Today I returned to a place I last saw when I was no more than three years old, and probably younger than that: the old Griffith Park Zoo. The old zoo was replaced by the current Los Angeles Zoo in 1966; it has since been turned into a picnic area, and is much frequented by walkers, joggers, and photographers. I have one dim and indistinct memory of the old zoo: the zoo trams were pulled by engines in the shape of elephant heads. Picture a giant “Dumbo” head, less the circus cap and giant ears, pulling a tram and you’ve got it. At least, so I remember it. I had caught sight of these trams and wanted a closer look, and I distinctly remember running towards one that was coming down the path in our direction. I wasn’t going to get in its way, but my mom scooped me up anyway. And that’s what I remember about the old zoo.

This morning, we packed up the kids and headed over there for a “family walk”. Naturally I grabbed the camera. As I say, it’s been converted into a picnic area:

All of the modern amenities are close at hand (and apparently have seen considerable use).

The zookeepers must have had a fun time feeding the animals; here’s a picture (slightly blurry, alas) looking up the stairs from the zookeeper’s entrance in the back of one enclosure:

Looking at this cage, I really wonder how you were expected to see whatever kind of creature lived inside. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t likely to get out.

Some of the cages are still occupied, if untended. Here we see some domestic ivy escaping into the wild.

And one set of monkey cages still had inhabitants.