Griffith Park

Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Garden are in Griffith Park. We spent most of Wednesday afternoon at the zoo  before heading to the Griffith Observatory and Planetarium. The zoo does not have as much plant life as we saw in the San Diego Zoo, but what was there made for an enjoyable walk through the zoo. The plant pictured here is a cycad, a prehistoric plant which can live under very harsh conditions. It is like a living fossil. Shortly after we entered the zoo we were greeted by these meerkats sunning themselves. Too cute for words!

 

The zoo is pretty old and parts of it are currently under reconstruction. Some cages were empty, a staff member informed us that the city just doesn't have the funds to keep everything going. Something I noticed about this zoo, in comparing it to other zoos we have seen, is that the various species are placed together according to the geographical area they came from. Consequently a cage of birds may be placed next to a cage of large cats. Before I leave the subject of this zoo, I want to show a picture of a markhor. It is the largest member of the goat family from Afghanistan. Its corkscrew-like horns caught our attention. Those horns can get up to 64 inches on the male.

The other  picture I have here is a view of Los Angeles from the conservatory. Any tour of this city should include a visit to the Griffith Conservatory.