The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens
Come eye-to-eye with more than 600 animals including desert dwellers like wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, cheetahs, bighorn sheep, golden eagles, warthogs, naked mole rats, and owls at the Living Desert, which showcases the flora and fauna found in arid landscapes. Easy to challenging trails traverse terrain populated with plants of the Mojave, Colorado, and Sonoran deserts. In the African WaTuTu village, you'll find a traditional marketplace, as well as camels, hyenas, and other animals. Wallabies, emus, and kookaburras inhabit the immersive Australian Adventures area.
Get your bearings with a 30-minute shuttle tour. Pet domesticated creatures, including Nigerian dwarf goats, in a "petting kraal," attend zookeeper talks throughout the day. Crawl and climb all over the Gecko Gulch playground, ride a carousel, and check out a hall that holds ancient Pleistocene animal bones. Time your visit to begin in the early morning to beat the heat and feed the giraffes.
