Search results
The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is a 183-acre (74 ha) zoo in Cleveland, Ohio. The Zoo is divided into several areas: Australian Adventure; African Savanna; Northern Wilderness Trek, The Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building, Waterfowl Lake, The RainForest, Asian Highlands, and the newly added Susie's Bear Hollow.
The Zoo began as Wade Park in 1882 after Jeptha H. Wade donated 73-acres of land and 14 American deer to the City of Cleveland. By 1907, however, Cleveland City Council had laid plans to build the Cleveland Museum of Art and decided to move the Zoo to its current location.
The CLEVELAND METROPARKS ZOO is located near BROOKSIDE PARK on the southwest side of Cleveland, with offices at 3900 Brookside Park Dr. Occupying 165 acres, the zoo is home to 3,300 animals of over 500 different species, and by 1995 had an annual attendance of more than 1.2 million.
While numerous changes have taken place since the 1950s in how Cleveland's zoo is operated, designed and marketed, the prestige and success of the institution remains intertwined with a perceived educational value. Attracting more than one million visitors a years, Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has grown into one of the city's most popular attractions.
A look at Cleveland Zoological Park exhibits constructed between 1940 and 1960 tells the story of a dramatic change in how American zoological parks were perceived, built and managed over the last century.
In 2012, Cleveland Metroparks named Christopher Kuhar, Ph.D. the new director of the Zoo – only the tenth director in the zoo’s nearly 140-year-old history.
As early as the 1920s, the San Diego Zoo was the nation's most noted park to commit itself to matching natural habitats as closely as possible. Marking the latest progression in zoo habitat development, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opened African Elephant Crossing in May 2011.
