The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens March 2019 Species List for The Living Desert

Date: March 9, 2019

Each bullet indicates an enclosure. Species that were seen are marked in bold. Species that were seen but unsigned are marked in italics. Inner means the left, zoo-facing side of the path; Outer means the right, off-zoo-facing side of the path. Domestic species (besides dromedary camel) were not counted; however, I know that Ankole Longhorn Cattle and goats (probably an African breed) were in the African Village area.

Total Species:

Mammals: 35 (30 seen, 4 signed but unseen, 1 off-exhibit)
Birds (excluding lorikeets): 43 (37 seen, 6 signed but unseen)
Reptiles: 19
Amphibians: 3
Fish: 1
Invertebrates: 5

Total Species On-Exhibit By Signage: 105

Before Africa

• Lorikeet Aviary (species unknown, did not visit)
• Dromedary Camel (giving rides)

African Grassland (1 exhibit):

• Giraffe (generic ssp), Greater Kudu, Ostrich, Vulturine Guineafowl

Outer Path Between African Grassland and Village

• Warthog (8 of them!)

African Village

• White-headed Buffalo Weaver, Taveta Golden Weaver, Vulturine Guineafowl, Racquet-tailed Roller*, Red Bishop*, Pin-tailed Whydah*, Cordon-bleu*, Red-billed Buffalo Weaver*
• Amur Leopard (signed only as Leopard)
• Striped Hyena
• Dromedary Camel
• Addax
• African Spurred Tortoise

*As these species were definitely not in this aviary or (except for the roller) in another aviary at the zoo, and are already rare in zoos to begin with, it's possible that the signage is outdated and these species are no longer present; however, I can't confirm this.

Outer Side of Main Path Between African Village and North America

• African Crested Porcupine
• Grevy's Zebra
• African Spurred Tortoise, Bat-eared Fox*
• Slender-horned (Rhim) Gazelle
• Kori Bustard
• African Wild Dog
• Arabian Oryx
• Cuvier's Gazelle, Abyssinian Ground Hornbill

*According to a zoo source, Rock Hyrax should also be in this exhibit but I did not see any and they were not signed. Rock Hyrax were also not on exhibit anywhere else in the zoo. However, at the hospital there was a dental appointment scheduled for a hyrax this week so the zoo definitely still holds them.

Inner Side of
Main Path Between African Village and North America

• Cheetah
• Fennec Fox

East African Aviary Trail (Inner Side of Path)

• Racquet-tailed Roller, Waldrapp Ibis
• Cape Thick-knee, Green Woodhoopoe
• Spur-winged Lapwing, Von der Decken's Hornbill
• Meerkat
• Eurasian Black Vulture
• Waldrapp Ibis, Hadada Ibis

North American Main Path Between Africa and Small Loop

• Desert Bighorn Sheep
• Peninsular Pronghorn
• White-nosed Coati

Carousel of North American Aviaries

• Prairie Falcon
• Common Raven
• Burrowing Owl
• Black-headed Grosbeak, Hooded Oriole, Painted Bunting, Western Tanager
• Western Screech Owl
• Barn Owl
• Empty
• Laughing Kookaburra

Garden Trail

• Jaguar

Small Outdoor Loop of North American Exhibits

• Mexican Gray Wolf
• Chacoan Peccary
• American Badger
• Ringtail
• Swift Fox
• Kit Fox
• Bobcat
• Caracal
• Mountain Lion
• Island Fox
• Golden Eagle, Bald Eagle

Small Outdoor Walk-in Aviary on Small Loop

• Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Redhead (duck), Mourning Dove, Great-tailed Grackle, Black-tailed Jackrabbit, Southwestern Pond Turtle*

*Forgot to check for this species, might have been present

Exhibit Building on Small Loop

• Sonoran Desert Toad
• Desert Tortoise
• Common Chuckwalla*
• Leopard Tortoise
• Mexican Boa Constrictor
• California Newt*
• Frilled Lizard
• Lyre Snake*
• American Cockroach
• Black Widow Spider
• Desert Hairy Scorpion*
• Desert Tarantula*
• Red-spotted Toad*
• Pinacate Beetle

*Either did not check to see if animal was there or moved on if they were not immediately visible; most or perhaps all of these were likely present

Aviaries Along or Just Off Path Between Small Loop and Desert Pond/Palm Oasis

• Harris's Hawk
• Red-tailed Hawk

Palm Oasis Aviaries

• Red-tailed Hawk
• Walk-through Aviary: Turkey Vulture, Black-crowned Night Heron, Greater Roadrunner, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron
• Great Horned Owl

Desert Pond

• Desert Pupfish

Outer Path Between Desert Pond and Palm Oasis Aviaries

• Coyote

Animal Hospital

• Sand Cat

Mojave Garden

• Desert Tortoise

Reptile House

First Room

• Desert Tortoise*
• Long-nosed Leopard Lizard

*Do not remember if animal was present

Second Room, Right Side

• Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (melanistic)
• Southern Pacific Rattlesnake (tan)
• Rosy Boa
• Long-nosed Leopard Lizard
• Common Chuckwalla, Desert Iguana
• Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer, no subspecies)
• Bullsnake (P. c. sayi)
• Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
• Speckled Rattlesnake

Second Room, Left Side

• Desert Tortoise, Common Chuckwalla
• Gila Monster

Third Room

• Sidewinder
• Panamint Rattlesnake
• Red Diamond Rattlesnake

 

Did you enjoy the Living Desert?

 

I did! The grounds really are beautiful, with the mountain backdrop and countless garden trails. I especially liked the Madagascar Garden (made me really want to visit the real thing), the Hummingbird Garden, and the Palm Oasis, which mirrors almost perfectly the real one I visited a couple years ago. The collection was pretty good; personal highlights for me were the pronghorn, striped hyena, caracal, island fox, ground hornbill, ibises, roadrunner, and woodhoopoe. Most of the exhibits were average or above average, with a few (cheetah especially comes to mind) being pretty close to perfect. Most of them were also very naturalistic; the cheetah exhibit looked strikingly like parts of Tanzania I saw, and the hoofstock exhibits also closely matched their usual habitats. It was also good weather and not super crowded, so that may have played into it as well... and I saw several wild birds along the way!

One disappointment that I had was the relatively small reptile collection and mediocre exhibits for them (especially in terms of size); only 19 species for a biome with many reptiles seems like wasted potential. Another slight issue is that, despite its beauty, most of the grounds look very similar and there are countless circuitous routes and loops; I tried to stay on the main outer loop as much as possible, but I got confused a few times. I even accidentally wandered down a staff-only service road at one point and almost walked out into the parking lot before a staff member turned me around.

 

One addition: I just looked back over the map and Hyrax is on there, at the same place as Bat-eared Fox, so I have no idea why they aren't signed or in the exhibit at this point.

 

Very nice list of one of my favorite zoos (probably top five in USA).

 

Right before quarantine started they added a new exhibit
fenced exhibit outside of the aviary

• emu

Aviaries on the side of the Aviary

• Laughing Kookaburra
• Tawny Frogmouth

Inside the walkthrough aviary

• Bennets Wallaby
• Budgerigar

Rock wall exhibit inside the aviary

• Yellow Footed Wallaby

Small mammal exhibits

• Bettong
• Short Beaked Echidna

Reptile exhibits

• Bearded Dragon
• Frill-necked Lizard
• Centralian Carpet Python
• Blue-Tongued Skink
• Olive Python