Colony of Animal Folks

Throwin’ it back to baby Flo circa 2010 when Florence and Rob went to the old Los Angeles Zoo and recorded an acoustic version of You’ve Got the Love. I came across this video at some point in college and the imagery always stuck in my mind. A few years later, I stumbled across the zoo while reading about fun things to do in LA that are off the beaten path and recalled how cool it looked from Florence’s video. The old LA Zoo is located in Griffith Park, only two miles north from the new one -- and in a stroke of luck, not far from my old apartment. The spot has now become one of my favorite places to take visiting friends and family.

Los Angeles invites her neighbors to see THE COLONY OF ANIMAL FOLKS! ... Bizarre, fascinating, are the sights in the zoo at Griffith Park! Here, majestically guarding his mate, stalks a black mane lion-what a handsome specimen he is! With stately mien a herd of elk grazes unaware of visitors ... wallabies, dwarf kangaroos, exhibit their ability as jumpers ... over fifty monkeys perform acrobatics and "show off" to the amusement of onlookers ... zebras, deer, Brahma Sacred Cows of India, antelope, bears, camels, and numerous other strange beasts make up this picturesque animal colony. Chattering for admiration are hundreds of brilliantly plumaged ... talking birds and scores of other striking and beautiful winged creatures! ... Hours on end visitors are enthralled, entertained, amused in the veritable fairyland of nature's own folks! 

— Ad in the Los Angeles Times, November 15, 1936 

Despite this rosy picture, I tend to suspect shady happenings inside the gates of old zoos — and looking back at its history, Griffith Park Zoo was not exempt from scandal.

In 1907 Los Angeles’ local Animal Folk Colony, the Eastlake Zoo (what is now known as Lincoln Park), was already falling apart due to terribly cramped and miserable conditions for the animals. By 1911 plans were devised to build a new zoo in the canyons where the Greek Theater currently sits — a place where animals would roam free and visitors could look down upon them in a natural habitat. Unfortunately, this vision never panned out and a small zoo was constructed on the east side of Griffith Park between 1912-1914.

This new zoo wasn’t starting off much higher than where the Eastlake Zoo left off. The zoo gathered over 100 animals that came from the Eastlake Zoo in Lincoln Park as well as animals from a private collection of railroad man, Frank Murphy, and held them in less than optimal conditions.

Mike Eberts, a professor at Glendale Community College and author of Griffith Park: A Centennial History explains, “At first many of the animals were put into stockades; welded wire encircling groups of trees. Various livestock, wolves, monkeys, and even some cats were enclosed this way. The bear had a more natural home: they lived in three caves on a steep hillside. In 1914, an aviary, bear pits and assorted cages were built by 1,200 unemployed men ... In 1916, the Park Commission allocated $1,500 to build suitable paddocks for deer, elk, antelope and buffalo.” (1)

Dismal conditions aside, the zoo fared well due to free admission, making it a popular sightseeing destination for Angelenos.

A Selig Zoo inhabitant trying to boost business in
front of zoo gates in 1935.
Security Pacific National Bank Collection, Los Angeles Public Library (2)

In true Hollywood spirit, the Griffith Park Zoo wasn’t just a sightseeing destination. It also harbored a secondary use as a home to the animal actors of surrounding motion picture studios. In fact, in 1915, William Selig opened up his own movie studio and (due to his 700 animals) he decided to convert part of the lot it into a zoo — an excellent way to continue profiting off his four-legged friends. After World War I his business plummeted and his company disintegrated. His menagerie of animals dispersed, with a fair amount absorbed into the Griffith Park Zoo.

The Griffith Park Zoo was now packed and disease began scourging the animals. Lions had to be put down after an outbreak of Glanders, sewage was draining directly into the Los Angeles River (which was still a real river). At one point the city couldn’t afford the high price of beef for the carnivores, so the zoo had to substitute horsemeat to ensure the animals didn’t starve to death. (3) This radical change in diet killed most of the big cats and some of the other larger meat-eating animals. After a few peculiar deaths in some of the large animals, money was allocated to build seven new grottos in 1939. A hilarious piece was written up in an article in the LA times about the disastrous move of a 625-pound lion to his new Grotto.

1939 Press Photo "Rufus" the Lion Griffith Park Zoo in
21 ft. Pit in Habitat. (4) 

“Here's what Rufus was mad about. 1. When his keeper ... undertook to install Rufus in a brand new rock grotto in place of the heavily barred cage he has occupied for several years, the southland Numa attempted to leap the 21-foot chasm separating him from liberty. His leap was three feet short. Rufus plopped down to the moat. He was mad about that. 2. [His keeper] and his helpers have been trying to get him out by lowering cleated platforms, pieces of meat and sundry other attractions. Rufus would have none of it. 3. Spectators by the thousands have been thronging the vicinity, some proffering utterly impracticable ideas for returning the lion to his grotto, others making cutting remarks about the broad jumping prowess of lions in general... 4. The W.P.A.- Rufus is mad at them. They're the people who built the darned grotto with its 21-foot moat. They were so proud of it they even installed an irritating brass plaque recording the project. Why did they have to waste government money on such an idea, when his old cage was perfectly comfortable? 5. Tillie, his 4-year-old mate. Tillie who bowed to progress and went docilely to their new grotto, lay comfortable on a ledge and gazed down at Rufus with an air which seemed to indicate a low opinion of his jumping prowess and his mental equipment. At times she even heartlessly dozed. Park superintendent Gibson late in the day was bearing the situation with Christian resignation. He listened politely to a host of suggestions, bore a few razzes from critical taxpayers and pitying smiles from tourists hailing from cities which have lions and know how to handle 'em” (5)

The new Grottos didn’t make much of a difference in the small, cramped zoo and unfortunate incidents continued to occur. In 1963 the Desert Sun wrote a short article about one of the zoos most famous residents, Ivan the Terrible.

