Temporary Exhibits
Jungleland
There was a time when residents of the Conejo Valley weren't surprised to see an elephant walking down the street, lions sunning themselves in a parking lot, or a hippo accompanying his two-legged buddy into a bar. Back in the day, Thousand Oaks was home to not only the Jungleland wild animal park (sited where the Civic Arts Plaza now stands) and its performers, trainers and staff, but also to circuses that over-wintered in the area, animal trainers who supplied beasts of all stripes to the television and movie industry, as well as the attendant veterinarians and other folks employed to care for the animals.
Let us introduce you to some "wild" personalities from those days, both animal and human!
Leonard Bessom with Mammoth tooth, 1961. Photograph by Frank Knight, courtesy of the Thousand Oaks Library.
Mammoth Bones
On tap for later this year is the exhibit "Fossils of the Conejo Valley" which will reveal the exciting evidence of snakes, snails and other creatures from our region's past. Did you know that a Mammoth was found near the construction site of the 101 Freeway near Ventu Park Road? We have those bones--they demonstrate that even the teeth of the Mammoth Elephant were, well... mammoth!!
This photo was taken during excavation of fossil mammoth bones on the Radioplane site in Rancho Conejo, in 1961. Leonard Bessom, a paleontologist with the LA Co. Museum of Natural History is the man handling the fossils in the photo.
