The Los Angeles Zoo will remove 69 animals from its collection and close 17 exhibits, most of which posed safety risks to animals or workers, zoo officials said.
Many of the areas planned for closure are hillside exhibits on the perimeter of the zoo that hold several types of sheep, goats, deer and antelope."We're looking to close them right away to abate the safety issues and improve the quality of life for the animals," said animal curator Les Schobert on Thursday.
Officials are working to find other zoos that will take the animals. The animals then must undergo health tests, and weather conditions must be appropriate before they can be shipped, Schobert said.
Transporting some of the elderly animals would endanger their health, Schobert said. The zoo's lone bison, for example, will be housed in a non-exhibit structure until it dies.
City officials and consultants recently disclosed unsafe, unsuitable conditions at the zoo.
Three out-of-state zoo directors serving as consultants found decaying conditions and warned that the facility might lose its accreditation. Several violations and hazards also were found in inspections by California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and a city safety audit.
Terry Maple of Zoo Atlanta said many of the hillside exhibits are substandard and should be shut down.
"Some of the African animals don't normally live on hillsides. They need straight areas where they can run," he said.
The hillside exhibits also were found to be unsafe in a recent city safety audit, which found keepers were at risk trying to negotiate the steep, slippery landscapes while carrying cleaning equipment.
Some animal keepers said that while it will be difficult to lose their charges, they will be glad to see them in better living conditions.
"Some of those hillside exhibits were terrible, we call it the `pit,' " said keeper Marci Hawkins. "Not a lot of people wanted to see these kinds of animals, anyway."
Some of the animals - including the bison and camels - are being removed because the zoo's future plans don't include those exhibits.
Schobert said the number of animals and exhibits will be pared to allow for larger, lusher displays.
On March 16, a special ad hoc City Council Committee on Zoo Improvements gave preliminary approval to an $8 million plan to improve working conditions for animal keepers and to upgrade animals' living conditions.
Already closed is the zoo's penguin exhibit. The birds, which had been dying in alarming numbers over the years from disease, were shipped to the Henson Robinson Zoo in Springfield, Ill.
Mike Cunningham, bird curator for the Los Angeles Zoo, said the penguins arrived in Illinois safely Tuesday and appeared to be thriving.