Los Angeles Zoo, Griffith Park

As part of my ongoing series Animals in Captivity I try to make it to as many zoos as I can.  Whenever I head to a new city the zoo is one of the first places I would like to go.  I go to the zoo all the time in New York, as a member of the Central Park Zoo I try to stop by at least once a month.  However I had not been to the Los Angeles Zoo in 4 years- since the day I got my D2X as a graduation present from high school.  I’m back in Los Angeles this week and thought I would head over to check it out. 

It’s just as fun as I remembered and I highly recommend it for a fun excursion in LA, you can make a day out of it and go on a hike in Griffith Park and see some animals in the wild like coyotes and hawks.  As always some of my tips and tricks:

• Wear bug repellent it gets buggy!
• Go early in the morning the sun is best for taking pictures and the animals will be active and hungry.
• Even though the zoo closes at 5pm all the large animals go in to their enclosures for the night at 4pm so you’ll want to plan to leave around 4 as there is nothing left to see.
• Wear comfortable shoes and bring a jacket!  There is a lot of walking to be done and it gets cold later in the day during winter!
• Ask the zoo keepers questions, they are there to help and know a ton of information and can really enhance the zoo experience by giving you a little education about the animals.
• Check the website ahead of time for any special events like seasonal extravaganzas for Christmas and for feeding times for the animals.