The Charles Paddock Zoo is a small 5 acres (2 ha) community zoo

Zoo

A zoological garden, zoological park, menagerie, or zoo is a facility in which animals are confined within enclosures, displayed to the public, and in which they may also be bred....

 located in San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County, California

San Luis Obispo County is a county located along the Pacific Ocean in the Central Coast of the U.S. state of California, between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census its population was 269,637, up from 246,681 at the 2000 census...

, in the City of Atascadero, California

Atascadero, California

Atascadero is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from San Francisco and Los Angeles on U-S Highway 101. Atascadero is farther inland than most other San Luis Obispo County cities, and as a result, usually experiences warmer, drier summers and cooler winters than...

. It is the only zoo in the Central Coast

Central Coast of California

The Central Coast is an area of California, United States, roughly spanning the area between the Monterey Bay and Point Conception. It extends through Santa Cruz County, San Benito County, Monterey County, San Luis Obispo County, and Santa Barbara County...

 area of that U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

. It is also home to a female Indochinese tiger named Sala, one of only 235 worldwide.

Accredited since 1991, the zoo is one of the smallest zoos accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums

Association of Zoos and Aquariums

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums was founded in 1924 and is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and public aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation.The AZA headquarters is located in Silver...

 (AZA).

History

The Charles Paddock Zoo was started by Charles Paddock, a county park ranger, in the county animal shelter in 1955. Paddock would nurse wild animals back to health, and by 1959 his menagerie contained over 125 birds and mammals. In 1963 the animals were moved to the current location adjacent to the Atascadero Lake Park, just off State Route 41, and the new zoo was named Atascadero Children’s Zoo.

In 1979, the City of Atascadero took over management of the zoo after it was incorporated. The name was changed to Charles Paddock Zoo in honor of its founder in 1980.

In 2010, while the zoo was under review for re-accreditation, it started a series of renovations and maintenance updates including new roofs, repaving, new public fencing, and a long list of other smaller projects. A new entrance to the zoo was opened on 9 November 2010.

Exhibits and animals

The zoo is home to more than 100 animals representing 45 species.

Birds

Birds at the zoo include black-necked stilt

Black-necked Stilt

The Black-necked Stilt is a locally abundant shorebird of American wetlands and coastlines. It is found from the coastal areas of California through much of the interior western United States and along the Gulf of Mexico as far east as Florida, then south through Central America and the Caribbean...

, Inca tern

Inca Tern

The Inca Tern is a seabird in the family Sternidae. It is the only member of the genus Larosterna.This uniquely-plumaged bird breeds on the coasts of Peru and Chile, and is restricted to the Humboldt current...

, Mandarin duck

Mandarin Duck

The Mandarin Duck , or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41–49 cm long with a 65–75 cm wingspan.-Description:...

, ring-necked parakeet

Rose-ringed Parakeet

The Rose-ringed Parakeet , also known as the Ringnecked Parakeet, is a gregarious tropical parakeet species that has an extremely large range. Since the trend of the population appears to be increasing, the species has been evaluated as Least Concern by IUCN in 2009.Rose-ringed parakeets are...

, ringed teal

Ringed Teal

The Ringed Teal is a small duck of South American forests. It is the only species of the genus Callonetta...

, roseate spoonbill

Roseate Spoonbill

The Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea ajaja, is a gregarious wading bird of the ibis and spoonbill family, Threskiornithidae...

, scarlet ibis

Scarlet Ibis

The Scarlet Ibis is a species of ibis that inhabits tropical South America and also Trinidad and Tobago. It is the national bird of Trinidad and is featured on the Trinidad and Tobago coat of arms along with Tobago's national bird, the Rufous-vented Chachalaca.-Taxonomy:This species is very...

