All Things Young and Cuddly at Zoo

Hoping to raise its stature and attract families with children, the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday presented a new children’s zoo to a gathering of contributors, animals and eager 8-year-olds.

Although the Winnick Family Children’s Zoo won’t open to the public until Aug. 16, Thursday’s ceremony allowed zoo supporters to get a preview of the facility, which is named in honor of donors Gary and Karen Winnick. It will feature a petting area, a nursery, a small amphitheater and room for expansion.

On hand were five beaming kids (the human kind), two goats, a baby llama, and a small pony--along with zoo Director Manuel Mollinedo and Mayor Richard Riordan.

The zoo has taken safety precautions for the petting area, Mollinedo said, with staffing by zookeepers. The animals, most of which will be small adult goats, will interact with visitors in a two-group rotation. The goats--and one potbellied pig--will have “safe zones” to retreat to when they don’t feel like socializing.

In addition, every child who touches one of the animals will have to pass through one of two hand-washing stations and a special antiseptic foot mat, a defense against the slightest possibility of foot and mouth disease.

Zoo officials said interaction with animals is a key focus of the new facility. The last petting area had been closed since 1987, and parents have complained since then that the zoo was unwelcoming to toddlers and children in strollers.

Officials said the new children’s zoo is part of a grander vision to make the Los Angeles Zoo second to none, San Diego included.

“My goal is to make the Los Angeles Zoo the best in the country. We’re already the second-best in the state, and we’re not that far apart,” said Mollinedo, who is often credited with the zoo’s turnaround since the mayor appointed him director six years ago.

The zoo has aggressively sought to improve its existing and planned facilities in recent years by bolstering its fund-raising efforts with the help of the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. and close supporters such as actress and zoo Commissioner Betty White, who also attended Thursday.

“We’re just moving by leaps and bounds,” said Lora LaMarca, the zoo’s marketing director.

Since 1998, the zoo has opened new exhibit facilities for its chimpanzees and orangutans. An effort is underway to raise $2.8 million by year’s end for a new gorilla exhibit, which Mollinedo said he hopes will be the best in the country.

Besides the gorilla exhibit, the zoo is planning at least three other new habitats, LaMarca said.

Funding has been helped by a series of bond measures in the 1990s, the most recent of which was Proposition CC in 1998.

The zoo wants to attract a more diverse group of youngsters with the new children’s zoo and with the support of federal funding for its summer program.

“People lose sight of the fact that we’re an urban zoo. The closest thing [some city children] get to wild animals are pigeons, cats and stray dogs,” Mollinedo said. “We really want kids to develop a strong respect for animals.”

The Los Angeles Zoo will not be the only area zoo where children can interact with goats, pigs or other animals. Next week, the Santa Ana Zoo will break ground on a new children’s zoo that is expected to open in late spring 2002.