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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
Eurasian Black Vulture
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
Immersion Gardens with winding paths
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
Primitive Garden
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
Small mammal/reptile building
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
Tennity Wildlife Hospital and Conservation Centre
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Perry and Cindy Mack
Living Desert Zoo and Garden - CA
G-scale model train covers .75 acre with 1000 m track
Story & photos by Perry and Cindy Mack
I paused and froze as the 200 kg neck and head swiveled to get a good look at me. But I was not food, nor did I have food, so she turned back to the hand that did.
I’m not a huge fan of zoos, at least not the typically Victorian era style zoos where animals are caged in small concrete and steel enclosures. The large animals especially seem to pace, or languish in what appears to be a depression. But I’m not at that kind of Zoo.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens started in 1970 as a way to preserve the local desert ecosystem from the ravages of resort development – that’s you and I escaping the cold. They promptly hired a young woman named Karen Sausman, whose energy, training and ambition helped transform the Gardens into what it is today – a garden, a zoo, a nature trail system, an educational centre, and a veterinary hospital – all of which you can experience during your visit.
In several long paragraphs you could name every type of animal cared for here, but rather than remove the surprises that await around every turn of the paths, know that it has expanded from a protection of local flora, to an often interactive display of large and small wildlife from around the world, in large true-to-their-origins enclosures. Which is where I met the giraffe.
But first, the gardens. If I had twenty thumbs, instead of fingers and toes, none of them would have even a hint of green. For decades I tried to combat this malady but I am, and will forever be, organically-challenged. I won the award for worst-excuse-for-a-lawn three decades in row in my neighbourhood, despite thousands of dollars in fertilizer, and thousands more in lawn equipment. No indoor plant has survived more than a few weeks, no matter how ‘tough and resilient’ the label said it was. As I walk through a garden store, the trees, shrubs and flowers shiver and bend away from me, the Grim Reaper of plant life. Which is why I have such an appreciation for gardens.
Unlike typical gardens, whose focus is to create wonderfully crafted presentations of flowers and landscaping, many here are ‘immersion’ gardens, created with purpose of making you feel as though you’ve walked into another place on the planet. Among the geographic gardens are the Mohave, Upper Colorado (California at 450-900 m), Yuman (southwestern Arizona), Vizcaino (central Baja California, Mexico), Foothills of Sonora and Chihuahuan (Big Bend area of western Texas).
In addition to these gardens, are over 40 other gardens, including the taxonomic gardens where related plants are gathered, like the Agave Garden, Palms of the World Garden and the Sonoran Arboretum. Educational gardens, like the Scent Garden, Native Bee Garden, Hummingbird Garden and Primitive Garden, show the relationship of the plants to birds, animals, evolution, and us. And there are striking display gardens, but in settings and presentations fresh and unique to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens.
The Tennity Wildlife Hospital and Conservation Center was designed with visitors in mind. You can go on a docent led tour, see medical procedures and exams (if there are any going on), entertain and educate yourself with the interactive exhibits, and get up close and personal with the animal bits like snakeskin, antlers, horns and more. All of which will give you a greater appreciation of what it takes to care for the diverse wildlife here.
The Living Desert also has a wildlife rehabilitation program to provide care for injured or orphaned wildlife with the goal of eventually releasing them back into the wild. Their website is an excellent resource for information in case you come across what you may think is an injured or abandoned animal. www.livingdesert.org/animals/wildlife-rehabilitation/
Wildlife safari’s to Australia or Africa are currently beyond my budgetary restrictions, which is why places like this attract me, and other 55-year-old kids like me, which is why I’m staring at the giraffe a metre away. It doesn’t matter how many episodes of National Geographic I watch, or how large my television is (65” – just saying), or how good the sound system is to go with it (Sony soundbar and subwoofer – yes I’m a geek), it will never compare to breathing the same air, absorbing the sounds and scents of large wildlife – outdoors.
Bring some binoculars when go. There are areas for up-close interactions (like the giraffe) but many of the enclosures are large, and binoculars help to watch them during their ‘everyday’ behavior.
If you plan days (weeks) ahead, you can book an animal encounter and safari tour, behind the scenes tour, and more. You can get really involved and adopt an animal, or if you’re wintering in the vicinity you can volunteer.
The Starry Safaris are designed for families but singles and couples are welcomed. Grab your backpack (with extra clothes and toiletries) and sleeping bag and spend the night at the zoo in one of their four person tents. Your Starry Safari includes up-close animal presentations, a nighttime guided walk through the park, and then a campfire while you enjoy s’mores that you roast yourself.
There’s a continental breakfast and a leisurely, guided walk in the morning before you head home or stick around for day as your next day admission is included in the package.
Do plan to make it a whole day affair. Stop to feed the giraffes, let the kids ride the camels. For $6 for the day (less or free for kids), there’s a shuttle every 15 minutes that makes 11 convenient stops to get you around the park, or you can walk.
They are open 9-5 everyday from Oct 1 to May 31. General admission is $20, $18 for seniors (62+), $10 kids 3-12 and free for under three. Consider becoming an annual member, it pays if you go more than five times (sometimes less).
Your visit aids the Zoos’ conservation efforts and this year is Save the Cheetah #savethecheetah. Not only will you have fun, but you will be entertainingly informed – so go, and feed the giraffe.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, 47900 Portola Ave., Palm Desert, CA (760) 346-5694