The Living Desert

History

The Living Desert was established in March 1970 as a 360 acre wilderness preserve. Today it is one of the most unique institutions in the country and stands out as the only American zoo and garden dedicated solely to interpreting and conserving the deserts of the world and is the only zoological and botanical park specializing in just one entire ecosystem.

The Living Desert was the brainchild of several prominent citizens who anticipated what resort development would do to the Coachella Valley, and championed the idea of a permanent wilderness preserve where people could enjoy and learn about the natural desert. They convinced the Palm Springs Desert Museum, of which they were trustees, to establish an interpretive nature trail and preserve on 360 acres in the (then) remote community of Palm Desert. In 1970, The Living Desert Reserve was born.

With Philip L. Boyd, who also fathered the Riverside campus of the University of California and the Deep Canyon Research Station in Palm Desert, chairing the Board of Governors, it was time to go to work. Among the first tasks of the Board was to hire as resident naturalist a young woman with a fateful set of qualifications: energy, intelligence and ambition, plus experience as a zoo keeper and a park ranger, plus graduate work in wildlife biology. Today, Karen Sausman is still executive director.

Her vision and love of the desert, shared by Philip Boyd until his death in 1990, and by Living Desert's member, volunteers, staff, trustees and friends, have built The Living Desert.

Starting from Scratch

What you see today barely resembles what Sausman saw when she took over: terrain strewn with trash and without the ponds, slopes, boulders, paths, contours, mature plants or most other features of the grounds. The buildings and exhibits were all added over the next twenty years to show people what the desert really is and to create an appreciation for the the desert's plants, animals and landscape. Along the way, a number of important programs were built, too:

Environmental education, native wildlife rehabilitation
Plant propagation
Captive breeding
Membership and volunteer programs
Leased and owned lands grew from 360 to 1200 acres

Sausman started from scratch. As soon as the trails were cleared, construction began on the visitor's center --- part shop, part auditorium, part exhibition hall, and now entirely devoted to the gift shop. The first animals in our collection were a kit fox and several tortoises and lizards; two bighorn sheep arrived in 1974 under the aegis of the University of California and the California Department of Fish and Game.

New Concept in Botanical Exhibits at The Living Desert

Major exhibitions got underway in 1974-75 with the construction of the garden Development Center and the Mojave Garden, a full-scale replica of the Joshua tree-studded high California desert. This was a new concept in botanical exhibition, allowing visitors to walk into a distinctly different desert. Since then, we have replicated more than eleven different North American desert habitats and interspersed them with specialized gardens, wildlife native to each region, and displays on geology, geography, zoology, botany, history, anthropology, conservation, and ecology to tell more of the story of the desert.

Pearl McManus Center, which houses the After Sundown exhibit, was our first major wildlife exhibit. It opened in 1978, together with the large lizard enclosure outside. The first walk-through Aviary came next. By our tenth season there were enough animals at The Living Desert to warrant a full-time curator of animals. 1980 was also the year Living Desert incorporated as an independent non-profit organization, no longer a part of the Palm Springs Desert Museum. We built veterinary and greenhouse facilities, and "civilized" the grounds by paving the central pathway through the gardens.

Two key steps followed: a pair of slender-horned gazelles from Africa --- the first non-native animals, and the first critically endangered species--- joined our collection in 1981. The next year, we joined the elite group of zoos accredited by the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums.

The Living Desert through the years

1970	The Living Desert Reserve began as a 360-acre wilderness preserve. Bighorn sheep, a kit fox, tortoises and lizards were the first animals in the collection.

1974-5	Added the Garden Deployment Center and the Mojave Garden, a hands on, full-sized replica of the high California desert.

1978	A new building houses After Sundown, the first major indoor wildlife exhibit featuring nighttime desert animals, with a lizard enclosure outside.

1980	Veterinary and greenhouse facilities built.

1981	Slender-horned gazelles from Africa, the first non-native animals arrived at the zoo.

1993	Eagle Canyon opened, the first major North American immersion exhibit, with mountain lions, bobcats and badgers.

1995-6	Cheetahs and warthogs added to the zoo, leading to construction of Village WaTuTu in 1999.

1998	Model trains introduced to WildLights holiday exhibit.

2001	Trains began running every day due to popularity.

2002	The zoo adds giraffes and ostriches and Phase One of the African Savannah exhibit.

2003	Gecko Gulch, a children’s play park which includes a picnic area and interactive playground equipment opened in November.