Lori Patton
Well-Known Member
Earlier this month I made a weekend trip to Bakersfield and visited the California Living Museum (CALM Zoo) for the first time. Although I went on a Saturday, the zoo was not very busy and there was ample parking available. The facility is located on the outskirts of Bakersfield in the foothills with cattle grazing alongside the road.
The entrance is inside a small gift shop where one can purchase frozen treats and get zoo maps. However, the only maps available were in Spanish so I recommend downloading one in advance from the website and printing it out. Just to the right of the shop is the California Coast Room, which closes one hour sooner than the rest of the zoo. The room is very small with only three exhibits: seahorses (empty), moon jellies (sparse specimens), and a touch tank. I was not at all impressed with this exhibit, but the volunteer docent was quite engaging with the families at the tank.
Fortunately, my visit improved dramatically after I left the aquarium room. I made a beeline for the Cats of California habitat and it was very well done. The exhibit features a mountain lion on the right side and two bobcats on the left with a walkway and viewing windows dividing the sections. The mountain lion was stunning and I had an amazing viewing experience. The cougar did everything one could hope for all in under a 15-minute time span – coming to the window to drink from the pool, walking about the exhibit, grooming itself, and lounging on a rock ledge. The bobcats on the other side were active as well and there was a lot of informational signage throughout.
After leaving the felines, I went to the desert bighorn sheep exhibit, which had a viewing platform over a large arid habitat, but no sheep were out. The next area I was the most interested in was the raptor aviaries featuring California condors. It was fantastic seeing the pair of condors, which were moving about their habitat and spreading their wings. It was my first time getting a close-up view of this species and it has been a long time coming. I first learned about California condors when I was in elementary school in the ‘80s, and although my home zoo in Los Angeles has done incredible work in saving condors from extinction, they are held behind the scenes. It’s astonishing to think that a small 14-acre zoo in Bakersfield manages to have a decent condor exhibit, while a 133-acre zoo in L.A. hasn’t been able to develop one in over 40 years!
In addition to the condors, other sections of the aviaries held a bald eagle, barn owl, ravens, crows, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, and turkey vultures. Near these birds, however, was a very disappointing badger exhibit, which I can only describe as a dog run. It was quite disheartening to see the badger going back and forth in a space only a few feet wide. Next, I walked up to the top of the zoo where there was a yard for black-tailed mule deer. According to a sign, one named Radar was missing part of its jaw. The size of the deer habitat appeared adequate, but the height of the wire fencing seemed unnecessary as it wasn’t possible to get an unobstructed view of the deer.
This upper section of the zoo was very pleasant to walk around as it’s on top of a hill overlooking a scenic reservoir. It was about 85 degrees the day I visited and there was a steady breeze helping to cool the area. I wandered into the fox roundhouse, which holds a gray fox, red fox, and San Joaquin kit fox. The latter little fox named Dot was adorable and it was fun watching it interact with its keepers while the other two foxes were resting in their dens. Next to this roundhouse is a coyote yard followed by a black bear exhibit. The bears were high on my list to see as the L.A. Zoo hasn’t had any bears in years. CALM has two bears which are black and brown in color. Both appeared very healthy and content and were happily enjoying a meal. The exhibit was nicely done and I appreciated being able to see the bears at eye-level instead of peering down into a grotto or up on a hill.
At this point, I had less than 20 minutes left before the zoo closed at 4 p.m. plus a wedding was to take place shortly after (the bride was already being ushered up the hill with two groomsmen holding her train above the dirt ground), so I hurried to see whatever else I could. There were some smaller aviaries around the western perimeter where I saw a golden eagle, but a few were empty. There was also a very lackluster cage for a ringtail (unseen). The shorebird pond was interesting with a Canada goose, American white pelican, California brown pelican, and mallards. It was somewhat strange viewing these birds behind a wire fence as I’m used to seeing ducks and geese frequently in ponds without any barriers. Unfortunately, I had to skip the children’s farm area while most of the other exhibits I walked by for small mammals (e.g. porcupine) appeared empty.
Finally, I did a quick walk-through of the reptile house, which contained very colorful terrariums. Although many herps were out of sight or exhibits marked closed, I saw several interesting snakes, including the Northern Mojave and Northern Pacific rattlesnakes. My overall thoughts on the CALM Zoo are that it’s a great place to see native California animals with the highlights being the mountain lion, black bears, foxes, and California condors. The zoo is relatively easy to navigate and has many shaded pathways and attractive landscaping. However, some exhibits, such as the badger and ringtail, are inadequate, while the California Coast Room is underwhelming. Hopefully, the zoo will raise the funds necessary to upgrade those exhibits while building on its strengths and taking advantage of its scenic locale.
