinavian for road, which became gate in Middle English. Therefore, Chester Gate, the Jordan Gate and the Church Wall Gate (some sources give the name Well Gate for this gate), are simply referring to the road to/from Chester or the road leading from the church to the well. These names are preserved in the names of three streets in the town, Chestergate, Jordangate and Back Wallgate.


title: Macclesfield

text: A charter of 1595 established a town governing body consisting of the mayor, two aldermen and 24 "capital burgesses", and the powers of this body were increased by a charter of 1684. By the Tudor era, Macclesfield was prospering, with industries including the manufacture of harnesses, gloves and especially buttons, and later ribbons, tapes and fancy ware. Coal was mined from the 16th century. In 1664, the population was around 2,600, making Macclesfield the third-largest town in the county, after Chester and Nantwich, although the town had expanded little from its medieval extent and had fewer large houses than Nantwich and Stockport. By around 1720, the number of households had increased to 925, and this rapid population growth continued throughout the 18th century, reaching 8,743 in 1801.


title: Macclesfield

text: In the 1580s, Macclesfield was one of the earliest towns in the county to have Puritan preaching "Exercises", and it was also an early centre for the Quakers. By 1718 an estimated 10% of the population was Nonconformist. Towards the end of that century, the town had a large Methodist congregation, and Christ Church was the only Anglican church in the county to invite John Wesley to preach.


title: Macclesfield

text: During the Civil War, in 1642 the town was occupied for the King by Sir Thomas Aston, a Royalist. In the Jacobite Rising of 1745, Charles Stuart and his army marched through Macclesfield as they attempted to reach London. The mayor was forced to welcome the prince, and the event is commemorated in one of the town's silk tapestries.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield was once the world's biggest producer of finished silk. A domestic button industry had been established in the town by the mid-16th century, although the first mention of silk buttons is not until 1649. In the mid-18th century, when metal buttons became fashionable, the silk-button industry transitioned to silk manufacture in mills. Macclesfield's first silk mill was founded by Charles Roe in 1743 or 1744. The mills were initially powered by water, and later by steam. There were 71 silk mills operating in 1832, employing 10,000 people, but a crash occurred in 1851 and many mill-workers emigrated to the American silk town of Paterson, New Jersey. The silk industry remained active in the town in the 1980s, but no longer dominated. Paradise Mill reopened in 1984 as a working mill museum, demonstrating the art of silk throwing and Jacquard weaving. The four Macclesfield Museums display a range of information and products from that period.


title: Macclesfield

text: A short-lived copper-smelting operation was established by Roe in 1750, processing ore from mines at Alderley Edge and Ecton (Staffordshire), and later from Anglesey. The business switched to copper processing and the manufacture of brass in 1767, before closing after Roe's death in 1781. The industry is reflected in some of the town's street names.


title: Macclesfield

text: Between 1826 and 1831 the Macclesfield Canal was constructed, linking Macclesfield to Marple to the north and Kidsgrove to the south. The canal was surveyed for its Act of Parliament by the canal and roads engineer Thomas Telford, and built by William Crosley (junior), the Macclesfield Canal Company's engineer. It was the last narrow canal to be completed and had only limited success because within ten years much of the coal and other potential cargo was increasingly being transported by rail.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is the original home of Hovis breadmakers, produced in Publicity Works Mill (commonly referred to as "the Hovis Mill") on the canal close to Buxton Road. It was founded by a Macclesfield businessman and a baker from Stoke-on-Trent. "Hovis" is said to derive from the Latin "homo-vitalis" (strength for man) as a way of providing a cheap and nutritious food for poor mill workers and was a very dry and dense wholemeal loaf completely different from the modern version.


title: Macclesfield

text: Waters Green was once home to a nationally known horse market which features in the legend of the Wizard of Alderley Edge.


title: Macclesfield

text: Waters Green and an area opposite Arighi Bianchi, now hidden under the Silk Road, also held a sheep and cattle market until the 1980s.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is said to be the only mill town to have escaped bombing in World War II. After the war, two pharmaceutical companies opened facilities in Macclesfield, Geigy (now part of Novartis) and the pharmaceutical division of ICI (now AstraZeneca).


