Where To See Wild Animals in Los Angeles

Where to see wild animals in Los Angeles:

Well, lets start by defining what wild animals actually are. The All Party Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare states, "Animals in their natural state that have not been domesticated are considered ‘wild’. This includes non-domestic animals in captivity, whether kept as pets or for other reasons including entertainment, and those living free in the environment. This means elephants and lions kept in zoos or circuses and badgers, foxes and birds are all considered wild animals (Wild Animals | APGAW).

By this definition, we can always visit a zoo. But are zoos actually the type of place we want to learn or teach our children about wild animals? Zoos do their best, but they are almost always crowded, and are often restrained by financial, spacial and political considerations. They provide little education other than the placques you see next to the enclosure. And the enclosures are often too small for the animals they are housing or too far away to get a real understanding of the animal.

Studies show that children have little positive learning outcomes with visiting a zoo (Jensen, 2014). They like seeing the animals, but often see them looking as if they were sedated, laying around. There is no one to provide immediate questions and answers, which is part of learning and retaining information.

What then are the options?

There are animal sanctuaries that rescue aimals from harmful and often dangerous environments. Most of their animals could never be released into the wild, as they were rescued from illegal ownership, some from animal fur trades and some retirees from the TV and film industry. These sanctuaries strive to give the animals as close to their natural environment as possible.

Sanctuaries seek to educate their patrons on the importance of respecting the animal world around us. They have smaller groups that allow a close up view of the animals as a trained professional is there to give you the "scoop" on the animals and answer any questions you may have.

Animal Tracks, located just north of Los Angeles is one of those sanctuaries. We "rescue, rehabilitate, nurture and protect animals that have been taken from their natural habitats and due to human intervention cannot be returned to the wild. While we provide compassionate comprehensive lifetime care to these animals, we also educate and involve the public in learning about conservation and ways to create a more sustainable environment in symbiotic relationship between people and animals (Our Mission / Animaltracksinc.org).

Where to go?

When deciding where's the best place to see wild animals in Los Angeles; a place where you - or your children - would have the best chance of seeing wild animals up close - and learn what wld animals are all about? There's only one answer... Check out Animal Tracks for an experience you'll not find in a zoo, or anywhere else!

Works Cited:

Jensen, E. (2014, March). (PDF) Evaluating Children’s Conservation Biology Learning at the Zoo. ResearchGate. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261254556_Evaluating_Children

Our Mission / Animal Tracks. https://animaltracksinc.org.

Wild Animals | APGAW. https://apgaw.org/wild-animals/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2026.