The entrance is inside a small gift shop where one can purchase frozen treats and get zoo maps. However, the only maps available were in Spanish so I recommend downloading one in advance from the website and printing it out. Just to the right of the shop is the California Coast Room, which closes one hour sooner than the rest of the zoo. The room is very small with only three exhibits: seahorses (empty), moon jellies (sparse specimens), and a touch tank. I was not at all impressed with this exhibit, but the volunteer docent was quite engaging with the families at the tank.
Fortunately, my visit improved dramatically after I left the aquarium room. I made a beeline for the Cats of California habitat and it was very well done. The exhibit features a mountain lion on the right side and two bobcats on the left with a walkway and viewing windows dividing the sections. The mountain lion was stunning and I had an amazing viewing experience. The cougar did everything one could hope for all in under a 15-minute time span – coming to the window to drink from the pool, walking about the exhibit, grooming itself, and lounging on a rock ledge. The bobcats on the other side were active as well and there was a lot of informational signage throughout.
After leaving the felines, I went to the desert bighorn sheep exhibit, which had a viewing platform over a large arid habitat, but no sheep were out. The next area I was the most interested in was the raptor aviaries featuring California condors. It was fantastic seeing the pair of condors, which were moving about their habitat and spreading their wings. It was my first time getting a close-up view of this species and it has been a long time coming. I first learned about California condors when I was in elementary school in the ‘80s, and although my home zoo in Los Angeles has done incredible work in saving condors from extinction, they are held behind the scenes. It’s astonishing to think that a small 14-acre zoo in Bakersfield manages to have a decent condor exhibit, while a 133-acre zoo in L.A. hasn’t been able to develop one in over 40 years!
In addition to the condors, other sections of the aviaries held a bald eagle, barn owl, ravens, crows, peregrine falcon, red-tailed hawk, and turkey vultures. Near these birds, however, was a very disappointing badger exhibit, which I can only describe as a dog run. It was quite disheartening to see the badger going back and forth in a space only a few feet wide. Next, I walked up to the top of the zoo where there was a yard for black-tailed mule deer. According to a sign, one named Radar was missing part of its jaw. The size of the deer habitat appeared adequate, but the height of the wire fencing seemed unnecessary as it wasn’t possible to get an unobstructed view of the deer.
This upper section of the zoo was very pleasant to walk around as it’s on top of a hill overlooking a scenic reservoir. It was about 85 degrees the day I visited and there was a steady breeze helping to cool the area. I wandered into the fox roundhouse, which holds a gray fox, red fox, and San Joaquin kit fox. The latter little fox named Dot was adorable and it was fun watching it interact with its keepers while the other two foxes were resting in their dens. Next to this roundhouse is a coyote yard followed by a black bear exhibit. The bears were high on my list to see as the L.A. Zoo hasn’t had any bears in years. CALM has two bears which are black and brown in color. Both appeared very healthy and content and were happily enjoying a meal. The exhibit was nicely done and I appreciated being able to see the bears at eye-level instead of peering down into a grotto or up on a hill.
At this point, I had less than 20 minutes left before the zoo closed at 4 p.m. plus a wedding was to take place shortly after (the bride was already being ushered up the hill with two groomsmen holding her train above the dirt ground), so I hurried to see whatever else I could. There were some smaller aviaries around the western perimeter where I saw a golden eagle, but a few were empty. There was also a very lackluster cage for a ringtail (unseen). The shorebird pond was interesting with a Canada goose, American white pelican, California brown pelican, and mallards. It was somewhat strange viewing these birds behind a wire fence as I’m used to seeing ducks and geese frequently in ponds without any barriers. Unfortunately, I had to skip the children’s farm area while most of the other exhibits I walked by for small mammals (e.g. porcupine) appeared empty.
Finally, I did a quick walk-through of the reptile house, which contained very colorful terrariums. Although many herps were out of sight or exhibits marked closed, I saw several interesting snakes, including the Northern Mojave and Northern Pacific rattlesnakes. My overall thoughts on the CALM Zoo are that it’s a great place to see native California animals with the highlights being the mountain lion, black bears, foxes, and California condors. The zoo is relatively easy to navigate and has many shaded pathways and attractive landscaping. However, some exhibits, such as the badger and ringtail, are inadequate, while the California Coast Room is underwhelming. Hopefully, the zoo will raise the funds necessary to upgrade those exhibits while building on its strengths and taking advantage of its scenic locale.
