The Zoo Review: Zoo Review: Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden, Part I

Although it is America's second largest city (and is, in its own right, one of America's largest zoos), the Los Angeles Zoo often manages to slide under the radar of many zoo enthusiasts. This is perhaps due to its relative proximity to the twin zoological attractions of San Diego. This is unfortunate, because LA's zoo - while not having quite all of the rarities of San Diego - still possesses an amazingly diverse collection in some beautiful habitats (though a few outdated architectural specimens still remain).

Located in Griffith Park, this is actually the city's third zoo. The first, located in Eastlake Park, opened in 1885; if it was still around, it would rank among the oldest zoos in the western states. The second zoo was opened in 1912, located in Griffith Park (itself one of the wildest parts of the city, with the odd mountain lion known to turn up). It was closed in 1966, with the current facility opening later that year just a mile away. The zoo had seen its ups and downs, struggling with infrastructure (it amazes me how some of that more modern infrastructure in zoos seems to crumble right away, while the stuff built at the turn of the last century seems indestructible), almost losing its AZA accreditation at one point. Being in southern California, the zoo has also had the misfortune of finding itself in the midst of ever-present animal rights attention, most of which has been focused on the zoo's bull Asian elephant, Billy, and celebrity-driven efforts to relocate him from the zoo. Still, recent years have seen considerable growth and development, and today the zoo is one of the finest I've been to - not top 5, perhaps, but still a great facility.

The entrance sign of the zoo features an enormous image of a California condor, a worthwhile reminder that this is one of the two facilities which helped snatch this bird back from the edge of extinction in the 1980s. Immediately inside, visitors are treated to Sea Life Cliffs, where California sea lions and harbor seals can be seen both above and below the water. The path meanders through a series of habitats for a variety of animals with no particular theming. American alligators (one of which was a local celebrity, having been found living loose in the area) bob in a pool. Chilean and greater flamingos mill about the edge of another pool, while trumpeter swans swim across the path. Meerkats scurry in and out of tunnels - this exhibit was supposedly the place where Disney animators came to sketch their ideas for Timon from Disney's The Lion King (this being before Disney developed its own zoo). Scattered among these exhibits are the main guest services of the park.

With its gorgeous weather year-round, it's not surprising that Los Angeles Zoo doesn't have much in the way of indoor exhibits. The main exception is The LAIR - (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles). This two-building complex opened in 2012. The first building houses a variety of mostly tropical species from across the world, including some rarely encountered gems such as Chinese giant salamanders, Gray's monitor lizards, and Mangshan vipers, among more commonly displayed (but still excellent) species. Exhibits range from small jewel-case displays for frogs to large, mixed species habitats with fish, turtles, and lizards. As is often the case with newly built reptile houses, there is a behind-the-scenes component, with views of how keepers care for the animals. The second building is desert-themed, featuring animals of both the surrounding southern California environments and around the world, such as horned lizards, scorpions, and Gila monsters. In a nod towards the Los Angeles climate, some reptiles are kept outdoors, including a variety of tortoises. Gharials and tomistoma share habitats with giant Asian turtles in a pair of swampy yards that flank the exhibit complex.

Like San Diego, Los Angeles boasts of an excellent collection of Australian wildlife. Koalas are the unquestioned stars here, perched in trees in the middle of yards shared with kangaroos and wallabies. Wombats have a building nearby, while southern cassowary have a shaded yard around the corner. The Australian theme is loosely extended to include Indonesia, and the entire exhibit is wrapped around a towering flight cage of rhinoceros hornbills, which share their habitat with rarely-exhibited yellow-footed rock wallabies. It can be difficult to see the birds sometimes because they are able to obtain such height (I wish there had been an elevated viewing deck), but it easily ranks as what I think must be the best exhibit for the birds themselves that I've ever seen. Nearby, a small side path leads visitors in between habitats of two of the world's largest lizard species - the Komodo dragon of Indonesia and the (much less commonly seen) perentie goanna of Australia.

Nearby is a loop of mostly hoofstock yards. It's a remnant of the older zoo, but represents a habitat type rarely seen in zoos these days, and I was glad to see it again. In spacious paddocks visitors may spot a variety of ungulates, most desert-adapted, such as pronghorn, Chacoan peccary, gerenuk, addax, and Grevy's zebra. In the center of this rough loop is a habitat of African wild dogs, as well as an artificial mountain for desert bighorn (no one will ever suggest that this mountain is even comparable to the majestic exhibit for this species at The Living Desert, but it seems to meet the animals needs).

Also here, visitors can get their first experience with one of LA's signature zoo features - the round house. These structures are found all over the zoo grounds, tucked away in little corners, sometimes featured more prominently. Each round house is a roughly semi-circular loop of caging in which visitors stand in the center, being mostly surrounded by animals. Sometimes the loop is one large enclosure, sometimes divided into multiple habitats. These are sometimes considered one of the older, more dated relics of the zoo and not everyone is a far. I enjoyed them very much, provided that the occupants were of an approriate size. I think what I enjoyed was the unexpected thrill of not knowing what I'd find in them. Some held birds, such as turacos and curassows. Some held mammals, such as primates of various sizes, small carnivores, hyraxes, even very small ungulates. Each felt like an intimate little encounter, removed from the rest of the zoo.