The Hollywood Bowl is renowned for staging world-class live music under the stars. But while audiences are focused on the stage, another world is quietly active all around the grounds of the venue. Tucked into a canyon and backed by steep, brush-covered hillsides, the Bowl is also a functioning ecosystem—home to a wide range of plants and animals that have long inhabited this stretch of the Hollywood Hills. 

Red-tailed hawks soar overhead. Squirrels scurry across the grass. Anna’s hummingbirds zip around the Bowl shell. Raccoons, brush rabbits, and even mountain lions pass through the area. (Did you know that the first time the famous local puma P-22 was ever spotted was just across the 101 on The Ford property?) These creatures live alongside the musicians, staff, and thousands of visitors who pass through each week.  

For over a century, the Bowl has been a public park managed by Los Angeles County and operated by the Hollywood Bowl Association (which later became part of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association). As stewards of the land, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that the many animal and native plant species that call the Bowl home are cared for in the best, most humane way possible.  

Mark Ladd, Director of Operations at the Bowl and its county-appointed Superintendent, says he’s seen and handled a number of wild animals throughout his four decades working for the LA Phil and LA County.  

“We get a couple different species of deer here pretty much every day,” Ladd says. “We see the big raptor birds, like hawks and great horned owls, and we get a lot of reptiles.”

Like snakes!

“People really freak out when they see a snake, including our own employees,” he says. Fortunately for staff, “you don’t have to touch a snake to catch a snake. We capture and release them to a more remote part of the park.”

The same goes for skunks sneaking into the theater, birds wandering into the Bowl Museum, and other creatures that find themselves beyond their immediate habitat. They’re all part of the ecosystem.   

Throughout the venue, you’ll also find a multitude of plants—from shrubs and trees to berries and flowers—that fill the park with life, color, and sustenance. The vast majority are native to the state or more specifically to the Hollywood Hills. Since these plants are from here, they’ve evolved over time to grow and survive in California’s chaparral ecosystem without excessive water and maintenance. That also means these plants keep the habitat healthy and resilient in the face of drought, wildfires, and other environmental threats. 

The Hollywood Bowl sits on 88 acres of biodiverse land in the middle of a mountain fire zone, beside a freeway, and along the second busiest street in the city (Highland Avenue). With these immense environmental pressures, it is essential to continue our conservation efforts and ongoing green initiatives.  

This summer, we’re commissioning a biotic survey to gain a better understanding of which plant and animal species share the space with us. By using cameras set up around the Bowl, we’ll be able to know who is stopping by, how they’re doing, and what we can do to be better neighbors and cohabitants. To learn more about what we’re doing to maintain the Bowl grounds (and support the flora and fauna that live here), visit the Hollywood Bowl Green Initiatives page.

Who and what lives at the Bowl? Here are some to name a few!