For the second year in a row, officials are moving to raise ticket prices for the Los Angeles Zoo.
The Los Angeles City Council’s Arts, Parks and Libraries Committee voted Tuesday to hike zoo ticket prices by $2 across the board, an increase of 7% to 9% depending on the type of ticket purchased.
The price increase next goes to the council’s Budget Committee, and must ultimately be approved by the full City Council.
If passed, general admission to the 133-acre zoo in Griffith Park will rise to $29 for adults, $24 for children and $26 for seniors.
The city’s fiscal 2026-27 budget already presumes the ticket price increase will go into effect.
Prices went up last year at the zoo by $5 per ticket as the city worked to close a budget gap. The last hike before then was in 2012, when prices rose by $2.
The 59-year-old L.A. Zoo has been roiled in controversy and legal fights for years. The city, which owns and operates the zoo, sued its longtime fundraising partner — the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. — in 2024 after it claimed the nonprofit was withholding $50 million in an endowment fund and breaching its agreements.
L.A. partnered with the nonprofit GLAZA in 1963 to handle fundraising and special events for the zoo. Its operating agreement with the city ended last year and a judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking GLAZA from retaining or distributing the endowment fund.
GLAZA had its bankruptcy case struck down by a federal judge last month after the city attorney’s office argued its Chapter 11 filing was done in order to delay the $50-million lawsuit.
The zoo showcased 1,600 animals but has struggled in recent years due to a lack of funding and staffing; elephants Billy and Tina were moved to the Tulsa Zoo after decades of frustration from animal advocates regarding their living conditions and the deaths of two other elephants.
Other exhibits have closed because they need major renovations. The zoo is seeing challenges to its national accreditation after federal regulators spotted rust and and peeling paint in some of its exhibits, and pointed out “critical” funding and staffing shortages.
With the city’s relationship with its main fundraising partner gone, an L.A. County grand jury report suggested the city find a new private-public partnership to keep the zoo afloat.
Even with the potential increase, a visit to the L.A. Zoo is a bargain compared to others in Southern California. The San Diego Zoo, which hosts 12,000 animals on 100 acres, charges adults $78 for a one-day pass.
