My review of the zoo, with the rest of my trip report, can be seen here, where the text excerpts are pasted from.
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens - July 9th, 2024
“The Living Desert is an absolutely beautiful facility. Not sure what I was expecting, but all my expectations were surpassed. It’s a very manicured and well-designed park, probably to cater to the Palm Springs population and whatever high-class expectations they have
. There are two main portions: African Safari and Wild Americas, as well as a smaller third Australian Outback exhibit.
Upon entry to the park, you’re greeted with a view into their Rhino Savanna, and I was lucky enough to have one of their black rhinos feeding so close to the barrier in front of me. The exhibit is rather vast, and also exhibits herds of ungulates (including springbok!) and pelican flocks alongside the rhinos. Not sure that I’ve seen black rhinos in mixed exhibits besides when SDZSP used to have them, so that’s definitely a unique aspect of the place. The mongoose are also a joy to watch this early in the morning— it’s a treat to watch the animals wake up and explore their exhibits first thing in the morning. There’s also a pretty extensive naked mole rat tunnel system located under, well, a larger tunnel, which makes photography quite easy (I’ve never been able to take good mole rat pics).”
African Safari:
Banded Mongoose
Dwarf Mongoose
Naked Mole Rat
Great White Pelican
Pink-Backed Pelican
Waterbuck
Black Rhino
East African Crowned Crane
Springbok
“The giraffe, kudu, and ostrich yard is another vast panoramic exhibit, with a beautiful view into the mountains beyond. Since I was so early, I was able to watch a keeper do an early feeding with the giraffes and be in the presence of a huge kudu bull grazing a few feet away. Not far away was the highlight of the day for me— the striped hyena, which is probably a pretty major lifer for arguably all ZooChatters. Now, if only I’ll ever see a spotted hyena…”
Giraffe
Greater Kudu
Ostrich
Cape Porcupine
Warthog
Nubian Dwarf Goat
Amur Leopard
Striped Hyena
Dromedary Camel
Addax
Sulcata Tortoise
“The aviary across from the hyena exhibit displays some of your typical African weavers, but there’s also the incredibly gorgeous racquet-tailed roller, so don’t leave that aviary unnoticed if you ever visit.”
Racquet-Tailed Roller
Pin-Tailed Whydah
Red Bishop
White-Headed Buffalo Weaver
Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver
Spur-Winged Lapwing
Cordon-Bleu
St. Helene Waxbill
Cheetah
“After the larger savanna exhibits, the section switches focus to more arid ecosystems, with a series of desert ungulate yards— addax, dromedary, addra, oryx, etc. Those species are accompanied by a selection of (unfortunately) pinioned birds— yellow-billed storks, cinereous vultures, marabou stork, etc. After a quick dash by their smaller carnivore exhibits, I was on my way to the North American section of the zoo.”
Marabou Stork
Klipsringer
Grevy’s Zebra
Cape Rock Hyrax
Bat-Eared Fox
Leopard Tortoise
Yellow-Billed Stork
Eurasian Black Vulture
Addra Gazelle
Slender-Horned Gazelle
Sulcata Tortoise
Waldrapp Ibis
Hadada Ibis
Spur-Winged Lapwing
Von Der Decken’s Hornbill
Speke’s Gazelle
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Black-Footed Cat
Sand Cat
Fennec Fox
Arabian Oryx
Meerkat
“Wild Americas ranks up there as one of the favorite zoo complexes I’ve been to. One note though— it is hottt. I bought a water bottle solely for the purpose of cooling myself off throughout the day, which was a great decision. I started off in the North American reptile house, where I met their resident Great Basin collared lizard that loves to interact with visitors, according to one of the keepers.”
Wild Americas:
Bearded Dragon
Desert Spiny Lizard
Great Basin Collared Lizard
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Bullsnake (sayi spp.)
Gila Monster
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Panamint Rattlesnake
Speckled Rattlesnake
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
Rhinoceros Iguana
Argentine Tegu
Three-Banded Armadillo
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
“Continuing along Wild Americas, I was consistently pleased with the exhibits and sights. The walk from Australian Adventures to the main cluster of animal exhibits was quite long (and hot), but full of desert landscapes and flora (huge trees and cactus) I’d never see before. I also stopped by the desert pupfish pond, though it’s a little hard to see the fish with how small they are. Once I finally got to the main exhibit area, I was met with a bit of relief under the plentiful cool buildings and shaded paths. The highlight of this area was definitely the island fox, which a keeper so kindly called out from its slumber for me (for context, I didn’t ask her to call out or bother the animal at all, but I mentioned the fox was sleeping and she decided that she’d see if it would want to come out
). A close second would be their personable American badger, (Midas, I think was his name?) who loves to observe and interact with visitors.”
