Animal lovers’ calendar: Week of July 19-25

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L.A. animal lovers have a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks; here are a few events to put on your calendar. (Are we missing something? Let us know in the comment section!)

This Week:

Tuesday, July 21, Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge hosts its second of four ‘Family Fun for Nature Nuts’ summer events at the Under the Oaks Theater. Tuesday’s program focuses on the animals of South America’s rainforests, with educators and animal handlers on hand to explain the intricacies of the creatures’ habits, habitat and survival techniques. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnics beginning at 5:30 p.m.; show begins at 6. Admission is $10 for Descanso Gardens members and $12 for nonmembers. (Children under 2 enter free.) To register, call (818) 949-7980; more information available at DescansoGardens.org.

Friday, July 24, the L.A. Zoo hosts ‘Music in the Zoo,’ a concert featuring cover bands playing the songs of the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Who and others from 6 to 9 p.m. Guests can wander the zoo as bands like the Rubber Souls (Beatles covers), Highway 61 Revisited (Dylan covers), Cubensis (Grateful Dead covers) and the Heist (Who, Doors and Led Zeppelin covers) play. Interactive ‘animal education stations’ will be spread throughout the zoo along with food options like a mashed potato bar and a fruit, cheese and wine station. Guests are also invited to bring their own picnics. (It all sounds great, but we do need to warn you: There will also be an Eagles cover band.) Tickets are $12.50 for adult Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. members; $7.50 for members’ children aged 6 to 15; $16.50 for nonmember adults and $10.50 for nonmember children aged 6 to 15. (Children 5 and under enter free.) Discounted tickets for KCET members and more information available at LAZoo.org.

Saturday, July 25, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Assn. holds an informational meeting for potential volunteer docents from 10:30 a.m. to noon at the L.A. Zoo’s Witherbee Auditorium. Docents serve as volunteer teachers at the zoo and must complete a training program offered by the zoo each fall in conjunction with UCLA Extension. Docents must be 18 or older and able to commit to 100 hours of volunteer work per year for a minimum of two years. Reservations are not required for the July 25 meeting; for more information, contact the zoo’s docent chair at (323) 644-4702 or e-mail docents@lazoo.org.

Upcoming:

Tuesday, July 28, Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge hosts its third of four ‘Family Fun for Nature Nuts’ summer events. The program focuses on the animals of Africa, with a special focus on their habits, habitat and survival techniques. Guests are encouraged to bring their own picnics beginning at 5:30 p.m.; show begins at 6. Admission is $10 for Descanso Gardens members and $12 for non-members. (Children under 2 enter free.) To register, call (818) 949-7980; more information available at DescansoGardens.org.

Tuesday, July 28, dogs (‘of all faiths!’) and their humans (presumably, also of all faiths) will mingle at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, 555 W. Temple Street in downtown L.A., from 6 to 9 p.m. Human attendees must be downtown residents; dogs must be on leashes and behave well with people and other dogs. For more information and to RSVP, go to DowntownLA.com.

Wednesday, Aug. 5, animal trainer Jennifer McCarthy offers a free seminar on coexisting with wildlife from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Healthy Spot L.A., 1110 Wilshire Blvd., Santa Monica. Topics include protecting pets from coyotes and mountain lions and understanding why Southern California coyote and mountain lion sightings are on the rise. The seminar also includes a Q&A session. More information at McCarthy’s website.

Wednesday, Aug. 26, Dr. Chugey Sepulveda offers a lecture on the shortfin mako and common thresher sharks at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach from 7 to 9 p.m. The lecture will focus on the biology, ecology and recent movement studies of these two shark species. Sepulveda is laboratory director of the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research. Cost is $8, $4 for aquarium members and free for students with valid student ID. Reservations aren’t required but are encouraged as the lecture may sell out. Students wishing to use their free entry must make an advance reservation by calling (562) 590-3100. More information at Aquarium of the Pacific’s website.

Ongoing:

It’s ‘Shark Summer’ at the Aquarium of the Pacific, and to celebrate, the aquarium is extending its hours and offering visitors a discount on Sunday evenings. Sundays from now until Sept. 6, admission fees will be reduced to $11.95 beginning at 5 p.m., and visitors can hang out with the sharks (as well as the aquarium’s other sea life) until 10 p.m. More information on Shark Summer events at Aquarium of the Pacific’s website.

In Theaters:

‘Food, Inc.’ is the new documentary from producer-director Robert Kenner. It examines the way food gets from the farm to the plate and, critic Gary Goldstein writes, ‘after [its] disturbing glimpses inside the meat industry, along with its blunt indictment of fast food giants, you’ll think twice before eating just about anything nonorganic.’ Peter Travers of Rolling Stone calls it ‘an essential, indelible documentary that is scarier than anything in the last five Saw horror shows.’ Check Zap2It for theaters and show times.

‘Earth’ is the first foray into filmmaking by Disney’s new documentary unit, Disneynature. Orlando Sentinel film critic Roger Moore says it’s ‘a grab bag of beautiful nature footage, a bit all over the place in subject,’ but hey -- we’d take a grab bag over a lot of the other movies playing nowadays. Bonus for parents: It’s G-rated. Check Zap2It for theaters and show times.

The latest from animation studio Pixar is ‘Up,’ which Times film critic Kenneth Turan saysis ‘not only good, it’s one of Pixar’s best.’ Although the story centers onthe character of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) and the young stowaway who goes along for the ride when he attempts to float his house to South America with thousands of helium balloons, there are several great plot elements for animal lovers. One centers on a chocolate-loving exotic bird; our favorite involves, as Turan puts it, ‘a pack of dogs equipped with high-tech collars that turn their classically canine thoughts into words.’ The result is priceless (but requires a minimum of four handkerchiefs). Check Zap2It for theaters and showtimes.

-- Lindsay Barnett