This is a delightful, and not overwhelmingly huge, zoo and botanical gardens located near Palm Desert, California. Established in 1970, its mission is to preserve a portion of the Colorado Desert in its natural state through preservation, education, and appreciation of the ecosystems, attributes and inhabitants of deserts in general. It accomplishes this by means of exhibits, programs, publications and memberships; by assembling in controlled environments various species of desert animals and plants that are otherwise threatened with ... (more)