Killdeer
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
Turkey Vulture
Burrowing Owl
Barn Owl
Greater Roadrunner
Red-Tailed Hawk
Coyote
Desert Pupfish
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Desert Tarantula
Smithi Redknee Tarantula
American Cockroach
Black Widow Spider
Blue Death Feigning Beetle
Giant Vinegaroon
Red-Tailed Boa
Lyre Snake
Desert Tortoise
Common Chuckwalla
Desert Iguana
Common Chuckwalla
Sonoran Desert Toad
Striped Skunk
Cougar
North American Porcupine
Bobcat
Island Fox
Kit Fox
Ringtail
Nine-Banded Armadillo
American Badger
Chacoan Peccary
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Redhead
Southern Western Pond Turtle
Western Turkey Vulture
Great Blue Heron
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Mexican Grey Wolf
Harris’ Hawk
Whitenose Coati
Peninsular Pronghorn
American Kestrel
Desert Tortoise
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Greater Roadrunner
Western Screech Owl
Western Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Jaguar
Desert Bighorn
“Australian Adventures, as it’s called, is located within Wild Americas, and it’s hard to continue along the North American path without stopping by this exhibit. Outside, I had a lovely chat with some senior docents and an ambassador blue-tongue skink. Speaking of lovely chats, The Living Desert has some of the best hospitality among the zoos I’ve visited. Every keeper or docent I interacted with was incredibly helpful and welcoming, which really adds to the overall experience of the zoo. Anywho, the exhibit is a small desert-dome style building with an emu yard right outside. Inside, the main attractions are the Bennett’s wallabies that hop about the walkway, but my focus was drawn towards the large rocky outcrop for their many (seriously, there’s quite a few) yellow-footed rock wallabies. They’re quite fun to watch, too! I came right as one of their keepers was preparing their lunches. They all have seemingly assigned bowls and corners to eat in, so it’s quite a treat to watch all the wallabies neatly arranged and in a row as they eat.”
Australian Adventures:
Emu
Bennett’s Wallaby
Laughing Kookaburra
Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby
Brush-Tailed Bettong
Short-Beaked Echidna
Olive Python
Blue-Tongue Skink
The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens - July 9th, 2024
“The Living Desert is an absolutely beautiful facility. Not sure what I was expecting, but all my expectations were surpassed. It’s a very manicured and well-designed park, probably to cater to the Palm Springs population and whatever high-class expectations they have
. There are two main portions: African Safari and Wild Americas, as well as a smaller third Australian Outback exhibit. Upon entry to the park, you’re greeted with a view into their Rhino Savanna, and I was lucky enough to have one of their black rhinos feeding so close to the barrier in front of me. The exhibit is rather vast, and also exhibits herds of ungulates (including springbok!) and pelican flocks alongside the rhinos. Not sure that I’ve seen black rhinos in mixed exhibits besides when SDZSP used to have them, so that’s definitely a unique aspect of the place. The mongoose are also a joy to watch this early in the morning— it’s a treat to watch the animals wake up and explore their exhibits first thing in the morning. There’s also a pretty extensive naked mole rat tunnel system located under, well, a larger tunnel, which makes photography quite easy (I’ve never been able to take good mole rat pics).”
African Safari:
Banded Mongoose
Dwarf Mongoose
Naked Mole Rat
Great White Pelican
Pink-Backed Pelican
Waterbuck
Black Rhino
East African Crowned Crane
Springbok
“The giraffe, kudu, and ostrich yard is another vast panoramic exhibit, with a beautiful view into the mountains beyond. Since I was so early, I was able to watch a keeper do an early feeding with the giraffes and be in the presence of a huge kudu bull grazing a few feet away. Not far away was the highlight of the day for me— the striped hyena, which is probably a pretty major lifer for arguably all ZooChatters. Now, if only I’ll ever see a spotted hyena
…”Giraffe
Greater Kudu
Ostrich
Cape Porcupine
Warthog
Nubian Dwarf Goat
Amur Leopard
Striped Hyena
Dromedary Camel
Addax
Sulcata Tortoise
“The aviary across from the hyena exhibit displays some of your typical African weavers, but there’s also the incredibly gorgeous racquet-tailed roller, so don’t leave that aviary unnoticed if you ever visit.”
Racquet-Tailed Roller
Pin-Tailed Whydah
Red Bishop
White-Headed Buffalo Weaver
Red-Billed Buffalo Weaver
Spur-Winged Lapwing
Cordon-Bleu
St. Helene Waxbill
Cheetah
“After the larger savanna exhibits, the section switches focus to more arid ecosystems, with a series of desert ungulate yards— addax, dromedary, addra, oryx, etc. Those species are accompanied by a selection of (unfortunately) pinioned birds— yellow-billed storks, cinereous vultures, marabou stork, etc. After a quick dash by their smaller carnivore exhibits, I was on my way to the North American section of the zoo.”
