OLD ABANDONED LOS ANGELES ZOO

Griffith Park Zoo, referred to today as the Old Los Angeles Zoo, was a city-owned zoo in Los Angeles, California that opened in 1912 and closed in 1966 with the opening of the new Los Angeles Zoo. The abandoned site of the Griffith Park Zoo, complete with the ruins of animal enclosures, is now a picnic area featuring multiple hiking trails in Griffith Park.
The first zoo in Los Angeles was the Eastlake Zoo in East Los Angeles, which opened in 1885. The Griffith Park Zoo opened in 1912 with a grand total of 15 animals. The new zoo was built on the site of Griffith J. Griffith's defunct Ostrich farm. In the mid 1920s, film producer William Nicholas Selig donated many of the animals from his studios, which he had attempted to convert into an animal theme park, to the new zoo.
It was expanded in the 1930s by work crews from the Works Progress Administration. Most of the enclosures were built in the caves-with-iron-bars style which was then standard for zoos.
As Los Angeles grew, the small Griffith Park Zoo was increasingly criticized as an "inadequate, ugly, poorly designed and under-financed collection of beat-up cages", despite drawing more than 2 million visitors a year. In 1958 the city passed a $8 million bond measure to create a brand new zoo. Griffith Park Zoo closed in August 1966 and its animals were transferred to the new Los Angeles Zoo 2 miles away, which opened in November 1966. The animal enclosures, with the bars removed, were left as ruins; picnic benches or tables were installed in some of them for park visitors.
Due to its proximity to Hollywood and the larger LA film industry, and its unusual appearance, the zoo has been used as a shooting location for numerous film and television projects. The zoo has been shown in the first ever episode of S.W.A.T., as well as at least two episodes of Starsky & Hutch, ("Pariah" and "Bloodbath"), as well as in the CHiPs episode "Supercycle". The area is also shown in the recently made historically-based cop drama Aquarius, set just after the zoo closed. It was also used in two episodes of The New Adventures of Wonder Woman entitled "Mind Stealers from Outer Space" Pts I & II. It was "Zed's hideout" in Police Academy 2: Their First Assignment and was used in the Rush Hour television series episode "Captain Cole's Playlist". It also features in the 2012 independent movie by Sean S. Baker called 'Starlet'.
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We would like to invite you to watch our adventures as we explore hiking trails around California, and the occasional historical sites. This is a lighthearted channel, and we are by no means documentarians, historians or professional presenters. We are recording our life experiences, and thought this might be a good format to share with other like-minded people. If you enjoyed our videos, please hit the like button, or even consider subscribing to our channel, but most of all, thank you for stopping by.

[@milesandhikes]

I visited the old zoo some years ago, and I can distinctively remember being overcome by a feeling of sadness and dread when I walked inside the "cave" area. I'm sure the energy of the unhappy animals remains there

[@SWExplore]

Thank you, Alejandra, for your sensitivity regarding the mistreatment of animals that still goes on today. After all, we are also animals with sometimes overinflated egos. Fortunately, times have changed and animals in captivity are treated somewhat better today. Personally, I don't think that zoos should ever be permitted -- that's just my opinion. If you want to see lions, zebras and all the others, take a safari in Africa as I had once done in 1984. 😉

[@milesandhikes]

@@SWExplore I agree 100%!! Zoos seem primitive and obsolete to me as well.
And how cool is it that you got to go to Africa!! It must have been the experience of a lifetime I am sure! :)

[@SWExplore]

It was an experience of a lifetime. For the year 1984, we visited throughout South America (Ecuador, Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile), then over to Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya, Central African Republic, Cameroon), then a stop in Moscow while in transit to Madrid, and ultimately to London, then back home, which was Toronto, Canada.

[@milesandhikes]

@@SWExplore WOW!!! the trip of a lifetime!!! (maybe next time you can visit my home country, Argentina. You'd love it!)
I want to travel like that soon, too! For now, I'll start with the Baja peninsula next Friday! Videos to come)

[@alberteinstain6077]

Love from indai🇮🇳u deserve more views

[@SWExplore]

Thank you, Albert...we're hoping that we will get more view in time. Please spread the word about our channel. Thanks again for watching and supporting our channel. Would you consider subscribing, or maybe hitting the like button?

[@flipbookfunny49]

how wonderful ❤❤

[@SWExplore]

Thank you FlipBook Funny all the way from Vietnam!! We appreciate your having watched our video and for supporting our fledgling channel. 😍