Zebras

Our morning started in Cambria; the community 12 miles north of us. When we finished there, Mr. Fun wanted to drive north a couple miles to San Simeon.

San Simeon is the home of the Hearst Castle, originally owned by William Randolph Hearst. The castle has been maintained as a state historic park for years and has a considerable collection of art and antiques and is open for public tours and despite its location far from any major city, the site attracts millions of travelers each year.

As we passed the castle's land we saw cars stopped and people taking pictures. So we stopped.

William Randolph Hearst once owned the world's largest private zoo. The dismantling of the zoo began in 1937 after William Randolph Hearst experienced great financial difficulty and was forced to curtail his
expenses at the ranch. Dispersal of the zoo animals extended over fifteen years and it was never entirely completed.

In 1958, when the State was given Hearst Castle, there were Rocky Mountain elk, tahr goats, llamas, white fallow deer, zebras, Barbary sheep and sambar deer still on the ranch. Today, few of these animals survive, but often zebra may be seen grazing in the pastures along the highway.

So today we had the privilege of seeing many of them.

Rosie (& Mr. Fun), aka Carol