Los Angeles Zoo

The lion stands mid-stride, mouth agape in a toothy roar, his tail curled into a giant arc. Visitors expect to see a giant cat at the Los Angeles Zoo, but unlike those that prowl their enclosures, this feline is mute, a concrete animal atop a stone plinth, snarling a greeting to visitors wandering down to the entrance.

Can free parking in Los Angeles help to stem the migration of TV and film production to other cities and states? Probably not. But that most coveted of Los Angeles benefits was one of a series of recommendations adopted Wednesday by the L.A. City Council aimed at making it easier for producers to film locally and discouraging them from taking their business elsewhere. Among the recommendations are to consider a tax credit for building owners who make their properties available for filming and a refund of sales tax paid by production companies when at least 75% of the filming is done within the city.

Los Angeles Zoo keepers Sunday appealed to city officials to complete a $42-million elephant enclosure, saying it would be the best place for Billy, the zoo's lone remaining elephant, to breed and thrive. The exhibit, they said, would allow for more exercise and stimulation than an animal refuge, where critics have suggested the 23-year-old Asian bull be sent. Creation of the 3.

The long-awaited golden monkeys from China have some bad news: They're not coming to the Los Angeles Zoo. The arrival of the exotic blue-faced simians was part of a deal struck during a 2002 trade trip to China by former Mayor James K. Hahn. He wanted pandas but was offered the loan of three golden monkeys instead. The deal, however, became mired in the intricacies of global panda politics, something mostly beyond the zoo's control.

It's not everybody's favorite spot on the USC campus, but to Verna B. Dauterive the basement of Doheny Memorial Library remains a beloved landmark where her life changed. There, in 1947, she was doing homework for her master's degree in education when another student struck up a conversation. He was Peter W. Dauterive, a former soldier who was getting his business degree on a GI Bill and one of the few fellow African American students at USC in those days.

In an effort to educate the public about endangered species surviving in the wild, NoHo Gallery L.A., in collaboration with the L.A. Zoo, is presenting "Paws, Claws, Applause," an exhibit of animal portraits. Black-and-white photos of various wildlife shot on location at the L.A. Zoo by featured photographer Charlie Morey are on display along with paintings and animal-like pieces of artwork by artists including Ildar Galyamov, Francis Gill and Harlan Peterson.

Les Schobert, a former general curator of the Los Angeles Zoo who advocated more open space and less isolation for elephants, chimpanzees and other animals in captivity, has died. He was 61. Schobert died Oct. 14 at his home in La Quinta, Calif., said Gretchen Kneeter, his longtime companion. The cause was lung cancer, she said. Schobert worked in zoos for nearly 30 years and was an outspoken critic of some zoo practices.

The Los Angeles Zoo's controversial pachyderm exhibit was hardly the proverbial elephant in the room Wednesday during a packed L.A. City Council meeting. Far from being an unspoken issue, the topic consumed 4 1/2 hours of discussion. People cheered and groaned as wildlife experts, animal welfare activists, impassioned schoolteachers, zoo lovers, a former game show host-cum-animal cause philanthropist (Bob Barker) and council members weighed in on the future of elephants in the city.

For years, controversy has swirled around the elephants at the Los Angeles Zoo. Every elephant death was scrutinized; every public hearing about the animals was filled with protesters. It's no coincidence that the largest land mammal has prompted the largest and longest-running public relations problem for the zoo. Critics contend that the zoo has never had sufficient space to keep the lumbering behemoths.

After weeks of impassioned and lengthy debates over elephants and whether the world's largest land mammals still belong in the Los Angeles Zoo, supporters and critics alike got only a tentative verdict Wednesday: The City Council halted construction of the zoo's controversial $42-million elephant exhibit but did not outright kill it. The project seemed headed for extinction but for an 11th-hour proposal from the zoo's fundraising arm, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn.