The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens First Visit to the Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (Palm Springs, CA) - 12/09/2022

[Zoo Birding]

Hello ZooChat:

I just noticed that @Coelacanth18 did a species list back in April of this year. I wanted to give my list of species seen during my visit as part of my birthday week trip.

This was my first time visiting and I primarily came to see their bird collection but I also wanted to see for myself their new Australian exhibit. The docent informed me and my boyfriend that all their birds were pulled off exhibit due to the avian flu. I asked the docent how we should experience the zoo.

This species list will go in the order of how I walked around the zoo. If the species is bold with [!!!], means I didn't expect to see this species and/or that the signage was outdated; if you see bold and red, means I didn't get to see the species (any special notations will have *** and my notes).

Despite the low number of bird species I saw, I was rather impressed with this zoo. I especially loved the cliff face portion of their Australian section.

I'm hoping when this wave of the avian flu passes, I can fully see for myself their resident large birds on exhibits and get some good shots of them.

 

[Zoo Birding]

African Safari

Towards the Entrance

• Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo ssp.)
• Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula ssp.)

Tunnel Leading Into the Rhino Savanna Section

• Naked mole-rat (Heterocephalus glaber)

Rhino Savanna

• Eastern black rhinoceros (Diceros bicornis michaeli)
• Helmeted guineafowl (Numida meleagris ssp.) ***
• Great white pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus) ***
• Pink-backed pelican (Pelecanus rufescens) ***
• Cattle egret (Western?) (Bubulcus ibis ibis?) ***
• Springbok (Antidorcas marsupialis ssp.) ***
• Waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus ssp.)

*** The helmeted guineafowl, pelicans, and cattle egrets were off-exhibit due to the avian flu. The springbok did not have signage present.

Giraffe Conservation & Care Center and Giraffe Feeding Station

• Reticulated giraffe (Giraffa reticulata)
• Greater kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros ssp.)
• Common ostrich (?) (Struthio camelus ssp.?) ***
• Grey crowned-crane (East African) (Balearica regulorum gibbericeps) ***

*** The ostrich and the East African grey crowned-crane were off exhibit due to the avian flu. I didn't know they had ostriches until I saw @Coelacanth18 notes.

Between the Giraffe Conservation & Care Center and Giraffe Feeding Station and Village WaTuTu

• Cape porcupine (Hystrix africaeaustralis)
• Common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus ssp.)

Village WaTuTu ***

• Striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena)
• Dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius)
• Addax (Addax nasomaculatus)
• African spurred {Sulcata} tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)

*** Did see a keeper talk where they were displaying reptiles. Couldn't get an ID on the two reptiles; one was a snake the other a lizard.

Village WaTuTu Aviary

• Racket-tailed roller (Coracias spatulatus) [!!!]
• White-headed buffalo-weaver (Black-mantled) (Dinemellia dinemelli boehmi) [!!!]
• Taveta golden-weaver (Ploceus castaneiceps) [!!!]

Found After Village WaTuTu

• Cheetah (Southeast African) (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus)
• Grévy's zebra (Equus grevyi)
• Marabou stork (Leptoptilos crumenifer) ***
• Cape rock hyrax (Procavia capensis capensis)
• Bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis)
• Leopard tortoise (Stigmochelys pardalis)
• Slender-horned {Rhim} gazelle (Gazella leptoceros)
• Yellow-billed stork (Mycteria ibis) ***
• Eurasian black {Cinereous} vulture (Aegypius monachus) ***
• Addra gazelle (Rufous-necked) (Nanger dama ruficollis)
• African spurred {Sulcata} tortoise (Centrochelys sulcata)
• Kori bustard (Ardeotis kori ssp.) ***
• African wild {African painted} dog (Lycaon pictus ssp.)
• Black-footed cat (Felis nigripes)
• Meerkat (Suricata suricatta ssp.)
• Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx)
• Speke's gazelle (Gazella spekei)
• Abyssinian ground-hornbill (Bucorvus abyssinicus) ***

African Aviary #1

• Spotted {Cape} thick-knee (Burhinus capensis ssp.) [!!!]
• Green woodhoopoe (Phoeniculus purpureus ssp.) [!!!]
• Von der Decken's hornbill (Tockus deckeni) [!!!]

African Aviary #2

• Spur-winged lapwing (Vanellus spinosus) [!!!]
• Hadada ibis (Northern) (Bostrychia hagedash brevirostris) [!!!]

African Aviary #3

• Northern bald {Waldrapp} ibis (Geronticus eremita) [!!!]

