Honestly, you should just grab the Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR and dont even look at the others! Its seriously amazing for the price and works perfectly on the D7500. I used this exact setup for a safari park trip and the autofocus speed is just fantastic compared to the older gear. Since your camera supports that AF-P stepping motor, the focus is basically instant and dead silent... perfect for catching the animals without any annoying hunting. While the 18-140mm is a nice kit lens, you definitely need that 300mm reach for wildlife. San Diego is huge and those lions love to hang out way in the back. The 140mm just wont get you close enough for a good shot. You can usually find the AF-P version used for under 200 bucks right now. Its easily the best bang for your buck lens for DX shooters who need reach on a budget!

Just saw this thread. I was very satisfied using the Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR for a similar trip last year. The pulse motor is miles ahead of the SWM in the older Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR. I once tried the Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED VR II but 200mm felt way too short for the animals. 300mm is much safer.

To add to the point above: grabbing something used is the smartest move because those San Diego trips are crazy expensive once you factor in everything else! Honestly though you really gotta watch the budget on those trips because the hidden costs will absolutely kill you before you even get through the gate. Everyone talks about the gear but nobody mentions that a single bottle of water at the park costs like ten bucks lol. Seriously though if you are staying near the park check out those little local taco shops instead of the hotel food. I remember my last trip out there I spent way too much on a fancy room but the air conditioning was so loud I couldnt even sleep. It sounded like a jet engine taking off every twenty minutes and I swear it was making the walls vibrate. I ended up spending most of my night trying to find where the rattling was coming from with a flashlight instead of actually prepping my Nikon D7500 or charging my batteries. It turned out to be a loose vent cover but man it ruined my whole vibe for the next day when I was trying to spot the rhinos. I was basically a zombie walking around and ended up just sitting on a bench for like an hour watching a squirrel steal some kids popcorn instead of actually looking at the lions or tigers. Actually that squirrel was pretty fast tho... wait sorry kinda went off topic there!

To add to the point above: I would suggest being pretty careful with the plastic mount on that budget AF-P lens. Since you are doing a wildlife park, things can get a bit bouncy in the vehicles and those plastic tabs can snap if you arent gentle. You might want to consider looking for a used Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED VR instead. It is built like a tank and the glass quality is actually decent since it is an FX lens being used on your crop sensor, so you are hitting the sweet spot of the optics. Just make sure the vibration reduction is actually kicking in because the older VR units sometimes get stuck if they have been sitting in a drawer too long. Funny enough, last time I was in San Diego for a shoot, I got so distracted by the food trucks near the entrance that I almost missed the entire morning light window. There was this one place selling these insane carnitas tacos and I think I stood in line for forty minutes. I ended up with zero photos of the rhinos but some really high-quality shots of a half-eaten taco. My wife still brings it up whenever I grab my camera bag for a trip. I guess I just cant resist a good local snack when I am out in the field... Anyway, if you find that AF-S for under two hundred, grab it. But yeah.