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield was first represented in Parliament after the Reform Act of 1832, when it was granted two Members of Parliament (MPs). This situation lasted until 1880, when after problems at the general election that year it was decided to declare the election void and suspend the writ of election (so no by-election could take place). In September 1880 a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate further. A report of March 1881 confirmed the allegations of corruption. As a result, the borough constituency was disenfranchised for corruption. The disenfranchisement took effect on 25 June 1885, when the town was transferred to the East Cheshire constituency. However under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 the Macclesfield constituency was recreated with extended boundaries, as a county division, later in 1885. From the 1885 general election it has elected one MP. Macclesfield was for some time considered to be a safe seat for the Conservative Party, having been held by it since the 1918 general election, but the 2017 election showed a significant swing away from the Conservatives.


title: Macclesfield

text: Currently, Macclesfield is represented by David Rutley, a Conservative and practising Mormon. He was selected for this seat in 2010, when Sir Nicholas Winterton, who had been the incumbent for 38 years, announced his retirement following unfavourable press coverage relating to the claiming of Parliamentary expenses. Sir Nicholas' wife, Ann Winterton, held the neighbouring seat of Congleton.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield was governed locally by Macclesfield Municipal Borough (see Macclesfield (borough)) until 1974 when Macclesfield Borough Council was established, a local government district with borough status. Following the establishment of Cheshire East Council in 2009 the borough was abolished and the Mayoralty transferred to charter trustees. Macclesfield Town Council was established in 2015 following a community governance review which established a civil parish. Macclesfield Town Council is controlled by the Labour Party, with 9 councillors. There are 3 Independent councillors, and no Conservatives.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is also represented by 12 councillors on Cheshire East Council: 9 Labour, 3 Independents.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is in the east of Cheshire, on the River Bollin, a tributary of the River Mersey. It is close to the county borders of Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east and Staffordshire to the south. It is near the towns of Stockport to the north, Buxton to the east, and Congleton to the south. It is 38 miles (60 km) to the east of Chester, the county town of Cheshire.


title: Macclesfield

text: To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain. To the east is Macclesfield Forest, containing Ridgegate and Trentabank Reservoirs which supply the town's drinking water, as well as Tegg's Nose and the Peak District.


title: Macclesfield

text: The Macclesfield Built-up Area forms an urban area which extends from the town to an area that includes the town of Bollington and the village of Prestbury. The urban area has a population of 63,954.


title: Macclesfield

text: According to the 2011 census, the gender makeup of the population was 31,266 male and 32,688 female. The ethnic makeup of the whole urban area was under 96.2% white and 2.2% Asian. Other ethnic minorities were 1.6%. The religious make up of the whole area includes: 66.3% Christian, 0.5% Muslim, 24.8% Irreligious and 6.8% not stated.


title: Macclesfield

text: Like most of the United Kingdom, Macclesfield has a temperate maritime climate (Köppen: "Cfb"). Records of the climate extend back to at least 1850. Between 1881 and 2005, the highest temperature has been on 3 August 1990 and the lowest, from at least 1850–2005, on 25 December 1860.


title: Macclesfield

text: The town is famous for its once thriving silk industry, commemorated in the Silk Museum. The Georgian Town Hall was designed by Francis Goodwin in 1823. Macclesfield is home to an Augustus Pugin church, St Alban's on Chester Road.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is the manufacturing home to AstraZeneca, one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies. The furniture store Arighi Bianchi was founded in 1829. Other industries include textiles, light engineering, paper and plastics.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield station is on the Stafford to Manchester branch of the West Coast Main Line. Avanti West Coast operates generally hourly services to Manchester Piccadilly (20 minutes away), Stoke-on-Trent (15 minutes) and London Euston (1 hour 47 minutes); services to Birmingham New Street, Reading and beyond are provided by CrossCountry. Northern Trains' hourly stopping service between Manchester and Stoke-on-Trent calls at Macclesfield.


title: Macclesfield

text: A railway station was first opened at Beech Lane by the LNWR on 19 June 1849, which was replaced a month later by Hibel Road station. The current station dates from the modernisation of the West Coast Main Line in the mid-1960s, when the old station buildings were demolished to make way for new buildings.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield has a bus station located within the town centre. The original building opened on Sunderland Street, just outside the railway station; it was replaced in 2004, when a new bus station opened on Queen Victoria Street.


title: Macclesfield

text: The principal operators around Macclesfield are Arriva North West and two subsidiaries of Centrebus Group: D&G Bus and High Peak Buses.