Marabou Stork
Klipsringer
Grevy’s Zebra
Cape Rock Hyrax
Bat-Eared Fox
Leopard Tortoise
Yellow-Billed Stork
Eurasian Black Vulture
Addra Gazelle
Slender-Horned Gazelle
Sulcata Tortoise
Waldrapp Ibis
Hadada Ibis
Spur-Winged Lapwing
Von Der Decken’s Hornbill
Speke’s Gazelle
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill
Black-Footed Cat
Sand Cat
Fennec Fox
Arabian Oryx
Meerkat
“Wild Americas ranks up there as one of the favorite zoo complexes I’ve been to. One note though— it is hottt. I bought a water bottle solely for the purpose of cooling myself off throughout the day, which was a great decision. I started off in the North American reptile house, where I met their resident Great Basin collared lizard that loves to interact with visitors, according to one of the keepers.”
Wild Americas:
Bearded Dragon
Desert Spiny Lizard
Great Basin Collared Lizard
Red Diamond Rattlesnake
Western Diamondback Rattlesnake
Bullsnake (sayi spp.)
Gila Monster
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Panamint Rattlesnake
Speckled Rattlesnake
Southern Pacific Rattlesnake
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
Rhinoceros Iguana
Argentine Tegu
Three-Banded Armadillo
Agassiz’s Desert Tortoise
“Continuing along Wild Americas, I was consistently pleased with the exhibits and sights. The walk from Australian Adventures to the main cluster of animal exhibits was quite long (and hot), but full of desert landscapes and flora (huge trees and cactus) I’d never see before. I also stopped by the desert pupfish pond, though it’s a little hard to see the fish with how small they are. Once I finally got to the main exhibit area, I was met with a bit of relief under the plentiful cool buildings and shaded paths. The highlight of this area was definitely the island fox, which a keeper so kindly called out from its slumber for me (for context, I didn’t ask her to call out or bother the animal at all, but I mentioned the fox was sleeping and she decided that she’d see if it would want to come out
). A close second would be their personable American badger, (Midas, I think was his name?) who loves to observe and interact with visitors.”Killdeer
Black-Tailed Prairie Dog
Turkey Vulture
Burrowing Owl
Barn Owl
Greater Roadrunner
Red-Tailed Hawk
Coyote
Desert Pupfish
Bald Eagle
Golden Eagle
Desert Tarantula
Smithi Redknee Tarantula
American Cockroach
Black Widow Spider
Blue Death Feigning Beetle
Giant Vinegaroon
Red-Tailed Boa
Lyre Snake
Desert Tortoise
Common Chuckwalla
Desert Iguana
Common Chuckwalla
Sonoran Desert Toad
Striped Skunk
Cougar
North American Porcupine
Bobcat
Island Fox
Kit Fox
Ringtail
Nine-Banded Armadillo
American Badger
Chacoan Peccary
Black-Crowned Night Heron
Great Egret
Redhead
Southern Western Pond Turtle
Western Turkey Vulture
Great Blue Heron
Fulvous Whistling Duck
Mexican Grey Wolf
Harris’ Hawk
Whitenose Coati
Peninsular Pronghorn
American Kestrel
Desert Tortoise
Burrowing Owl
Burrowing Owl
Greater Roadrunner
Western Screech Owl
Western Screech Owl
Great Horned Owl
Great Horned Owl
Jaguar
Desert Bighorn
“Australian Adventures, as it’s called, is located within Wild Americas, and it’s hard to continue along the North American path without stopping by this exhibit. Outside, I had a lovely chat with some senior docents and an ambassador blue-tongue skink. Speaking of lovely chats, The Living Desert has some of the best hospitality among the zoos I’ve visited. Every keeper or docent I interacted with was incredibly helpful and welcoming, which really adds to the overall experience of the zoo. Anywho, the exhibit is a small desert-dome style building with an emu yard right outside. Inside, the main attractions are the Bennett’s wallabies that hop about the walkway, but my focus was drawn towards the large rocky outcrop for their many (seriously, there’s quite a few) yellow-footed rock wallabies. They’re quite fun to watch, too! I came right as one of their keepers was preparing their lunches. They all have seemingly assigned bowls and corners to eat in, so it’s quite a treat to watch all the wallabies neatly arranged and in a row as they eat.”
Australian Adventures:
Emu
Bennett’s Wallaby
Laughing Kookaburra
Yellow-Footed Rock Wallaby
Brush-Tailed Bettong
Short-Beaked Echidna
Olive Python
Blue-Tongue Skink
