Griffith
Park
5333 Zoo Drive
(323) 644-6400
Annually over one
and a half million visitors pass through the gates of the Los
Angeles Zoo. Located in Griffith Park in the heart of the
nation's second largest city, the Los Angeles Zoo is home to
1,200 animals from every corner of the world.
 The
idea that "more is better" is certainly true here,
especially with the aura of tinsel town. Historically, the Los
Angeles Zoo wasn't the first zoo to hit this sprawling town.
First came the privately operated Selig Zoo, located in the
downtown section of the city in 1885. Then, in 1912, came the
Griffith Park Zoo, an eclectic collection of retired circus
animals. Not until 1966, decades later, did the citizens of Los
Angeles take the proposal of a new facility to house the zoo
seriously. Built on 113-acres of hilly terrain in Griffith Park,
some original animals from 1966 still make their home in the Los
Angeles Zoo.
 In
the early 1980s, as part of their endangered species program the
Zoo joined the California Condor Recovery Program and actively
worked to secure a future for the endangered California Condor.
In the same time period, the Ahmanson Koala House opened and the
Zoo became the first facility in the world to exhibit the Koala
in a darkened setting. Then came the China Pavilion built
specifically to house two giant pandas. Today you can see rare
golden monkeys, snow leopards, polar bears, and gelada baboons.
Kids will love Adventure Island, built especially for them. The
animal nursery with incubators that provide special care for
baby animals, is a high point on the tour. Included in their
natural habitat sitting are bats and skunks in darkened
exhibits, sea lions in a pool with a waterfall, and prairie dogs
that dig burrows in mounds of dirt.
The newest exhibit, Chimpanzees of Mahale Mountains (named after
a wild troupe of chimps in Tanzania) allows visitors to watch up
close with only a pane of glass between visitors and chimps,
along with an open-air penthouse for the playful chimps.
Scheduled to open in October 2000, the new Animal Health and
Conservation Center will be a world class medical facility for
animal care. Also in the works: a multi-level Central and South
American rain forest exhibit, a saltwater exhibit for sea lions,
and a modern reptile house.
Pick up a tour map at the main gate. The arrangement of exhibits
lends itself to a leisurely walk around the park. What you will
see during the circle loop of the Zoo is Adventure Island; World
of Birds Show; the Reptile House; Rhinos, Tigers, and Bears; the
Elephant Barn; Monkeys and Apes; Lions and Giraffes; Gorillas;
Aquatics pool and back to the main gate.
The Los Angeles Zoo is about animals but the Zoo is also home to
a unique collection of over 400 species of plants. The plant
collection is a very practical application of beauty and an
edible garden. Koala bears eat eucalyptus leaves and in the
Australian section of the garden, plenty of eucalyptus trees
grow strong and tall as a food source for these bears.
Located in Griffith Park at 5333 Zoo Drive, at the junction of
the Ventura Freeway (134) and the Golden State Freeway (5).
Open daily from 10:00am to 5:00pm, closed on December 25th.
Admission is: $8.25 for adults, $3.25 for children ages 2-12
Seniors 65 and over: $5.25
Children under 2: free
Phone: (323) 644-6400
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