title: Macclesfield

text: There are around 15 bus routes in Macclesfield that run within the town or surrounding towns such as Congleton, Wilmslow and Knutsford. Other locations that are served from Macclesfield include Stockport, Crewe, Buxton, Altrincham, Wythenshawe and Chatsworth House. Buses in the town run Monday to Saturday; the only service that runs on a Sunday is High Peak route 58 to Chatsworth House.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is served by good road links from the north, south and west, but has fewer roads going east due to the terrain of the Peak District. From the south, access from Congleton and the Potteries is from the A536, and via the A523 from Leek. From the north, the main access to the town is the A523 from Manchester, Hazel Grove and Poynton. The main west–east road is the A537 Knutsford to Buxton road. At various points around the town centre, some of these roads combine, such as the A537 / A523 on the Silk Road section, giving rise to traffic congestion, especially at peak times. The A538 provides access to Prestbury, Wilmslow and Manchester Airport, with the B5470 being the only other eastbound route from the town, heading to Whaley Bridge and Chapel-en-le-Frith.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield has been accused of having few cultural amenities. In 2004, research was published in "The Times" naming Macclesfield and its borough the most uncultured town in Britain, based on its lack of theatres, cinemas and other cultural facilities.


title: Macclesfield

text: The Northern Chamber Orchestra, the oldest professional chamber ensemble in the North West, has its home at the Macclesfield Heritage Centre and presents a series of eight concerts a year, attracting international guest soloists. The Silk Opera Company was created to perform 'The Monkey Run' at Barnaby.


title: Macclesfield

text: After recent rationalisation, the town now has one museum - the Silk Museum on Park Lane, which includes paid access to Paradise Mill, a former silk mill. The Silk Museum houses the Ancient Egyptian artefacts brought back by Victorian antiquarian Marianne Brocklehurst and her partner Mary Booth: these were formerly held in West Park Museum, as well as a number of art galleries.


title: Macclesfield

text: The Macclesfield Model Railway Group is nationally recognised as a leading railway modelling club, known for many layouts since its foundation in 1957.


title: Macclesfield

text: The 'Macclesfield Literary and Philosophical Society' was formed in 2006, partly in response to "The Times" 2004 article.


title: Macclesfield

text: The Red Willow Pub in Macclesfield has played host to three meetups of members from the popular internet forum, USH.net with a fourth planned in 2022. The events, affectionately known as 'Red Willow, 2PM, Let's talk about it' have been widely regarded as an unmitigated success and that is 100% confirmed despite several locals suggesting that the group descending upon the town was "concerning, very concerning indeed". Renowned badger authority, Brookside contributor and famed poet Nicholas Prosser is 100% confirmed, with Queen guitarist Brian May rumoured to be making a guest appearance.


title: Macclesfield

text: Local newspapers include the "Macclesfield Express" and the "Community News". Macclesfield residents have access to Macclesfield Forum, an online message board, for informal discussion of local news and issues. The town is also served by two locally based radio stations: Canalside Community Radio based at the Clarence Mill in Bollington, just north of Macclesfield, and Silk FM, a commercial independent radio station with studios in the town. Local information websites include "Visit Macclesfield" and the local what's on guide, "Canalside's The Thread".


title: Macclesfield

text: The last remaining commercial cinema in Macclesfield closed in 1997. Discussions have taken place regarding the possibility of building a multiplex cinema, but attempts to build a cinema have thus far been unsuccessful. In 2005 a small-scale cinema, Cinemac, was set up in the Heritage Centre, which has since become well established; also based in the Heritage Centre is the Silk Screen arts cinema, which gives fortnightly screenings of art-house films.


title: Macclesfield

text: Amateur dramatics is well represented in the town: the Macclesfield Amateur Dramatic Society has existed since 1947 and performs in its own theatre on Lord Street. The Macclesfield Majestic Theatre Group has been producing musicals since its inception in 1971, initially at the Majestic Theatre (hence the title), but latterly at various other locations after the theatre was converted into a public house by the new tenants. Most recently, shows have been produced at the Heritage Centre, the Evans Theatre in Wilmslow and MADS Theatre on Lord Street. Several members of this society have progressed to the professional stage, most notably Marshall Lancaster and Jonathan Morris.


title: Macclesfield

text: Gawsworth Hall hosts an annual Shakespeare festival as well as many arts and music events throughout the year.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield has appeared in film: it was used as the location for Sir John Mills's film "So Well Remembered" in 1947. Some of the locations are still recognisable, such as Hibel Road. A fictionalised version of Macclesfield's railway station appeared in the 2005 football hooliganism film "Green Street". It was also the location of "Control" (2007), a film about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of Joy Division.


title: Macclesfield

text: The blues singer John Mayall was born in the town in 1933. Macclesfield was also the home town of Ian Curtis and Stephen Morris of Joy Division, and Gillian Gilbert who, along with Morris, was a member of New Order. A memorial to Curtis is located at Macclesfield Crematorium. Other Macclesfield acts to have gained recognition include The Macc Lads and Marion. Silk Brass Band, the Macclesfield-based brass band, won the National Championship of Great Britain Third Section Final in 2002. Having been promoted from the third section in 2002, they have since consistently competed in the Second, First and Championship sections of the UK's brass band grading system. Local band the Virginmarys has achieved national and international success and chart-topping UK band The 1975 come from Macclesfield.


