Balboa Park – Zoological Society of San Diego (San Diego Zoo)

The San Diego Zoo houses over 3,700 animals of more than 650 species and subspecies. It is also one of the few zoos in the world that houses the Giant Panda.

Key Symbol numbers for Shopping and Dining. When you encounter an individual trail sign along one of the trails inside the zoo, ignore the Key Numbers for Dining and Shopping on the sign. They have not been updated.

You can obtain a list of the machine locations at the Zoo Information Booth BUT it is usually out of date so it is useless.

Parking now cost $16 for the zoo and if you move your car to another area in Balboa Park, you'll have to pay again to park.

Machine 31
1 - 'Karen', Orangutan 2 - 'Snugglepot & Cuddlepie', Koalas 3 - 'Anna & Arusha', Dog and Cheetah 4 - 'King Tut', Cockatiel

OUTBACK - Sydney's Grill (Dining)
GPS: 32.737668910732026, -117.14964556050809

Machine 21: (2012) at the Koala cart by Sydney's Grill:
1 - Koalas 2 - Rhino 3 - Giraffe Mother and baby 4 - Kiwi

Machine 4: By Sydney’s Grill:
1) Animal logo, 2) Rhinoceros, 3) Macaws, 4) Flamingos

ELEPHANT ODYSSEY - Tusker's Trunk (Shop)
GPS: 32.738427671948266, -117.15214970883068

Machine 5: Tusker’s Trunk:
1) Designer Elephant, 2) Toucan, 3) Wolf, 4) Giraffe

Machine 15: Tusker’s Trunk:
1) Koala, 2) Bactrian Camel, 3) Meerkat, 4) Spotted Owl

BASHOR BRIDGE - The Bridge (Dining)
GPS: 32.73556392844761, -117.1528622709874

Machine 28: (2017) Bridge Snacks in Elephant Odyssey:
1) Gelada, 2) Leopard, 3) Ratel, 4) Coquerel's Sifaka,

NORTHERN FRONTIER - Arctic Trader (Shop)
GPS: 32.73425129197758, -117.1547658172586

Machine 16: at Arctic Trader by Polar Bear Plunge
1) Polar Bear, 2) Caribou, 3) Arctic Fox, 4) Zebra

LOST FOREST - Ituri Forest Shop (Dining)
GPS: 32.734009472625466, -117.15282771742652

Machine 13: at the Ituri Hut/ Ituri Forest Outpost.
1) Slender Nose Crocodile, 2) Mandrill, 3) Clouded Leopard, 4) Tiger

Machine 30: (2018) at the Ituri Hut/ Ituri Forest Outpost. Designs are:
1) Hippo, 2) Otter, 3) Standing Tiger, 4) Okapi.

ASIAN PASSAGE - Panda Shop
GPS: 32.73560303155359, -117.1518680301818

Machine 20: Africa - At the Panda Shop:
1) Brown Bear, 2) Panda, 3) Grizzly Bear, 4) Baby Panda

Machine 27: (2017) Panda shop
1) Wild African Dwarf Crocodile, 2) Fossa, 3) African Penguin, 4) Leopard Shark.

Token machine 1 (2014) At the Panda Shop
1) Asian Elephant, 2 ) Giraffe, 3) Koala 4) Polar Bear

TREETOPS WAY - Treetops Bistro (Dining)
GPS: 32.734628133543886, -117.15203600292878

Machine 14: at Treetops Cafe before the bridge:
1) Red River hog, 2) Snow Leopard, 3) Bonabo Chimp, 4) Gorilla.

TREETOPS WAY - Zoo Brew (Dining)
GPS: 32.735208603606004, -117.1508446587615

Machine 22 (2012) at Zoo Brew cafe on Treetops Way :
1) Orangutan 2) Hummingbird 3) Bat 4) Arctic Fox

ALONG FRONT STREET - Jungle Java (Dining)
GPS: 32.73488618913691, -117.1496441938954

Machine 25: By the Jungle Java Concessions near the entrance:
1) Kangaroo, 2) Meercat, 3) Panda walking, 4) Panda sitting.

