Palm Springs: A Visit to the Zoo

This giraffe gets free food from humans

Yesterday we visited The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens in Palm Springs and we enjoyed our time there, with few people around post-Thanksgiving and on a weekday.

It's quite a large zoo, with quite a lot to see and we didn't get to visit every section. However, the zoo is very thoughtful when it comes to seniors, with electric scooters (think a chair on wheels with a joystick) for rent at US$25, lots of washrooms available, benches and even colourful wooden rocking chairs!

Bending down for a drink of water

The staff are very friendly. If you look remotely puzzled they will try to anticipate what you need.

On the website it mentioned a 30-minute shuttle tour that shows the behind-the scenes of how the over 600 animals are looked after. When I inquired about this at the ticket counter, they said it was not available anymore... an annoying thing to hear when we have seniors who get tired easily and would have appreciated the ride...

As a result there was only so much we could cover on foot. We covered about half the park, the east side and perhaps the highlight was observing the giraffes at feeding time, which is from 8am to 3pm. Only those who have paid US$8 can go into a sectioned off area to get up close with the giraffes, who know humans are holding leaves for them to eat.

One younger giraffe came by and stuck out its tongue where people placed leaves on it and then it pulled them back into its mouth and munched on the leaves. Others, probably jaded or bored, grazed in the area or in the distance -- they weren't that keen to be near people.

There was also a pond where one giraffe took some sips of water. It had to spread its legs very wide before it could gingerly bend down and drink.

A dromedary camel walking into the enclosure

We saw ostriches, gazelles, sadly one shy rhino hiding behind a tree as he ate dry grass, and one zebra, but leopards were a no show. 

Just as I arrived, the zoo keeper had finished cleaning the area for the dromedary camels and she called to them to come out and feed. They only have one hump.

The mountain goats were fun, perched on a rocky hill. The zoo keepers had strategically placed dry grass up front so the goats stood there munching away for visitors to take pictures. 

In the Australia section, we walked into a space that had double doors -- the first set of doors had to close before the second set opened, because the wallabies were not caged and there was the possibility they could jump out.

But again they seemed leery of humans and we respected their space, staying on the cement path, while they huddled together, again eating. They were very much smaller than kangaroos, but still very cute. There was a kookaburra in a cage. When a man took out his camera, the bird seemed to puff up his chest and give his best pose, like a model.

Can you spot the mountain goats on the hill?

We were impressed by the model train exhibit -- several different tracks with trains running in different directions, complete with stores and homes. There were even billboards advertising for people to adopt a train, a clever fundraising drive. 

Many of the zoo enclosures were sponsored by donors with their names prominently displayed. Wonder if that means just the space, or paying for the upkeep of the animals too.

By this time we'd spent about two hours in the zoo. A nice leisurely walk around the zoo with some shaded areas; but almost every animal we saw was either eating or sleeping... makes you wonder how much longer zoos are relevant. 

However, The Living Desert focuses more on animals from Africa and Australia as the climates are somewhat similar, as well as those from North America.

Wallabies hanging out far away from humans

The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens

47900 Portola Avenue

Palm Desert

760 346 5694