title: Macclesfield

text: In literature, Macclesfield is the second principal location of the fantasy novels "The Weirdstone of Brisingamen" and "The Moon of Gomrath" by Alan Garner.


title: Macclesfield

text: In 2008, the borough was named as the fifth happiest of 273 districts in Britain by researchers from the universities of Sheffield and Manchester, who used information on self-reported personal well-being from the British Household Panel Survey.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield is served by four state-funded academies (previously state high schools); Tytherington School, The Macclesfield Academy, Fallibroome Academy and All Hallows Catholic College.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield Academy is made up of pupils from the former school Henbury High School, and also took in the pupils left over when Ryles Park secondary school closed in 2004. Ryles Park had been in turn an amalgamation of Ryles Park girls school and the oldest state school in the town, Macclesfield Central boys school, which closed in 1975. It is on the site of Macclesfield College and Park Lane Special School as part of the Macclesfield 'Learning Zone', which was opened in 2007. Macclesfield High School was the name originally given to the girls grammar school on Fence Avenue which formed part of the King's School.


title: Macclesfield

text: The hilltop church of St Michael and All Angels has views of nearby Kerridge Hill. The church is approached from Waters Green by a flight of 108 steps, which themselves are a local landmark.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield Sunday School started in 1796 as a non-denominational Sunday School in Pickford Street, which catered for 40 children. It was founded by John Whitaker whose objective was "to lessen the sum of human wretchedness by diffusing religious knowledge and useful learning among the lower classes of society". Though chapels set up their denominational schools, the Sunday School committee in 1812 elected to erect a purpose-built school on Roe Street. The Big Sunday School had 1,127 boys and 1,324 girls on its books when it opened.


title: Macclesfield

text: St Alban's Church in Chester Road is an active Roman Catholic parish church. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It was designed by A. W. N. Pugin.


title: Macclesfield

text: Christ Church is a brick-built redundant Anglican church, located on Great King Street. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building, and is under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church was in use until 1981. It remains consecrated and is used occasionally for services.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield's professional football club, Macclesfield Town, first gained league status in 1997 as Football Conference Champions; they had won that title two years earlier but were denied promotion as their Moss Rose stadium in the south of the town failed to meet Football League stadium capacity requirements. At the end of the 2019–20 season, the Silkmen were relegated from EFL League Two. In September 2020, Macclesfield Town Football Club was wound up in the High Court over debts totalling more than £500,000.


title: Macclesfield

text: On 13 October 2020, the Official Receiver confirmed that the assets of Macclesfield Town had been sold to Macc Football Club Limited. Local businessman Robert Smethurst had purchased the assets, and rebranded the club as Macclesfield F.C., they currently play in the Northern Premier League(Division One West).


title: Macclesfield

text: Youth football teams include Macclesfield Juniors FC, Macclesfield Saints JFC, Moss Rose Juniors FC and Tytherington Juniors.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield RUFC, the town's rugby union club, plays in National League 1, following promotion from National League 2 North in the 2013–14 season.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield's cycling club Macclesfield Wheelers is a local club for all cycling activities, from pleasure riding to racing. World-famous cyclist Reg Harris produced "Reg Harris" bikes in Macclesfield for three years during the 1960s. The local cycling campaign group is known as MaccBUG (Macclesfield Borough Bicycle Users Group). Formed in 1999, it campaigns for better cycling provision for leisure and utility cyclists.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield Harriers & Athletic Club is an active club with over 500 members. The club caters for all abilities and ages. There are sections for road running, track & field, fell running and cross country.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield Hockey Club is a community club with 8 senior teams and a thriving junior section. They cater for players of all abilities from the age of 5 upwards. At the first team level, the Ladies play in the Regional North Leagues and the men in the North West Hockey Premier League.


title: Macclesfield

text: In December 2006, Sport England published a survey which revealed that residents of Macclesfield were the third-most active in England in sports and other fitness activities; 29.3% of the population participate at least three times a week for 30 minutes.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield parkrun, a free weekly timed 5k run, takes place in South Park every Saturday morning at 9.00am.


title: Macclesfield

text: Macclesfield has no twin towns. Until 2010, Macclesfield had an informal bond with Eckernförde in Germany in the aftermath of World War II when the townsfolk sent aid to Eckernförde.