Put Me In The Zoo: Old Los Angeles Zoo Review Date of visit: March 27, 2013 I had the great pleasure of touring the old Los Angeles Zoo with fellow Zoochatter Michael Dee, former curator of the Los Angeles Zoo, and visiting Zoochatters from Europe Jonas Livet and his colleague Bjorn (apologies in advance for likely misspelling his name and not getting his last name). Michael started working at the LA Zoo in 1967. The current “new” LA Zoo opened in 1966. The old LA Zoo, located about a mile away in another part of Griffith Park, closed just prior to the opening of the new zoo. It was maintained as a place for quarantine and holding of animals into the early 1970s so Michael did work in this facility some and saw it before most of it was knocked down. Today there are a few structures still remaining and the outline of several former enclosures and structures can be seen. Some of the old LA Zoo was built as a WPA project in the 1930s. Structures remaining from that era are a string of bear grottoes, small mammal cages, and “Cat Row”, the old complex of big cat cages. By modern standards these cages are atrociously small, but they are tangible reminders of the history of animal keeping and a marker of how much things have improved in the last several decades. The bear grottoes held polar, grizzly, and American black bears. Inhabitants of Cat Row included lions, tigers, jaguars, and spotted hyenas. Being Los Angeles of course there were some celebrity animals including a spotted hyena from "Hatari" and Yvette Mimieux's jaguar. One of the most interesting revelations of the tour is that the old elephant barn is still standing and has been converted into a restroom. Michael showed us how the old elephant stalls were split in half to form toilet stalls! Part of the heavy-duty fence of the elephant exhibit is still intact and one can make out the outline of the elephant yard, which was about the size of a suburban back yard. There were three female Asian elephants crammed into this exhibit prior to the elephants being walked to their new home in the new zoo in 1966. The elephants were acclimated to vehicle traffic for their stroll to the new zoo from the old one by being taken out into the park and chained to a tree to get used to passing cars! The dinky size of the old barn and yard again showed how much elephant care in zoos has changed for the better when one sees the new LA Zoo elephant exhibit and barn, which have a footprint similar in size to the entire old zoo. There were no giraffes at the old LA Zoo. The first giraffes in LA Zoo history occupied the current giraffe exhibit starting in 1966 with a herd of Angolan giraffes. The Angolan giraffes were eventually replaced with the current Masai giraffes. Michael showed us the old zoo office and regaled us with stories of how a polar bear was moved from the new zoo to the old one when 2 polar bear cubs showed up at the new zoo and occupied the polar bear exhibit. Thanks to Michael for the tour. It was a real treat. My camera was unfortunately broken, but Jonas Livet took many pictures and hopefully will share some of them with us on Zoochat. Jonas Livet, with the help of his friend from Poland, found a map of the Old LA Zoo circa early 1960s: http://www.zoochat.com/attachments/...-park-zoo-map-los_angeles_griffith_1962ca.jpg Anyone interested in the history of zoo design and animal husbandry would likely enjoy a stroll around the old LA Zoo. It is now a picnic area and is freely accessible to all who want to visit it. The old LA Zoo is an important historical marker of the progress made in modern zoo design, keeping, and animal welfare.
Thanks for the review David, and I would have been there myself if at all possible. Just chatting with Michael, someone that actually worked there while it was still in use, must have been a thrill. Dated though it was, I have many fond childhood memories of that place.
Wow, this is really interesting! Since I was actually born in LA back in 1957, this was actually my "hometown zoo" for the first 6 months of my life. I wonder if my Mom and Dad ever took me there. I know they took me to Marineland-California, another classic LA animal park that is now gone. I've seen pictures of myself as a baby at Marineland. Thanks for posting this interesting tour.
Thanks for the comments guys. It really was interesting to see what once was in LA, and how much things have improved. One sad thing is the amount of graffiti and vandalism that has occurred on the remaining bear grottos and old zoo office, but at least they are still there to see. It doesn't take long to see what remains of the old zoo. The old path through the zoo is still there and makes for a pleasant stroll. One could easily fit in a tour of the old zoo before or after a day visiting the current LA Zoo. I would recommend taking a copy of the map Jonas posted, as it is really useful for imagining where things were.
The map linked above shows A LOT of animals for such a small area. Note there is one enclosure for baby elephants and another for large elephants.
Check out this collection of photos of the Griffith Park Zoo (i.e., Old LA Zoo). It has a photo of the baby elephant area from 1961 when it held baby Gita, as Asian elephant who died only a few years ago (2006), and a baby African elephant. Los Angeles Examiner Collection, 1920-1961