ALONG FRONT STREET - Reptile House (Building)
GPS: 32.73427972552317, -117.14944641731012

Machine 23: (2013) Next to the entrance of the Reptile House
1) Cartoon Polar Bear with scarf 2) Tortoise 3) Zoo logotype with Animal tracks 4) Skyfari Skycar #7 with Family

Machine 26: Located next to the entrance of the Reptile House
1) Komodo Dragon, 2) Sea Lion, 3) Anaconda Snake, 4) Galapagos Tortoise.

ALONG FRONT STREET - Main Exit Alley
GPS: 32.73468353823392, -117.14930052115912

Machine 6: By the Exit:
1) Baby Elephant, 2) Saber Tooth Tiger, 3) Lions, 4) Columbian Mammoth

Machine 17: ZOO EXIT, This machine is in the doorway across the walkway to your right:
1) Bears, 2) Lion, 3) Giraffe, 4) Giant Panda

Machine 19:
1) Tour Train, 2) Flamingo area, 3) Double decker tour bus, 4) Peacock

Machine 29: (2018) By the Exit:
1) Komodo Dragon, 2) Hummingbird, 3) Naked Mole Rat, 4) Bumble Bee.

Token Machine 2 (2016) 100th Anniversary set 4 tokens' All have the 100th anniversary Lion head logo on the back. By the Exit.
1 - 'Prince', Lion head (Gold color) 2 - 'Puddles', Hippo head (Gold color) 3 - 'Hua Mei', Panda head (Pewter color) 4 - Alvia' Gorilla (Pewter color)

Retired designs

Retired 1: 1) Sea Lion, 2) Anaconda Snake, 3) Komodo dragon, , 4) Galapagos Tortoise
Retired 2: (Penny and Nickel set): 1) Otter, 2) Okapi, 3) Hippo, 4) Guenon Monkey,
Retired 3: 1) Tiger,
Retired 7: 1) Giant Panda (Face),
Retired 8: 1) Naked Mole Rat, 2) Wombat, 3) Meerkat, 4) Macaw
Retired 9: 1) Absolutely Apes,
Retired 10: 1) Rhinoceros, 2) Kangaroo, 3) Koala, 4) Elephant
Retired 11: 1) Giant pandas (Two)
Retired 12: 1) 'Conservation, Education and Recreation, Zoo Logo,
Retired 18: 1) Lion head
Retired 24: Had 100th Anniversary set: all have 1916 - 2016: 1) 'Anna & Arusha', Dog and Cheetah 2) 'King Tut', Cockatiel 3) 'Karen', Orangatan 4) 'Snugglepot & Cuddlepie', Koalas
Other Retired: A) Celebr80, B) Polar Bear Plunge (quarter and penny), C) Sydney Koala, D) Hippo Beach, E) Flamingo Lagoon, F) Hua Mei (Panda - the first panda born at the zoo. She was sent to China several years ago and the machine retired.)

Zoo has its own Penny book dated 2016 - see the main shop for details .

3/17: All single die machines are retired. I think they retired last year.
6/17: Add Reptile House Machine 26. RK
5/18: Pennyman Machine 29 (Children's Zoo) added.
12/18: Machine 30 is located in the Zoo.

All 4 100 anniversary designs are in a new machine near the Exit.

2/25/25: 100 Anniversary designs are in a new machine near the Exit. Jim C (TEC #4572) -

04/13/26: Thank you to whoever organized the penny machines by zoo zones. It helped me immensely locating the machines.
Machine 4 was out of order. Zoo had a sticker on it.
Machine 26 at Reptile House wasn't rolling correctly. It took 6 tries to get the Komono Dragon & Tortoise to get the pennies to roll correctly making adjustments.
The rest of the machines rolled fantastic on copper.
Parking now cost $16 for the zoo and if you move your car to another area in Balboa Park, you'll have to pay again to park. We just walked from the zoo.to any locations that were close. JLT
08/01/26: Machines are now pre-loaded and cost $1.50 for one coin and $5.00 for all four. Jim C (TEC#4572)