Contact: Laura Stegman
Public Relations for the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association
310/470-6321 (office), 310/991-2835 (mobile)

Four historic, majestic lion statues, built in 1915 for one of Los Angeles' earliest Zoos, make their debut at the Los Angeles Zoo on Thursday, May 14, marking the first time in more than 60 years that these magnificent works can be seen by the public.  They are among 14 statues – lions and elephants – that graced the entrance of a predecessor of the current Zoo, the Selig Zoo.

Lost in the 1950s, the statues were rediscovered in 2000, and donated to the Zoo by Larry Davis, and restored through a generous gift to the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association (GLAZA) from John and Jeri Amerman through the Amerman Family Foundation.  The remaining statues (2 lions and 7 elephants) will eventually be displayed at the Los Angeles Zoo upon completion of their restoration (one elephant statue is not in the Zoo's possession).  GLAZA provides support for Los Angeles Zoo exhibits, conservation, capital projects, education programs, community outreach, research, and more through fund-raising and an endowment, membership, special events and more.

In 1915 Selig, a successful movie producer, opened his combination of movie studio and zoo.  Located in Lincoln Park and complete with more than 700 animals, the Selig Zoo grew to become home to the largest animal collection in the United States up to that point in time.

Selig commissioned Carlo Romanelli, a sixth-generation sculptor from Florence, Italy, to create the life-sized concrete statutes of lions and elephants that adorned the Mission Revival style entrance gates of the Selig Zoo. When financial difficulties caused Selig to liquidate the zoo, the site continued operation as a zoological garden at first called Luna Park and later the California Zoological Gardens which was a combination of the old Selig and Luna Park zoos, as well as the Cawston Ostrich Ranch from South Pasadena and the California Alligator Farm. Phone directory listings suggest the zoological gardens were there until at least 1942.

For a period of time, the statues were forgotten and their whereabouts unkown until 1962 when Larry Davis, owner of Carnival Time Shows, spotted the concrete animals in the back of a friend’s amusement park, which was on the site of the old Selig Zoo.  Five years later, in 1967, Davis purchased the animal statues for $1,200 from a Paramount crane operator, who claims he kept the statues because he was never paid for moving them for a subcontractor.  In the 1970s, Davis moved the statues to his steel fabrication factory in Colton, California, where they sat until 2000 when they were located by a Zoo staff member. The years had taken their toll and they were in great disrepair, requiring extensive restoration which is artfully being done by John Griswold of Griswold Conservation Associates.

Davis generously donated a total of 12 statues, six lions and six elephants and an additional elephant was donated by Archie Feichter who had been displaying it in his front yard in Ontario.  Thanks to a generous gift from John Amerman and his wife Jeri through the Amerman Family Foundation, the Zoo was able to restore these icons of Los Angeles’ past.

It has taken over 60 years for these magnificent statues to make their appearance again at a zoo in Los Angeles.  Four of the statues have been incorporated into the L.A. Zoo’s International Marketplace.  Plans are in process to place the remaining sculptures in the Zoo.

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The Los Angeles Zoo is located at 5333 Zoo Drive in Los Angeles' Griffith Park at the junction of the Ventura (134) and Golden State (5) freeways.  For tickets and information, call 323/644-4708.