Los Angeles Zoo

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Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden Facts

Opened	November 28, 1966
Location	Griffith Park, 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles 90027; (323) 666-6400; fax (323) 662-9786
Management	The City of Los Angeles owns and operates the Zoo through the Recreation and Parks Department. The city funds daily operations, animal acquisitions and capital improvements. In 1992, Los Angeles voters also approved Proposition A that provided $25 million toward the redesign and renovation of zoo facilities.
Size	Zoo and support facilities - 80 acres; Parking lot - 34 acres
Average Annual Attendance	1.4 million visitors
Zoo Hours	Open daily except Christmas; 10 am to 5 pm
Animal Collection	More than 1,200 mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles representing 350 different species.
Plant Collection	More than 7,400 individual plants representing 800 different species.
Some Significant Conservation Successes	First successful birth of a mountain tapir in captivity. One of the largest gerenuk herds in the United States with more than 100 born at the Zoo. First successful birth of a Verreaux's sifaka (lemur) outside species' native Madagascar.
Support Organization	The Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA)

Source: Los Angeles Zoo

The Los Angeles Zoo, opened in 1966, was actually the fourth zoo to open in the city. The first zoo, the
Eastlake Zoo, opened in 1885 in East Los Angeles Park. In 1912, the Griffith Park Zoo opened only a
few miles from where the modern Los Angeles Zoo is today. In 1915, �Colonel� William Selig opened
the Selig Zoo, a combination movie studio and zoo in Lincoln Park.

During the 1990s, the Los Angeles Zoo fell into sufficient disrepair that permitted wild coyotes to enter the zoo
through poorly maintained perimeter fences to prey on and disturb resident animals, allowed a gorilla to escape,
and prairie dogs to drown. This situation led to the zoo being threatened with losing its accreditation. In 1995,
the City Council appointed Manuel Mollinedo to take charge of the zoo. He worked for more than 400 exhibit
and facility improvements and won support for the Zoo at City Hall. Within a year, the zoo's situation had turned
around so as to be win a five-year re-accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association.

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