Azusa Zoo (place)

**Azusa Zoo** is a zoo located in Azusa, California. It is the second largest zoo, after North Carolina Zoo, and holds and supports over 100 species, including animatronic models of dinosaurs.

## History

First found by American animator and artist Norman McCabe when travelling out in California, 1941, Azusa Zoo was planned to be established and built. In 1942, McCabe sketched out a blueprint and hired a team of construction workers to refer to how large the zoo was. The final structure was released in the 20th of December, and McCabe was ready to hire the workers to round up the animals. The workers originally came back with 41 animals, including a large African elephant, and a pair of humans, which the workers stated them as “elves”. Soon, the zoo was released to all on 1st January, 1943.

However, the zoo wasn’t treated badly like a circus, and all the animals were well fed and happy, especially in their cages, which contain various foliage from their natural habitats. The “elves” worked as entertainers as tourists viewed them. Soon, in 1949, McCabe decided to add more animals, including some fish for the aquarium passage that led from the seal enclosure, and various strange enclosures that resemble industrial places, such as farmhouses or freeze tanks. The workers also built a large pond for the mallard enclosure. However, a terrible downside struck the zoo. Various hunters outside from the zoo, and behind the animal enclosures, would capture the animals, leaving their mates and families alone without them. McCabe had a plan: to add high fences to warn the hunters not to hunt them anymore.

Later, in 1950, Nipponews broadcasted a documentary as a gift to the late Adolf Hitler and his descendants. The broadcasters also recorded footage of hunters trying to hunt down few of the animals, and animals sneaking into other enclosures in search for sustenance. Porky Pig, a tourist, was also interviewed in the broadcast. The documentary was released on over 1000 copies of DVDs.

During 2001, another Azusa Zoo was made in Cartoon Planet, in Stanley, Falkland Islands. It used the same animals used in the original one, but also included a small skeleton museum called “Crazy Larry’s House of Bones”. The Azusa Zoo in Cartoon Planet also released a Jurassic Park-themed zone, which the original zoo didn’t have, in 2016, which was called “Jurassic Lands”, after McCabe’s death.

Also, at that same year, in 2016, African drummer Nana Bafour played a rhythm about God on his talking drums, which was also a lucky greeting to tourists. An animatronic model of him was replaced after his death.

“Jurassic Lands” was later released in the original zoo in 2019, having replicas of the animatronic dinosaurs made and distributed by the Cartoon Planet company.

## Trivia

* In May, 10, 2018, a show focused on mythical creatures was released in the original zoo, called “Dragon Time”. It featured a dragon show, which used live fire for the dragon props. However, the fire burned the nearby Birdhouse when the show ended. Thankfully, none of the birds died, as the fire was quickly put out by a nearby fire brigade after the zookeepers called them straight away.
* However, Azusa Zoo is a fictional zoo in the Looney Tunes universe, and the events didn’t happen in the real world.