Google Street View Maps The San Diego Zoo

With its virtual doors opening to visitors this past Wednesday, the San Diego Zoo has become the first zoo to be accessible via Google Street View, and a pioneer location for Street View mapping of places inaccessible by car. The Google team used a specialized tricycle to map the visitor pathways and animal exhibits throughout the zoo. Google’s new Trike imaging system allows the Street View team to capture more than just city streets, while taking care to protect individual privacy by blurring close-up faces.

Senior Street View engineer Dan Ratner explains:

I began thinking about building a bicycle-based Street View system after realizing how many great places around the world aren’t accessible by car, but still would be perfect to include in Street View on Google Maps. Zoos are a perfect example of unique, fun and educational places that may not be included on a traditional map, and were delighted to welcome the San Diego Zoo into Street View. We hope all their visitors, prospective visitors, and animal lovers around the world will have fun exploring this new imagery.