*** The ostrich and all large, pinioned birds are pulled off exhibit due to the avian flu. The bat-eared fox had a sign saying it was off-exhibit and I did not see the African painted dogs or the black-footed cat in their enclosures during this visit.

 

[Zoo Birding]

Wild Americas ***

Found Throughout this Sector

• Desert bighorn sheep (Ovis canadensis nelsoni)
• Peninsular {Baja Californian} pronghorn (Antilocapra americana peninsularis)
• White-nosed coati (Nasua narica ssp.)
• Coyote (Canis latrans ssp.)
• Jaguar (Panthera onca)
• Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)

Sonoran Aviary
Sonoran Aviary #1

• American kestrel [labeled as just "Kestrel"] (Falco sparverius ssp.) [!!!]

Sonoran Aviary #2

• Great horned owl (Bubo virginianus ssp.) [!!!]

Sonoran Aviary #3

• Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) [!!!]
• Hooded oriole (Icterus cucullatus ssp.) [!!!]

Sonoran Aviary #4

• Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) [!!!]

Sonoran Aviary #5

• Western screech-owl [labeled as just "Screech-owl"] (Megascops kennicottii ssp.) [!!!]

"Sonoran" Aviary #6

• Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae ssp.) [!!!]

Sonoran Aviary #7

• Burrowing owl (Western) (Athene cunicularia hypugaea) [!!!]

Palm Oasis Aviary
(During my visit, this aviary was undergoing renovation. Did take a picture of the signage of the usual inhabitants - Greater roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus), western (?) turkey vulture (Cathartes aura aura), American barn owl (Tyto alba pratincola), and Burrowing owl (Western) (Athene cunicularia hypugaea))

Eagle Canyon
Outside the Exhibit Building (During my visit, the eagle aviaries were heavily tarped but I was still able to see them)

• Golden eagle (American) (Aquila chrysaetos canadensis) [!!!]
• Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus ssp.) [!!!]

Inside the Exhibit Building

• Western lyre snake (Trimorphodon biscutatus)
• American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)
• Western black widow (Latrodectus hesperus)
  
• Giant hairy scorpion (Hadrurus arizonensis)
  
• Desert tarantula (Genus Aphonopelma)
  
• Red-spotted toad (Anaxyrus punctatus)
• Pinacate Beetle (Genus Eleodes)
• Mexican {Northern or Colombian red-tailed} boa (Boa imperator)
• Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
  
• [Pacific] Gopher snake (Pituophis catenifer ssp.)
• Common chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater)
• [Desert] Rosy boa (Lichanura trivirgata)
• Sonoran Desert {Colorado Rivier} toad (Incilius alvarius)

Eagle Canyon Loop ***

• Island fox (Urocyon littoralis)
• North American cougar (Puma concolor couguar)
• Caracal (Caracal caracal)
• Bobcat (Lynx rufus ssp.)
• Kit fox (Vulpes macrotis)
• Ringtail (Bassariscus astutus ssp.)
• American badger (Taxidea taxus ssp.)
• Chacoan peccary (Catagonus wagneri)
• Mexican wolf (Canis lupus baileyi)

*** There was an enclosure that was unoccupied during my visit.

Eagle Canyon Walkthrough Aviary (Closed due to the avian flu but I will jot down the species I was able to see from the outside)

• Fulvous whistling-duck (Dendrocygna bicolor)
• Canvasback (Aythya valisineria)
• Great blue heron (Ardea herodias ssp.)
• Great egret (American) (Ardea alba egretta)
• Black-crowned night-heron (American) (Nycticorax nycticorax hoactli)
• Western (?) turkey vulture (Cathartes aura aura?)

Tennity Wildlife Hospital and Conservation Center

• Argentine black and white tegu (Salvator merianae)
• Rhinoceros iguana (Cyclura cornuta cornuta)
• Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)

 

[Zoo Birding]

Australian Adventures

Outside the Main Exhibit

• Common emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae novaehollandiae)

Australian Adventures Main Exhibit
Aviary #1

• Laughing kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae ssp.) [!!!]

Aviary #2

• Tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides ssp.)

Free Roaming

• Budgerigars (Melopsittacus undulatus)
• Bennett's wallaby (Notamacropus rufogriseus rufogriseus)

Cliffside Exhibit

• Yellow-footed rock-wallaby (Petrogale xanthopus ssp.)

Exhibit #1

• Brush-tailed bettong {Woylie} (Bettongia penicillata)

Exhibit #2

• Short-beaked echidna (Tachyglossus aculeatus ssp.)

