 A summer crowd at the LA Zoo |
|
| Date opened | 1966 |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| Land area | 113 acres (0.5 km²) |
| Coordinates | 34°8′53.3256″N 118°17′1.968″W / 34.148146°N 118.28388°W |
| Number of animals | 1,100 |
| Number of species | 250+ |
| Memberships | AZA, WAZA |
| Major exhibits | Campo Gorilla Reserve, Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, Red Ape Rainforest, Sea Life Cliffs, Peninsular Pronghorns |
| Website | http://www.lazoo.org/ |
The Los Angeles Zoo, founded in 1966, is a large zoo located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The City of Los Angeles owns the entire zoo, its land and facilities, and the animals. Animal care, grounds maintenance, construction, education, public information, and administrative staff are city employees.
Contents |
Overview
The zoo is open from 10am - 5pm every day of the year except December 25.
The zoo, located in Los Angeles' Griffith Park, is home to 1,100 animals from around the world.
It has been successful in its breeding program of the rare California Condor, helping to grow the number of condors in the world from a low of 22 in the 1980s to over 330 today.
In 1998, the zoo opened Chimpanzees of the Mahale Mountains, followed by Red Ape RainForest in 2000, The Komodo Dragon Exhibit, The Winnick Family Children Zoo in 2001, The Entry Plaza, Children's Discovery Centre and Sea Lion Cliffs (Now Sea Life Cliffs) in 2005, And Campo Gorilla Reserve in November 2007
The Zoo also has many upcoming exhibits including Pachyderm Forest in Summer 2010, the Reptile and Insect Interpretive Center in 2011 and the Rainforest of the Americas in 2011/2012
Talked about exhibits have included an African savanna, a new lion habitat and a revamp to the Australia area
Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association
The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) was created in 1963 and is a nonprofit corporation created to support the Los Angeles Zoo in its mission to nurture wildlife and enrich the human experience. GLAZA's primary responsibility is to seek and provide financial support for the zoo’s programs and capital projects. GLAZA also provides support through membership, organizing special events and travel programs, producing award-winning publications, coordinating one of the largest zoo volunteer programs in the country, administering the contract for visitor services concessions within the zoo, and supporting community relations, and public relations.
Botanical Gardens
In 2002, the zoo became a certified Botanical Gardens and the official name of the institution was changed to the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Spread throughout zoo grounds, there are 15 different collections, highlighting over 800 different plant species, with a total of over 7,400 individual plants.
Gottlieb Animal Health and Conservation Center
Named after philanthropists Robert and Suzanne Gottlieb, the Gottlieb Animal Health and Conservation Center is a 33,589-square-foot (3,120.5 m2) facility situated in a restricted area in the upper reaches of the zoo. Among other features, it includes a state-of-the-art intensive care unit, an on-site commissary, a surgical suite with observation area, and research facilities. In 2007 the number of medical cases presented was 853. The smallest patient treated was a spider tortoise (0.08kg) and the largest was an Asian elephant (4,826kg).
Shows and Activities
World of Birds Show: Birds of prey and other rare and exotic winged wonders perform. Show times: Weekends 11:30am, 2pm, and 3:30pm.
Animals & You Program: Featuring close-up creature encounters! These 15-minute long animal close-ups take place at stations in the Winnick Family Children’s Zoo on weekdays at 10:45 and 11:45am and on weekends at 10:45 and 11:45am, and 12:45pm (subject to availability).
Winnick Family Children's Zoo: Located at the top of Winnick Family Children's Zoo, this petting zoo enables visitors to get up-close and touchable with goats and sheep in an animal contact area known as Muriel’s Ranch. They have brushes available at Muriel's Ranch for visitors to help groom the domestic animals. Open daily from 10am-1pm, and 2-4pm. (The contact yard is closed each day from 1-2 pm to give the animals a rest period.)
Neil Papiano Play Park: The Neil Papiano Play Park (located in the upper zoo along the perimeter road) incorporates animal-themed climbing sculptures, large play structures, a toddler area, water misters, grassy landscaping, and a large picnic area. It was specially designed to be accessible to all children visiting the zoo, including those with medical and physical challenges.
Trivia
- The Los Angeles Zoo is the zoo featured in the sixth, seventh, and eighth season opening sequences of the 1977 - 1984 John Ritter sitcom Three's Company.
- The first zoo opened in 1912 and was about two miles (3 km) north of its current site until about 1965. Remnants of the zoo remain and were used in the film Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The site of the current zoo was formerly the location of Rodger Young Village, which was itself built on the land which had been used for the Griffith Park Aerodrome.
- It is one of the few zoos worldwide to contain Mountain Tapir.
- In the 1971 20th Century Fox film, Escape from the Planet of the Apes, the characters Zira and Cornelius are briefly quarantined at the Los Angeles Zoo.
Gallery
External links
Coordinates: 34°08′53″N 118°17′02″W / 34.148146°N 118.28388°W
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Los Angeles Zoo |
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
This Los Angeles County, California-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 |
This article on a zoo, aquarium, wildlife park, or aviary is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
