Few cities highlight the bond between humans and animals quite like Los Angeles. Have you really been to LA until you’ve stood behind an influencer cradling her Frenchie in the line at the Trader Joe’s on Vine? No matter where you turn in this city, people are treating their dogs, cats, and even the occasional parrot, like exalted deities gracing our lives. And rightfully so. It only makes sense that we’d seek their comfort in death as well. You’ll find hallmarks of the importance of animals in virtually any Los Angeles cemetery you visit. Today, we’ll look at a few unusual examples of animals standing at the veil between life and death.
The Pink Tiger of Evergreen Cemetery
A tiger is an understandably startling sight in a Los Angeles cemetery. Now, a pink tiger? There can’t be any other graveyard in the world with one of those. Yet, it’s the crowning glory of the Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association plot in Boyle Heights’s Evergreen Cemetery. Evergreen has a storied history of inclusive burial services. Famously, it was the first LA area cemetery to allow the interment of African Americans on their grounds.
The Pacific Coast Showmen’s Association plot reinforces that welcoming spirit. It stands proudly over an area where over 400 former carnival workers are buried. Every year, members of the organization make a pilgrimage to the rose marble tiger to pay their respects. Behind the gates of Evergreen, this marker memorializes these artists with a dignity befitting their craft. And it does so under the watchful eyes of their puce feline guardian.
The Most Famous Los Angeles Cemetery Loves Its Peafowls
For the last two decades, Hollywood Forever Cemetery has been one of the most colorful cemeteries in Los Angeles thanks largely to its population of peafowls. That’s right; the star-studded Los Angeles cemetery is well-known to be home to around 50 peafowl, many of which are peacocks strutting their peeper-popping plumage. They’re not always waltzing around the grounds though. For their safety, they spend nights, weekends, and events inside of a series of pens against the north wall of the grounds.
The peacocks of Hollywood Forever aren’t exactly a secret among Angelenos, nor is Hollywood Forever the only cemetery in the world to host peafowls. They are lesser-known symbols of immortality in the Christian religion, so their placement in a Los Angeles cemetery extends beyond aesthetics. While it can be hard to peel your eyes away from the real McCoys, you’ll find peacock imagery throughout Hollywood Forever. Notably, their images decorate stained glass windows in the entry flower shop and painted murals along the dome of the columbarium. Pro tip: If you find a peacock feather on Hollywood Forever grounds, it’s yours to keep!
Animal Apparitions and Celebrity Critters at Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park
It might be cheating a little bit, but our final look into the bizarre presence of animals in the Los Angeles cemetery scene is a graveyard specifically for animals. You’ll find one of the country’s largest pet cemeteries in Calabasas of all places. Los Angeles Pet Memorial Park provides burial ground for over 40,000 beloved pets. And while each is undeniably special in its way, some have reputations that loom a little larger.
Take Tawny the lion for example; a circus refugee with a mysterious past. Never heard of Tawny? Well, you’ve possibly seen him. Historians allege his roar to be among those that heralded MGM Studios pictures. Tawny shares a grave with his closest friend; a tiny (by comparison) house cat.
Los Angeles Memorial Park is also rumored to be haunted by Kabar, the former dog of Hollywood legend Rudolph Valentino. Kabar remained fixated on Valentino to the end, passing away just months after the star. The canine’s ghost alerts unsuspecting guests to its presence by a panting and phantom licking of hands. How this differentiates Kabar from other paranormal pooches remains unclear. We’re just relieved he’s a friendly boy.
A Natural End
While we’ve focused on the more unusual examples of animal presence in the Los Angeles cemetery circuit, there are plenty more examples to be found by visiting the sites yourself. Some of LA’s most beautiful areas are the serene, manicured burial grounds that pepper the city. These ambassadors of Mother Nature make our lives easier, whether we’re enjoying kinship with them as pets or observing them in the wild from afar. No wonder they bring so much comfort in the final journey of our lives.