Australian Reptiles Enclosures (In Order of Appearance)

• Olive python (Liasis olivaceus ssp.)
• [Common] Blue-tongued skink (Tiliqua scincoides ssp.)
• [Central] Bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

 

[Zoo Birding]

North American Reptile House (In Order of Appearance)

• Yellow-backed spiny lizard (Sceloporus uniformis)
• Desert spiny lizard (Sceloporus magister)
• Speckled rattlesnake (Crotalus mitchellii ssp.)
• Red diamond rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber)
• Great Basin collared lizard (Crotaphytus bicinctores)
• Long-nosed leopard lizard (Gambelia wislizenii)
• Common chuckwalla (Sauromalus ater)
• Bull snake (Pituophis catenifer sayi)
• Southern Pacific rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus helleri)
• Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum)
• Desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii)
• Panamint rattlesnake (Crotalus stephensi)
• Western diamondback rattlesnake (Crotalus atrox)

 

[Zoo Birding]

THIS CONCLUDES THIS UPDATED SPECIES ROSTER.

 

[SwampDonkey]

How did you like the zoo, where would it rate compared to some other zoo's you may have been to recently?

 

[Zoo Birding]

How did you like the zoo, where would it rate compared to some other zoo's you may have been to recently?

Overall a nice zoo that does their best to stick to the them. Definitely half zoo and half garden. There were a couple of sections, like their sage garden, that was nice and aromatic. I enjoyed that the public can view any procedures going on in the vet building; it really emphasizes transparency in the care they give to their animals.

I enjoyed their Rhino Savanna and it was nice to see black rhinos displayed with other hoofstock.

I know their Australian Adventures is one of their newer attractions but I really hope they can expand on Australia since nearly 80% of the continent is desert.

I marveled at how beautifully constructed and designed their yellow-footed rock-wallaby exhibit looked.

My one critic is small and pedantic - placing their caracal in a largely North American area was out of place and weird.

I hope that the avian flu will not be as serious next year as it was this year because I would've loved to gone through their walkthrough aviaries.

 

[SwampDonkey]

Overall a nice zoo that does their best to stick to the them. Definitely half zoo and half garden. There were a couple of sections, like their sage garden, that was nice and aromatic. I enjoyed that the public can view any procedures going on in the vet building; it really emphasizes transparency in the care they give to their animals.

I enjoyed their Rhino Savanna and it was nice to see black rhinos displayed with other hoofstock.

I know their Australian Adventures is one of their newer attractions but I really hope they can expand on Australia since nearly 80% of the continent is desert.

I marveled at how beautifully constructed and designed their yellow-footed rock-wallaby exhibit looked.

My one critic is small and pedantic - placing their caracal in a largely North American area was out of place and weird.

I hope that the avian flu will not be as serious next year as it was this year because I would've loved to gone through their walkthrough aviaries.

Thanks! Palm Springs is one of those places that I want to get too at some point, so it's nice to read other zoo fans opinions.

 

[junglejim]

Overall a nice zoo that does their best to stick to the them. Definitely half zoo and half garden. There were a couple of sections, like their sage garden, that was nice and aromatic. I enjoyed that the public can view any procedures going on in the vet building; it really emphasizes transparency in the care they give to their animals.

I enjoyed their Rhino Savanna and it was nice to see black rhinos displayed with other hoofstock.

I know their Australian Adventures is one of their newer attractions but I really hope they can expand on Australia since nearly 80% of the continent is desert.

I marveled at how beautifully constructed and designed their yellow-footed rock-wallaby exhibit looked.

My one critic is small and pedantic - placing their caracal in a largely North American area was out of place and weird.

I hope that the avian flu will not be as serious next year as it was this year because I would've loved to gone through their walkthrough aviaries.

I was there Nov. 2022. The giraffe enclosure was spectacular with view of giraffes on ridge an mountain back drop. Hands down felt like one on African safari! Mixed rhino exhibit, terrific nice and large good to see mix on species. Great collection of ungulates. Reminding me back in the day San Diego Zoo. Seeing bighorn sheep climbing the rocks against clear blue sky was pretty slick. The entire zoo was like botanical garden very lovely. They had warthogs not one or two but like 7 large ones! If you want to visit go in off season when hours are extended. Cause during the summertime hours are limited, probably cause of summer heat.

 

[DavidBrown]

My one critic is small and pedantic - placing their caracal in a largely North American area was out of place and weird.

The original theme of the Eagle Canyon complex contrasted North American and African desert animals. There was an exhibit showing the convergence of jerboa and kangaroo rats and there were naked mole rats and spiny mice in the inside exhibit area. Over time that theme has faded away (the exhibit area was built in the 1990s). The caracal is the last remnant of it.

 

[wild boar]

• Banded mongoose (Mungos mungo ssp.)