Ivan the Polar Bear Kills Mate

LOS ANGELES (UPI) - Ivan, the terrible tempered Polar bear of Griffith Park Zoo, Thursday turned from lover to killer and mauled his mate of II years to death. “He went berserk" when his mate, Lena, spurned his amorous advances, chief keeper Mike Wendt said. Keepers stood by helplessly as the 850-pound bear silently killed Lena. There were no sounds from either Ivan or his 500-pound mate in the 90-minute struggle. Ivan and Lena have had four cubs. Ivan killed two other bears in separate incidents in fits of jealousy over Lena. He was nearly destroyed, but was granted a last minute reprieve. “Polar bears are naturally mean,” a zoo official said at the time. "Why destroy one that follows his instinct.” Wendt said there is no danger to visitors as long as Ivan’s activities are carefully restricted and there still are no plans to destroy him despite Lena’s death (6)

By 1956 Los Angeles decided they had outgrown the Griffith Park Zoo and passed a bond to create a larger, more sustainable park. In August of 1966, the Griffith Park Zoo officially closed and moved the first group of animals to the new location, a mere two miles down the road. The new Los Angeles Zoo officially opened on November 28th, 1966.

Sometime in the late ’80s, a historian found lion statues in a “circus graveyard” in the Inland Empire that he believed to have originated from the old Selig Zoo in the early 1900s (2). The statues were eventually donated to the Los Angeles Zoo and money was raised to restore them. They can now be seen by all visitors as they pass through the front gates of the new zoo - connecting the old world to the new.

November 1955: Lionesses on archway of entrance to the Selig Zoo that closed in the 1920s.
(Los Angeles Times Archive / UCLA) 7

May 13, 2009: Connie Morgan, head of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.,
walks past a mother lion with cubs, one of four lion statues from the Selig Zoo, lost during the 1950s,
which have been found and restored. (Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times) 7

Inside one of the old cages. (I would like to also
point out my most amazing Golden Girls x-mas
sweater making a special apppearance.) 

For reasons I’ve been unable to unearth, the old Griffith Park Zoo was only partially dismantled and remnants still stand today. This provides for a fabulously creepy tour of the old grottos and graffiti-laden cages, forcing your imagination to conjure up a time that animals paced back and forth in these cages.

Los Angeles County attempts to keep the enclosures closed to the public with locks and fences at the entryways. But the fences have been cut and peeled away, creating a flap or hole big enough for a body to crawl through and explore the insides of a few of the grottos.

To get to the old zoo, travel down Griffith Park Drive and turn onto Spring Canyon. There is a small parking lot near a children's park and picnic area. From there you walk up a tiny hill that opens up into the old Griffith Park Zoo. After exploring, take some time to check out all of the other activities that are concentrated on the east side of Griffith Park! Tons of trails start around the old zoo for a fun afternoon of hiking. There’s also a merry-go-round from 1925, a travel town railway museum, the Griffith Park Pony Ride, and of course, the new LA Zoo. Take the day to explore this little slice of LA and share your pictures with us!

One of the Grottos that is now a picnic area. 

            

             Stairs located inside a grotto

            

Special thanks to Hadley Meares of KCET, who already compiled many of the Los Angeles Times articles quoted here. Check out her own journey down the rabbit hole of Griffith Park Zoo.

Hadley also wrote another article about the Lost Monkey Islands of Los Angeles which is a fascinating and crazy read.

Works Cited: 

1. Mike Eberts, "Griffith Park: A Centennial History" pg. 136-137

2. When Elephants Ruled the Intersection: The Saga Of the Selig Zoo Statues
The Library - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/the-los-angeles-public-library/selig-zoo-statues_b_1565154.html

3. Smith, Kathleen Amy. An elephant in the council chambers: The public history of the Los Angeles Zoo. 2015. California State University, Fullerton, Masters dissertation. https://search.proquest.com/openview/01442cf67bca215a739553b9da773210/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

4. Historic Images. “1939 Press Photo ‘Rufus’ the Lion Griffith Park Zoo In 21 Ft Pit in Habitat.”      Historic Images, outlet.historicimages.com/products/nec42995.

5. "Zoo lion still roars in pit gp beast resists all efforts to lure him to new home " Los Angeles Times, July 28, 1929:

6. “Ivan the Polar Bear Kills Mate” The Desert Sun 26 April 1963 p.6

7. Harrison, Scott. “From the Archives: Selig Zoo Entrance.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles 
Times, 11 Dec. 2018, www.latimes.com/visuals/photography/la-me-fw-archives-selig-zoo-entrance-20181113-htmlstory.html.