, Sulawesi ground dove, and white-faced whistling duck

White-faced Whistling Duck

The White-faced Whistling Duck, Dendrocygna viduata, is a whistling duck which breeds in sub-Saharan Africa and much of South America.This species is gregarious, and at favoured sites, the flocks of a thousand or more birds arriving at dawn are an impressive sight...

 in the aviary, blue and gold macaw

Blue-and-yellow Macaw

The Blue-and-Yellow Macaw , also known as the Blue-and-Gold Macaw, is a member of the group of large Neotropical parrots known as macaws. It breeds in forest and woodland of tropical South America from Trinidad and Venezuela south to Peru, Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay...

, double yellow-headed Amazon parrot, salmon-crested cockatoo, and scarlet macaw

Scarlet Macaw

The Scarlet Macaw is a large, colorful macaw. It is native to humid evergreen forests in the American tropics. Range extends from extreme south-eastern Mexico to Amazonian Peru, Bolivia and Brazil in lowlands up to up to...

 at the Parrot Pond, as well as burrowing owl

Burrowing Owl

The Burrowing Owl is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated...

, Caribbean flamingo, emu

Emu

The Emu Dromaius novaehollandiae) is the largest bird native to Australia and the only extant member of the genus Dromaius. It is the second-largest extant bird in the world by height, after its ratite relative, the ostrich. There are three subspecies of Emus in Australia...

, great horned owl

Great Horned Owl

The Great Horned Owl, , also known as the Tiger Owl, is a large owl native to the Americas. It is an adaptable bird with a vast range and is the most widely distributed true owl in the Americas.-Description:...

, and helmeted guineafowl

Helmeted Guineafowl

The Helmeted Guineafowl is the best known of the guineafowl bird family, Numididae, and the only member of the genus Numida...

.

Mammals

Mammals at the zoo include Jacob's sheep

Jacob (sheep)

The Jacob sheep is a rare breed of small, piebald , polycerate sheep. Jacobs may have from two to six horns, but most commonly have four. The most common color is black and white, but they may also be blue and white or lilac and white in coloring. Jacobs are usually raised for their wool, meat,...

 in the barnyard, titi monkey

Titi

The titis, or titi monkeys, are the New World monkeys of the genus Callicebus. They are the only extant members of the Callicebinae subfamily, which also contains the extinct genera Xenothrix, Antillothrix, Paralouatta, Carlocebus, Homunculus, Lagonimico and possibly also Tremacebus.Titis live in...

 and Hoffmann's two-toed sloth

Hoffmann's Two-toed Sloth

Hoffmann's two-toed sloth is a species of sloth from Central and South America. It is a solitary nocturnal and arboreal animal, found in mature and secondary rainforests and deciduous forests...

 in the South American exhibit, and African crested porcupine

Crested Porcupine

The crested porcupine is a species of rodent in the Hystricidae family.It is extant in mainland Italy, Sicily, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.-Physical Attributes:...

, Bennett's wallaby

Red-necked Wallaby

The Red-necked Wallaby is a medium-sized marsupial macropod, common in the more temperate and fertile parts of eastern Australia, including Tasmania.- Description :...

, black-handed spider monkey

Geoffroy's Spider Monkey

Geoffroy's spider monkey, Ateles geoffroyi, also known as black-handed spider monkey, is a species of spider monkey, a type of New World monkey, from Central America, parts of Mexico and possibly a small portion of Colombia. There are at least five subspecies. Some primatologists classify the...

, Channel Island fox, fossa

Fossa

Fossa may refer to:*Fossa dei Leoni, an Italian football supporters association of Milan*La Fossa, an Italian rap group*Formaggio di fossa, a sheep's milk cheese from Sogliano al Rubicone, Italy*Cacio di Fossa, a hard, sharp sheep's milk Italian cheese...

, Malayan tiger

Malayan Tiger

The Malayan tiger is a tiger subspecies that inhabits the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula and has been classified as endangered by IUCN in 2008 as the population was estimated at 493 to 1,480 adult individuals in 2003; none of the three subpopulations likely harbors more than 250...