• Dwarf mongoose (Helogale parvula ssp.)

Are the two mongoose species in separate enclosures?

Also, what is meant by "ssp."? I am fairly certain that it is an abbreviation for "subspecies" but fail to see why anyone would write "Mungos mungo subspecies."

 

[Zoo Birding]

Are the two mongoose species in separate enclosures?

Also, what is meant by "ssp."? I am fairly certain that it is an abbreviation for "subspecies" but fail to see why anyone would write "Mungos mungo subspecies."

Yes, there are two separate enclosures for both species.

And you are correct that when I use "ssp.", it means "subspecies". I, personally, write it down because certain species and zoos will list the subspecies that that animal lists. For example, most zoos will list "East African crowned cranes" and not list the subspecies name. To get pedantic in my example, they are grey crowned-cranes (Balearica regulorum ssp.) that have two subspecies - the "common" East African subspecies (B. r. gibbericeps) and the rarer (regarding North American collections) South African subspecies (B. r. regulorum).

Something I'll continue to criticize American zoos is either the apathy or negligence of not knowing which subspecies they have and to keep them pure.

When I don't know the subspecies is, I will put down "ssp."

 

[wild boar]

Something I'll continue to criticize American zoos is either the apathy or negligence of not knowing which subspecies they have and to keep them pure.

I couldn't agree more. Zoo management, knowing what subspecies an animal is, attempting to breed the animal with a different subspecies always infuriates me. Two examples that I am very familiar with are Asian elephant Indian-Sri Lankan hybrids and sloth bear Indian-Sri Lankan hybrids, and they continue to breed in North American zoo populations.

 

[15399]

sloth bear Indian-Sri Lankan hybrids, and they continue to breed in North American zoo populations.

Sometimes, the only options you have are to interbreed subspecies or phase out the species, from a genetic diversity perspective in many cases there aren't enough founders from a single subspecies to maintain a healthy population. Furthermore, with how rare imports are nowadays (for good reason), it's not like you're going to go and get a whole new population of founders just because the population present in the country is of hybrid subspecies. I get the frustration, and when there's the option of a purebred subspecies I would want zoos to choose that option (e.g. amur/sumatran/malayan tigers over generics), but it's unrealistic to expect every animal in zoos to be of purebred subspecies, nor is it necessary when subspecies are extremely similar, provided the animals are used for education/exhibit purposes and not re-introduction.

The science around subspecies is also far from set in stone, and even today the taxonomy is constantly changing. When splits occur, do you expect zoos to phase out a species that was purebred, but now isn't because of changing science? I'd certainly rather see animals that are *technically* hybrids than have rare animals phased out due to changing taxonomy (which oftentimes isn't even agreed upon by all scientists).

 

[Aardwolf]

Different zoos take the subspecies concept seriously to differing degrees.

When I was taking the studbook keeper class years ago, we were talking about taxonomy. Our instructor, a population biologist from Minnesota Zoo, showed us a photo of a can of coke, asked us what it was. "Coke?" "No, it's full name." "Coca Cola." "Good!"

The next slide was a picture of him holding a can of coke, only this time he was standing at the entrance to the San Diego Zoo. "What about now?"

"It's still Coca Cola?"

"No - it's now Coca cola cola - as soon as it goes to the San Diego Zoo, it's required to have a trinomial."

 

[wild boar]

Sometimes, the only options you have are to interbreed subspecies or phase out the species, from a genetic diversity perspective in many cases there aren't enough founders from a single subspecies to maintain a healthy population. Furthermore, with how rare imports are nowadays (for good reason), it's not like you're going to go and get a whole new population of founders just because the population present in the country is of hybrid subspecies. I get the frustration, and when there's the option of a purebred subspecies I would want zoos to choose that option (e.g. amur/sumatran/malayan tigers over generics), but it's unrealistic to expect every animal in zoos to be of purebred subspecies, nor is it necessary when subspecies are extremely similar, provided the animals are used for education/exhibit purposes and not re-introduction.

The science around subspecies is also far from set in stone, and even today the taxonomy is constantly changing. When splits occur, do you expect zoos to phase out a species that was purebred, but now isn't because of changing science? I'd certainly rather see animals that are *technically* hybrids than have rare animals phased out due to changing taxonomy (which oftentimes isn't even agreed upon by all scientists).

This will never be a popular opinion, but either the hybrid animals in a population should be phased-out and new individuals that are pure imported or the species should be phased-out all together. Of course, this will never be possible, but its what I would prefer. There are a few very rare circumstances when I think interbreeding between subspecies should occur and that is only when the species itself will likely not survive anywhere without hybridization. Many experts from Indonesia have suggested bringing all of the Sumatran rhinoceroses together for breeding, which, while I'm not an expert, doesn't seem like a bad idea.

In the case of sloth bears, I am not sure if there are any individuals left that aren't interbred (there might be, I just don't know) but if there are, maintaining them and supplementing the breeding efforts with animals from Europe could be possible. I am not entirely sure how the Zootierliste website works but if it lists a species at a facility based on genetic testing and genealogy records and not signage then there are pure Indian sloth bears in Europe that could be brought over. There have been imports of bears, either Andean bears or sloth bears, recently. If that is too burdensome, then possibly working with sun bears (I know there has been poor breeding success in North America but renewed and modified efforts could amend the problem, if the project was deemed an appropriate) or all of the black bears and brown bears that would be euthanized as is currently would both be better decisions in my opinion.

Because taxonomic splits are so heavily debated, only when it is near-universally accepted does it really matter to me. Its not like these changes occur everyday, either. Some cases like that of the defassa waterbuck and gray wolf I disregard because they can result in 10-15+ subspecies just because of how difficult it would be to manage them all separately.

I also don't know how pure the Masai giraffe population is. As far as I know, there may be one or two animals bred into the population a long time ago that we aren't aware of. The same goes for red pandas, black rhinoceroses, tigers, and others. For this reason and debated taxonomy, minimal crossing can't be avoided. However, there are many cases, some much more obvious than others, that have no good explanation from the way I see it, like the sloth bears. One that I have a hard time believing anyone could convincingly defend is when the Oregon Zoo was trying to breed their Bornean elephant with mainland elephants. She was the only Bornean elephant in North America and not breeding her, or the attempts not being successful, was/has almost no impact on the Asian elephant population in North America.

 

[lintworm]

This will never be a popular opinion, but either the hybrid animals in a population should be phased-out and new individuals that are pure imported or the species should be phased-out all together. Of course, this will never be possible, but its what I would prefer. There are a few very rare circumstances when I think interbreeding between subspecies should occur and that is only when the species itself will likely not survive anywhere without hybridization. Many experts from Indonesia have suggested bringing all of the Sumatran rhinoceroses together for breeding, which, while I'm not an expert, doesn't seem like a bad idea.

In the case of sloth bears, I am not sure if there are any individuals left that aren't interbred (there might be, I just don't know) but if there are, maintaining them and supplementing the breeding efforts with animals from Europe could be possible. I am not entirely sure how the Zootierliste website works but if it lists a species at a facility based on genetic testing and genealogy records and not signage then there are pure Indian sloth bears in Europe that could be brought over. There have been imports of bears, either Andean bears or sloth bears, recently. If that is too burdensome, then possibly working with sun bears (I know there has been poor breeding success in North America but renewed and modified efforts could amend the problem, if the project was deemed an appropriate) or all of the black bears and brown bears that would be euthanized as is currently would both be better decisions in my opinion.

Because taxonomic splits are so heavily debated, only when it is near-universally accepted does it really matter to me. Its not like these changes occur everyday, either. Some cases like that of the defassa waterbuck and gray wolf I disregard because they can result in 10-15+ subspecies just because of how difficult it would be to manage them all separately.

I also don't know how pure the Masai giraffe population is. As far as I know, there may be one or two animals bred into the population a long time ago that we aren't aware of. The same goes for red pandas, black rhinoceroses, tigers, and others. For this reason and debated taxonomy, minimal crossing can't be avoided. However, there are many cases, some much more obvious than others, that have no good explanation from the way I see it, like the sloth bears. One that I have a hard time believing anyone could convincingly defend is when the Oregon Zoo was trying to breed their Bornean elephant with mainland elephants. She was the only Bornean elephant in North America and not breeding her, or the attempts not being successful, was/has almost no impact on the Asian elephant population in North America.

Why does it matter in most cases whether a population is of a pure subspecies. When in most cases they are nothing more than show animals which will never be reintroduced to the wild anyway. For Sumatran vs. Siberian tigers it woud make sense, but the vast majority of zoo populations is to small to manage by subspecies. Importing new animals is for many species impossible or at least very hard, so your proposal would lead to a clear reduction in species diversity. It is nice to be idealistic, but you have to be practical in the real world.

 

[wild boar]

I said basically exactly that already.

Of course, this will never be possible, but its what I would wish.

 

[lintworm]

I said basically exactly that already.

It might be what you meant, but it is not what you said. You went on describing a very controversial opinion, that would be impossible to work out, and then saying that you know it wouldn't work. I merely tried to state why you shouldn't even wish for it in my opinion.