Building Our Future
If you take a walk around the Zoo these days you can’t help but notice something special is going on. From the front gates to the back yards, the Zoo is growing by leaps and bounds.
New facilities are underway that are more expansive and comfortable for the animals and more accessible and exciting for visitors.
Come watch us grow!
The LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles)
Estimated Completion Date: Early 2012
The new LAIR (Living Amphibians, Invertebrates, and Reptiles) facility 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. 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.
Rainforest of the Americas
Estimated Completion Date: TBD 2013
The Rainforest of the Americas, to be constructed near the current Zoo aviaries, will provide a new sensory experience to the visitor. This immersion experience in the rainforest will envelope the visitors as they enter into a lush, tropical setting.
A key element to the eclectic nature of the exhibit will be the central theme of water and how it is one of most essential ingredients to the health and welfare of the rainforest environment. A walk through this hillside exhibit will give visitors a chance to experience on both small and large scales, the world the animals inhabit.
Mixed species (mammals, reptiles, birds, and insects) will be presented in seamless exhibits that protect the individual needs of the animals included while also allowing special enhancement opportunities to be presented to the animal and the visitor.
