I received the following information as a blogger via Walt Disney Publications. While I’m attending an expense paid trip by Disney to the press events for Avengers: Age of Ultron (#AvengersEvent) and Monkey Kingdom (#MonkeyKingdom, #LAZoo), all opinions as always are 100% my own.

Last Friday I visited the LA Zoo with 24 other bloggers for a private tour. This was part of an all expense paid trip to LA for a screening of Disneynature’s Monkey Kingdom which comes out in theaters this Friday, April 17th. The tour was heavily monkey based as we visited many of the monkey and great ape exhibits around the zoo. I had never been to the LA Zoo before and it was a pretty nice zoo. I’m used to our cute little Capron Park Zoo that you can do in 30 minutes but the LA Zoo was a half day experience at minimum. There were many, many exhibits and they were laid out in over a large area. We were lucky that we got to ride on golf carts all over the place, it made it easy for us to see as much as we did in the short visit.

We came to the LA Zoo directly from our screening of Monkey Kingdom and each of us was given a stuffed Maya Plush toy. Maya is the main monkey star of Monkey Kingdom. The movie was adorable and I think that kids will really enjoy it. There is a big push for people to see the movie during the opening week (April 17-23) because Disneynature will make a donation in your honor to Conservation International to help protect monkeys and other endangered species in their natural habitats. Learn more at http://nature.disney.com/monkey-kingdom. I am planning on taking the kids.

You can see the trailer below.

Our Tour started at the front of the zoo. We were met by Cathy Walker, the Manager of Private and Special Events for the LA Zoo. Cathy called over a squad of golf carts and we loaded up. We were taken up to the hippo enclosure where we got to meet mamma Mara, daddy Adama and baby Rosie. They were busy sleeping with baby Rosie in between mom and dad. I did manage to snap a few shots of Rosie and Adama.

We looked in on the new tiger, CJ. CJ is three years old and they are looking to mate him with a female tiger soon. Along the way we met with many different zoo keepers. the docents kindly drove us around and also answered our questions.

I wandered over to the rhino enclosure so that I could also take a photo of the rhino. Eventually the rhino did turn around so that I could see his face. Or her, I was by myself so I didn’t know and I didn’t ask. Too much to see and too much going on. We were then off and moving again.

We went through more exhibits and then got to the Siamang exhibit. There were two of these animals and they sing to each other. They are super loud because they have to communicate across dense forests and their sound must travel. We were there while the Siamang sang and vocalized. Siamang are not monkeys, something I learned on the trip.

I snapped a picture of this Moustached Guenon, or blue faced monkey. I really liked the look of this one so I tried to get a real good photo of him looking at me.

We then observed the Chimpanzees and their new baby chimps. The zoo was really busy on the day that we were there with school groups and more. I hung back a bit while this was happening. Got too congested for me where everyone was standing. I found another vantage point for some photos of the chimps. Just far enough away that I could still hear the zookeeper talk about the chimps.

For lunch we ate in a private area right where we could watch the giraffes in their enclosure. I really liked the layout of the LA Zoo. There where so many exhibits and they looked nice while also having many areas where patrons could gather and enjoy seeing the animals.

Right after lunch we went to the exhibit for the Kikuyu Colobus Monkeys. They had some new babies and were a lot of fun to watch. The whole monkey family takes turns stealing the baby and helping to raise it. It was like watching a game of monkey baby keep-away.

Right after that we visited some more exhibits and also a hand carved and hand painted carousel. I rode on a giant elephant. Each animal on the carousel was uniquely different and they looked incredible. I took a few photos of the different animals on the carousel. I was also lucky that Tammilee of Tammilee Tips took the one of me below. She took a ton of photos of all the bloggers and they came out really nice. I like this one.

From the carousel we made our way over to where we observed some more monkeys like the Howler monkey. There were three in the exhibit including a baby. As we watched, the keeper fed them some grapes and they went crazy for them. They don’t get them that often because of the high sugar content. When they do they love it. Probably just like people when they get a sugar high. The baby was so cute. Hard to get a good shot but still fun to watch.

We ended our trip with a stop at the Kangaroo and Koala enclosure. There were new babies in the enclosure. The new baby Koala was adorable and so was the new kangaroo. The new Kangaroo was part of a naming contest #NameOurRoo that the zoo was holding. The zoo is pretty active on social media and that is a great thing. I love seeing their photos of the animals.

At the end of the tour by the entrance/exit of the zoo there was a table set up to talk to people about Monkey Kingdom. I made sure that I took Maya over there to get a photo.

Don’t miss out on your chance to help just by seeing the movie, Monkey Kingdom in the first week (April 17-23). Look for this poster.

Also here is more information on how Conservation International will help with the proceeds. Click the links for a .PDF of information.

Conservation International Program Summary

Ways to Give Back with Conservation International and Monkey Kingdom

Get Social with the links below:

MONKEY KINGDOM (4/17/15)
https://www.facebook.com/Disneynature
https://twitter.com/Disneynature (#MonkeyKingdom)
http://disneynature.tumblr.com/
http://instagram.com/disneynature
http://nature.disney.com/monkey-kingdom

LA ZOO
https://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesZoo
https://twitter.com/lazoo (#LAZoo)
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheLosAngelesZoo
http://www.pinterest.com/losangeleszoo/
http://www.lazoo.org/