Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
Living Desert Zoo and Gardens | |
---|---|
33°41′45″N 116°22′13″W / 33.69583°N 116.37028°W | |
Date opened | March 9, 1970[1] |
Location | Palm Desert, California, United States |
Land area | 1,800 acres (730 ha) (1,720 acres (700 ha) left in natural state)[1] |
No. of animals | 500 |
No. of species | 150[2] |
Annual visitors | 500,000 |
Memberships | AZA,[3] WAZA[4] |
Major exhibits | Wilds of North America, African Safari, Australian Adventures |
Website | www |
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, formerly the Living Desert Museum, is a non-profit zoo and desert botanical garden located in Palm Desert, Riverside County, California, United States. The Living Desert is home to over 500 animals representing over 150 species and welcomes over 500,000 visitors annually. Situated in the Sonoran Desert of the Coachella Valley and Santa Rosa Mountains foothills near Palm Springs, California, The Living Desert is set on 1,200 acres, with 80 developed as zoo and gardens.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens has been a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) since 1983,[1] and is a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). It has participated in species reintroduction programs including the peninsular bighorn sheep to the local mountains and returning Arabian oryx to Oman.[1]
History
The gardens of the
In 2023, the Animal Care Department voted to unionize.[6]
Goals and Mission
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens' mission is desert conservation through preservation, education, and appreciation. It is a zoo and botanic garden combination dedicated solely to the deserts of the world. The programs provide environmental education, native wildlife rehabilitation, plant propagation, and habitat restoration, and breeding of African, Australian, and North America species, including the area's iconic desert bighorn sheep.
Animal habitats
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens is divided into regions, each housing animals from three continents.[7]
African Safari
Featured animals include:
- Abyssinian ground hornbill
- Arabian oryx (native to Middle East)
- African wild dog
- South African cheetah
- Fennec fox
- Grévy's zebra
- Giraffe
- Grey crowned crane
- Helmeted guineafowl
- Kori bustard
- Ostrich
- Greater kudu
- Addra gazelle
- Cuvier's gazelle
- Slender-horned gazelle
- Addax
- Dromedary camel
- Siberian Russia)
- Striped hyena
- Bat-eared fox
- Serval
- Cape porcupine
- Common warthog
- Leopard tortoise
- Eastern black rhinoceros
- Springbok
- Waterbuck
- Klipspringer
- Cape vulture
- Great white pelican
- Pink-backed pelican
- Banded mongoose
- Common dwarf mongoose
- Naked mole-rat
Wilds of North America
Featured animals include:
- Bald eagle
- Desert bighorn sheep
- American badger
- Bobcat
- Caracal (native to Africa and Asia)
- Channel Islands gray fox
- Kit fox
- Swift fox
- Ringtail
- Chacoan peccary
- Coyote
- Golden eagle
- Jaguar
- Mountain lion
- Mexican wolf
- Peninsular pronghorn
- White-nosed coati
- Common chuckwalla
- Desert tortoise
Australian Adventures
Australian Adventures is an immersive, walk-through habitat, where guests pass through an aviary featuring parakeets, reptiles and wallabies. Other animals include:
- Bennett's wallaby
- Emu
- Woylie (or brush-tailed bettong)
- Budgerigar
- Short-beaked echidna
- Blue-tongued skink
- Central bearded dragon
- Centralian carpet python
- Frill-necked lizard
- Olive python
- Laughing kookaburra
- Tawny frogmouth
- Yellow-footed rock-wallaby
Gardens and plant habitats
- The North American desert gardens include re-creations of a variety of desert plant community ecosystems:
- Mojave Desert – Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) habitat and Eastern Mojave Cima volcanic field habitat.
- Big Bend (New Mexico-Texas) and northern Mexican Plateau(México) habitats.
- Vizcaíno–Baja California desertshabitat gardens.
- .
- Specialized, focus gardens include:
- Agave Garden – more than 100 species of the México.[8]
- Aloe Garden – familyspecimens.
- East African Garden – large collection of native East African plants, shrubs and trees; one of the larger collections of African plants in North America.
- Euphorbia Garden – poisonous, varied and unique African and Indian plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, such as fire-sticks (Euphorbia tirucalli), crown-of-thorns (E. milii), and candelabra trees (E. ammak and E. ingens).
- Aviary Oasis – a replicated Coachella Valley native desert palm oasis, with endemic birds and California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera) surrounding the walk-in aviary.
- Barrel Cactus garden – barrel (Echinocactus) and fish-hook cactus (Ferocactus) specimens.
- Hummingbird Garden – nectar-rich perennial plants that attract pollinators and hummingbirds.
- Johnston Cactus Garden – various special cactus specimens on display.
- Madagascar Garden – mostly xeric plants, endemic to Madagascar, including “mockotillo” (Alluaudia procera) and the Madagascar spiny “palm” (Pachypodiums).
- Mallow Garden – small collection of desert mallows.
- McDonald Butterfly and Wildflower Garden – nectar (adults) and 'grazing' (larvae) plants that attract migrating butterflies, such as milkweeds (genus Asclepias) and butterfly-bush (Buddleja).
- Mexican Columnar Cactus Garden – tall, columnar and sculptural cactus specimens, such as Mexican fencepost (Lophocereus marginatus).
- Ocotillo Garden – nine of twelve known ocotillospecies.
- Opuntia Garden – various prickly pear (Opuntia) and cholla (Cylindropuntia) plants.
- Palm Garden – several hundred palm (Arecaceae) trees, representing over 50 species from around the world.
- Primitive Garden – plants dating from the Jurassic period, mainly cycads, Equisetum, and ferns.
- Sage Garden – Salvia species of melliferous flower and used by bees as honey forage.
- Sheep Food Garden – plants that are wild food sources for desert bighorn sheep.
- Smoke Tree Garden – local native desert washsetting.
- Sonoran Arboretum – trees from the greater Sonoran Desert region in a designed garden setting.
- Wortz Demonstration Garden – Southwest landscape design display garden.
- Yucca Garden – Yucca and Joshua tree species in a replicated native foliage garden.
- Agave Garden – more than 100 species of the
Other features
The Zoo and Gardens featured one of the world's largest
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens features nature and hiking trails accessible only to members and visitors of the Park.
Wildlife Wonders Show is seasonally offered and features free-flight birds, animal demonstrations, and encounters.
See also
- Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium
- List of botanical gardens in the United States
- Index: Flora of the California desert regions
Notes
- ^ a b c d "Our History". livingdesert.org. Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Living Desert Zoo & Gardens". desertusa.com. Desert USA. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "Zoos and Aquariums of the World". waza.org. WAZA. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ Reyes, Jesus (2021-11-13). "Grand opening of the Rhino Savanna at the Living Desert". KESQ. Retrieved 2022-10-18.
- ^ "National Labor Relations Board". nlrb.gov. nlrb. Archived from the original on 2023-02-18. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- ^ "Animals | The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens". livingdesert.org.
- ^ "The Living Desert Agave Collection". livingdesert.org. Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Archived from the original on 12 January 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2012.
- ^ "G-Scale Model Train". livingdesert.org. Living Desert Zoo and Gardens. Archived from the original on 24 April 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
- ^ "History Of G-Scale Trains – How This Scale Got Started And Why People Choose It". vintagesteam.com. Retrieved 17 March 2012.