Los Feliz and Griffith Park - Home to Puma P-22

Did you know that Los Angeles has 390 public parks and 15, 710 acres of parkland? One of the area’s most popular and well known parks is Griffith Park, which, at over 4,000 acres, is the nation’s largest urban municipal park. By comparison, New York City’s Central Park is only 843 acres in size.

While Griffith Park gets 10 million visitors annually, who like to play golf and tennis, attend concerts at the Greek Theater, or hike its many trails, there is one particular park “visitor” that has captured L.A.’s attention: “P-22.”

P-22 is a puma, or mountain lion, who somehow wandered over to Griffith Park from the Santa Monica Mountains, and now calls the park home. He had to get across the busy 101 and 405 freeways to get to Griffith Park.

Don’t worry—you probably won’t see P-22 in person if you visit. Some wildlife researchers have seen him, but then again they were on the hunt to find him. As the 22nd mountain lion that Santa Monica Mountains National Park Service biologists have found, he got the name Puma 22, or P-22.

P-22 has become somewhat of a cult celebrity in L.A., with his own Twitter account(s) of all things!

At night, P-22 eats mule deer, raccoon and coyote to stay alive. During the day, he rests among dense vegetation, elusive to park guests. So far, he’s happily at home in Griffith Park. As the only mountain lion in the park, he has no competition for food.

How do people know P-22 really exists? A remote camera set up for a wildlife survey caught the puma’s face in 2012. Later that year, scientists set a humane trap with cameras to be able to see the lion in person. After the lion received a sedative from a blow dart, scientists attached a collar that would allow them to track the whereabouts of P-22. That’s how scientists know specifically what P-22 eats—researchers are able to track the animal and go to places where he killed his prey.

P-22 is a relatively young mountain lion, and it’s most likely he’ll leave the park and head east to the Santa Monica Mountains to find a mate when he gets older.

New Art Exhibit at Barnsdall Art Park - "Size Really Does Matter"

Barnsdall Art Park is a well known place in Los Angeles that sometimes goes unnoticed by locals and tourists alike, in favor of the Hollywood Sign and Griffith Observatory, two local iconic area structures. However, Barnsdall Park is, in size, similar to New York’s Central Park, and is home to the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery. 

According to the art gallery’s Facebook page , “we are actually located in East Hollywood, not Los Feliz. Los Feliz only wishes.” Either way, the art gallery, owned by the City of Los Angeles, is a free admission treasure for people who enjoy viewing art.

The Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery’s latest exhibition comes with a provocative title: “Size Really Does Matter.” Don’t let it fool you—it’s not about a certain male body part. Instead, Size Really Does Matter is a monumental exhibition of various large-scale artworks on view now thru January 5, 2014. For those of you who have the inclination to view contemporary, abstract art, you’ll either really like what you’ll see or else find yourself shaking your head saying, “This is art?” That’s probably part of the fun!

The gallery recently reconfigured its space, which is located on Hollywood Boulevard and within Barnsdall Park. Size Really Does Matter showcases a variety of art installations inspired by the public artwork seen around Greater Los Angeles. Take a peek at some of the art, and you may recognize odes to the Watts Towers or the mural on Olvera Street.

If you like seeing new and interesting paintings, sculptures and video installations by mostly local artists, visit the Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery and see for yourself that Size Really Does Matter.

October is a Great Time to Visit the Old Zoo in Griffith Park

Thousands of people visit Los Angeles’ Griffith Park to see the view from atop the mountain at the world-famous Griffith Observatory. While that’s a tourist magnet, Griffith Park also has something locals and tourists should see: The Old Zoo.

It’s not every day you get to see—and walk through—an abandoned zoo. It’s a small zoo full of empty cages and caves covered in graffiti, and many people like to bring their cameras and take pictures.

To find The Old Zoo, start off at the Carousel parking lots. Walk toward the grassy field and hills, where you’ll see a path. It’s an easy 15-minute walk up the path to the zoo.

The first things you’ll see upon entering the zoo area are large stone enclosures featured in the bear battle scenes of the movie Anchorman. Then, you can peek inside and look for a narrow, crumbling staircase behind a door. See where it leads, if you dare. Visitors have described wandering around the abandoned zoo as both cool and creepy. You can sneak through holes in fences to explore dim, dirty cages and caves.

It’s best to wear closed-toe shoes or boots to explore the ruins, rather than flip-flops. Also, don’t wear fancy clothes because there’s a chance you’ll get some dirt on whatever you’re wearing.

The Old Zoo has some picnic tables in front of the stone enclosures, and an adjacent field is home to Shakespeare in the Park, taking place at dusk during the summer months.

While the area is often visited by people, be on the lookout for snakes and/or coyotes if you visit The Old Zoo—it is, after all, surrounded by nature and wildlife.