For a couple of winters I and my wife had been looking at a proper time to visit Living Desert zoo and gardens, which as locals know is on Portola Avenue, Palm Desert. This visit finally realized as our friend had an annual pass for two plus some guests, so the three of us went there in January 2017. The animals of the zoo consist mostly from wild animals from local deserts and some African animals, with some of Madagaskar’s rare ones. There is also a wild animal hospital and several spots displaying different desert plants. And of course for kids and kid-minded there is a traditional merry-go-round. All this takes quite a lot of space, which you can cover walking about two miles – or sitting in a small train where you can also enjoy a narrative about different subjects.
Almost immediately after the entry there is a huge model railroad Network with buildings, trains and people from different eras of Coachella Valley. Each station displays a specific timeframe with typically dressed people, cars and building. You see the old type steam locomotives tuffing and more modern diesel locomotives just rushing away in different landscapes. This would be a great sight, even without any animals!
We went first to see the Africa section where top viewings are three adult cheetahs and several giraffes. The cheetahs have a scheduled daily running show, where all of theme run just a few yards away from specators. This is a rare sight as cheetahs in the wild avoid humans and I for example have never seen this on my trips to several national parks in Tanzania, Africa. Giraffes live quite close and you can also feed them by hand from a platform – take notice of their long dark red tongues! Even small kids have also a possibility to ride a giraffe for a small sum. Some of the other animals include zebras, mongeese and deer.
The African section also includes the zoo’s alternating display which this time was about butterflies. To establish this dispaly about 300 butterfly pupas where brought into the display and developed just before the opening to adult butterflies which live about two weeks. There where beautiful, large butterflies flying inside the display ‘tent’, some landing on childrens’ hands or cloths. I took some shots, some of theme below as examples. As of this writing, the display is now over – but there are some other annual events.
The local desert section includes the endangered big horn sheep on their own Bighorn Mountain – you might spot these animals around Coachella Valley no hiking trails and sometimes also on golf courses. Other desert animals include cougars (mountain lions) which you may sometimes also face on the mountains and coyotes which tend to come at nighttime into the valley. These sections include also the merry-go-round. We also visited the great wild animal hospital – the only one in Coachella Valley. On the morning ouf our visit they had tended at least an eagle and all zoo’s somewhat difficult births also happen inside this hospital.
Below some shots from Living Desert zoo and gardens. If you click the shots you may scroll them in a window and see the names of animals etc.
As a sidestep: I got an email from Winston Grey, who said this article had inspired him to add Living Desert Zoo and Gardens into his guide of “55 Stunning Botanical Gardens to See Before You Die.” Have a look at: https://www.sproutabl.com/gardening/botanical-gardens/