Estimated Completion Date:
May 2010

The new Reptile and Insect Interpretive Center, also known as the HISS Center will provide magnificent and complementary homes to the Los Angeles Zoo’s outstanding reptile collection — one of the rarest among North American zoos, as a result of a confiscation from a two-year sting operation headed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. USFWS officials intercepted a Malaysian smuggler's cache of Komodo dragons, Chinese alligators, false gavials, Burmese and star tortoises, and perhaps the rarest tortoise in the world, the ploughshare tortoise of Madagascar. Valued in excess of $750,000, the entire confiscation was placed in the care of the Los Angeles Zoo because of the agency’s high regard for our professional animal care staff and the quality of care provided.  

Please click here to read more about Zoo construction on the Los Angeles Zoo Bond and Capital Improvement Program page.