This is the second consecutive win for the San Diego Zoo, which last year brought home the title for “It Began With a Roar,” a float featuring a lion named ... used to feed the giant pandas.

Last year, the San Diego Zoo’s float, “It Began With a Roar,” also won the Sweepstakes Award. It featured an enormous model of a lion named Rex.

I was inspired by movies like "Born Free" about Joy Adamson, who famously raised the lion cub Elsa. I was also impressed by zookeepers I met at the San Diego Zoo and the work the zoo does to help ...