| Living Desert Zoo And Gardens |
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The gardens were established in 1970 as a 145 ha / 360-acre wilderness preserve by the Palm Springs Desert Museum . By 1974 the gardens housed a kit Fox , Tortoise s, Lizard s, and two Bighorn Sheep , and in 1974-75 the Mojave Garden was built, a replica of the high California desert. Additional facilities have gradually been constructed, including greenhouses and a number of built landscapes, as well as animals including slender-horned Gazelle s (1981); Mountain Lion s, Bobcat s and Badger s (1993); Cheetah s and Warthog s (1995); Model Train s (1998); Giraffe s and Ostrich es (2002). Today, the gardens claim to be the only American zoo and garden dedicated solely to the deserts of the world, and provide environmental education, native wildlife rehabilitation, plant propagation and captive breeding of both native and African species including the area's iconic Bighorn Sheep . Their unique Meerkat exhibit served as inspiration to Walt Disney Studios animators in the development of "Timon", '' The Lion King's '' comic meerkat character. The holiday season signals the start of the zoo's "WildLights" celebration in which more than 275,000 miniature lights illuminate animated holiday scenes. It is also the site of one of the world's largest LGB model railroad layouts; the layout includes the world's longest model Trestle span. Of particular interest are the Re-creation s of a variety of desert environments. The North American desert gardens include:
Specialized gardens include:
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