, Mara

Mara (mammal)

The maras are a genus of the cavy family. They are the sole representatives of the subfamily Dolichotinae. These large relatives of guinea pigs are common in the Patagonian steppes of Argentina but live in other areas of South America as well such as Paraguay...

 (Patagonia Cavy), prehensile-tailed porcupine

Prehensile-tailed porcupine

The prehensile-tailed porcupines or Coendous are a group of arboreal porcupine found in Central and South America. They are closely related to the other Neotropical tree porcupines and these three are sometimes treated as subgenera of Coendou instead of distinct genera.-Characteristics:Among the...

, Prevost's squirrel, Red River hog

Red River Hog

The red river hog , also known as the bush pig , is a wild member of the pig family living in Africa, with most of its distribution in the Guinean and Congolian forests...

, red ruffed lemur

Red Ruffed Lemur

The red ruffed lemur is one of two species in the genus Varecia, the ruffed lemurs; the other is the black-and-white ruffed lemur . Like all lemurs, it is native to Madagascar and occurs only in the rainforests of Masoala, in the northeast of the island...

, slender-tailed meerkat

Meerkat

The meerkat or suricate, Suricata suricatta, is a small mammal belonging to the mongoose family. Meerkats live in all parts of the Kalahari Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namib Desert in Namibia and southwestern Angola, and in South Africa. A group of meerkats is called a "mob", "gang" or "clan"...

, and White-fronted marmoset.

Reptiles and amphibians
Reptiles and amphibians at the zoo include Aldabra giant tortoise

Aldabra Giant Tortoise

The Aldabra giant tortoise , from the islands of the Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, is one of the largest tortoises in the world....

, Burmese python

Burmese Python

The Burmese Python is the largest subspecies of the Indian Python and one of the 6 largest snakes in the world, native to a large variation of tropic and subtropic areas of Southern- and Southeast Asia. They are often found near water and are sometimes semi-aquatic, but can also be found in trees...

, carpet python, Desert tortoise

Desert Tortoise

The desert tortoise is a species of tortoise native to the Mojave desert and Sonoran desert of the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. They can be located in western Arizona, southeastern California, southern Nevada, and southwestern Utah. The species name agassizii is in honor of...

, European pond turtle, giant Asian hill tortoise, Gila monster

Gila monster

The Gila monster is a species of venomous lizard native to the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexican state of Sonora...

, South American red-footed tortoise

Red-footed tortoise

The red-footed tortoise is a tortoise native to South America. It has also been introduced to many islands in the Caribbean. It draws its name from the red or orange scales visible on its limbs, as well as its head and tail...

, and African bullfrog

African Bullfrog

The African Bullfrog is a species of frog in the Ranidae family. It is also known as the Pixie frog due to its Latin name....

 (Burrowing Frog).

The Central Coast Zoo Society

The Central Coast Zoo Society, originally formed in 1962 as the Children’s Zoo Friendship Society, has formed partnerships with both the City of Atascadero and the Zoo Director to "support and promote the Charles Paddock Zoo, its exhibits, the educational and scientific programs, and the conservation and preservation of wildlife."

The future

Plans for the future include a new fisher

Fisher (animal)

The fisher is a medium-size mammal native to North America. It is a member of the mustelid family, commonly referred to as the weasel family. The fisher is closely related to but larger than the American Marten...

 exhibit and a new Indo-Burma exhibit to include a tiger

Tiger

The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...

, red panda

Red Panda

The red panda , is a small arboreal mammal native to the eastern Himalayas and southwestern China. It is the only species of the genus Ailurus. Slightly larger than a domestic cat, it has reddish-brown fur, a long, shaggy tail, and a waddling gait due to its shorter front legs...

s, and a reptile house for Komodo dragon

Komodo dragon

The Komodo dragon , also known as the Komodo monitor, is a large species of lizard found in the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili Motang and Gili Dasami. A member of the monitor lizard family , it is the largest living species of lizard, growing to a maximum length of in rare cases...

s.

External links

• Zoo page on Atoscadero City Web site