SAN DIEGO – Citing unmanageable crowds, the San Diego Zoo has canceled its free Founders Day, traditionally held on a Monday in October since 1950.

“Last year, they shut our parking lot down at 10:30 a.m. We had to have (the California) Highway Patrol out because of the gridlock on (state Route) 163. It became a popular skipping-school day. We saw fighting breaking out,” John Dunlap, zoo director, said Thursday.

“This is not traditional San Diego Zoo activity,” he said.

In years past, more than 40,000 people turned out for the day of free zoo admission, avoiding a ticket price of $24.50 for adults and $16.50 for children. A typical busy summer day at the Balboa Park attraction draws 22,000 people.

To make up for the change, zoo officials said they will issue up to 250,000 free tickets through charities during the year. Details on how those will be distributed will come later, they said.

They also will expand their October kids-free promotion to include the zoo's Wild Animal Park near Escondido.

Zoo officials said they had no other choice, especially this year with more than 10 percent of the zoo closed for construction of a new elephant yard. It would mean thousands of people waiting outside the gates to rotate in as capacity opened.

“If our mission is to provide a high-quality, world-class experience, there was no way to do this safely and responsibly,” Dunlap said.

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