The Detroit Zoo is located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the state of Michigan. It covers an area of 125 acres and is home to more than 2,000 animals from over 200 different species. The zoo was the first in the United States to create habitats without bars, and it is considered a leader worldwide in animal care, protecting wildlife, and using resources wisely by the Detroit Zoological Society.

History

The original Detroit Zoo opened in 1883 on Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, across from Tiger Stadium. William Cameron Coup’s circus arrived in town but had to be sold at auction because of financial problems. Luther Beecher, a local businessman, paid for the circus’s animals and built a structure to display them, which he called the Detroit Zoological Garden. This version of the zoo closed the next year, and the building was later used as a horse auction site (the Michigan Avenue Horse Exchange).

The Detroit Zoological Society was created in 1911, but the zoo officially opened on August 1, 1928. During the opening ceremony, acting Mayor John C. Nagel was supposed to speak. He arrived late and (without knowing) parked his car behind the bear exhibits. When he got out of his car, a polar bear in one of the original “barrier-less” enclosures tried to jump toward the mayor, nearly crossing the moat around its exhibit. Nagel waved his hand and walked toward the bear, joking, “He’s the reception committee.” The zookeepers quickly stopped the bear, and the mayor was not hurt.

By 1930, the zoo had areas like the Bear Dens, Sheep Rocks, the Bird House, an elk exhibit, Baboon Rock, and Primate and Reptile Houses. The Great Depression stopped the zoo from expanding until the 1940s. During this time, one of the zoo’s popular animals was a chimpanzee named Jo Mendi. The zoo director bought Jo with his own money. Jo had experience in Broadway shows and movies and performed for visitors. A newspaper reported that Jo “counts his fingers, dresses, laces his shoes, pours tea, eats with a spoon, dances, and waves farewell.” When Jo became sick in late 1932 after eating a penny thrown by a guest, doctors from local hospitals examined him. Visitors sent toys, peanuts, over $500 worth of flowers, and thousands of cards and letters during his recovery. Jo died in 1934 from hoof and mouth disease.

In 1939, a fountain called the Horace Rackham Memorial Fountain, or “the Bear Fountain,” was built with a donation from Mary Rackham. The sculptor Corrado Parducci created it. In summer, the fountain is a splash pad, and in winter, it becomes an ice rink.

From the 1950s through the early 1970s, a local weatherman named Sonny Eliot hosted a TV show called At The Zoo, which aired on Saturdays on WDIV.

In 1950, the zoo hired Thomas (Fred) Roberts, a senior floriculturist. Roberts was an expert on dahlias, and his garden displays, especially the dahlia exhibit near the Rackham Memorial Fountain, attracted visitors from across the country. Throughout the mid-1900s and into the 1980s, the zoo’s gardens featured perennials, flowers, and tropical plants. Sonny Eliot interviewed Roberts on one of his At The Zoo episodes. Roberts worked at the zoo until 1978, and his garden designs were kept up through the 1980s.

Until 1982, trained chimpanzees performed for visitors, but the act ended because of pressure from animal rights activists. In 1982, the zoo started charging admission fees.

The Arctic Ring of Life, one of North America’s largest polar bear habitats, opened in 2001. It includes a 300,000-gallon aquarium and a 70-foot underwater tunnel made of clear acrylic, allowing visitors to see polar bears from below. Other new buildings include the Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex (2004) and the Ford Education Center (2005), which offers programs for schools, youth groups, and has a theater and exhibit space.

In 2005, the zoo became the first in the U.S. to stop keeping elephants because of ethical concerns. The zoo claimed that Michigan’s cold winters were too harsh for elephants and that keeping them in enclosures was stressful. The elephants, Wanda and Winky, were moved to a sanctuary in California. Winky died in 2008, and Wanda died in 2015. The former elephant exhibit was later used for two white rhinoceroses, Jasiri and Tamba.

The Australian Outback Adventure, opened in 2006, lets visitors walk through a simulated Outback with red kangaroos and red-necked wallabies. No barriers separate visitors from the animals, allowing them to hop freely onto the path.

On February 18, 2006, the Detroit City Council voted to close the zoo due to budget cuts, as no agreement was reached with the Society to take over the park and a legislative grant had expired. After public protests, the Council voted on March 1, 2006, to transfer operations to the Society with a $4 million grant from the Michigan Legislature. The city kept ownership of the zoo and other assets, while the Society managed the zoo. In 2008, voters in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties approved a zoo tax to provide long-term funding.

In 2009, the Penguinarium was temporarily renamed the “Winguinarium” during the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penguins.

In 2011, the lions’ enclosure was redesigned to give the animals more than double the space, new landscaping, and a glass wall for closer interactions with visitors. The zoo also has a Simulator Ride, a 4-D Theater, the Tauber Family Railroad, and a carousel.

In 2013, the zoo announced plans for the Polk Penguin Conservation Center (PPCC) after receiving its largest donation ever—$10 million. The PPCC opened in 2016 and replaced the Penguinarium (built in 1968), becoming the world’s largest penguin research facility. The Penguinarium will be used for events.

In 2017, a biodigester was installed to turn manure and food waste into methane, which powers the zoo’s animal hospital.

On July 6, 2019, the zoo celebrated the birth of Keti, a red panda cub, born after a 4-month pregnancy.

In September 2019, the Penguin Center closed for waterproofing repairs. The penguins were moved back to the original Penguinarium (their home from 1968 to 2015) until the Polk Center reopened. The center reopened on February 14, 2022, after delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It now houses five penguin species: King, Macaroni, Gentoo, Chinstrap, and Rockhopper.

Habitats

The National Amphibian Conservation Center is a $7 million, 12,000-square-foot building located on a two-acre wetland and pond area in Michigan called "Amphibiville." The Center opened in June 2000 and is home to many types of frogs, toads, salamanders, newts, and caecilians. The Wall Street Journal called the attraction "Disneyland for toads." The Center helps with research and conservation efforts for species such as the Panamanian golden frog, Puerto Rican crested toad, and Wyoming toad.

In 2002, the Zoo received the AZA National Exhibit Award for Amphibiville.

The 4-acre Arctic Ring of Life, opened in October 2001, is home to three polar bears and two southern sea otters. It is one of the largest polar bear habitats in North American zoos. In 2003, the Zoo was awarded the AZA Significant Achievement Award for the Arctic Ring of Life.

The 1.7-acre pond and wetlands area, along with a 7,200-square-foot boardwalk, recreate a Michigan ecosystem. Native fish, frogs, turtles, birds, and trumpeter swans live there. The boardwalk is made mostly from recycled plastic grocery bags and reclaimed hardwood. This area is surrounded by Amphibiville, the Warchol Beaver Habitat, the Edward Mardigian Sr. River Otter Habitat, and the Holden Reptile Conservation Center.

A $102,350 grant from NOAA helps use the Wetlands as a training and learning space for teachers and students who are underrepresented in science.

The Cotton Family Wolf Wilderness is a $1.4 million, two-acre sanctuary with native meadows, trees, a stream, pond, dens, and rock formations for two gray wolves. The habitat includes a historic log cabin that was already on the property.

At the Giraffe Encounter, guests feed reticulated giraffes from an 18-foot-tall platform that extends into their habitat. This experience, which began in July 2007, is open Tuesday through Sunday during spring and fall. It requires an extra fee.

The Great Apes of Harambee is a 4-acre indoor and outdoor habitat for chimpanzees and western lowland gorillas. The animals can move between habitats, mimicking the nomadic behavior seen in the wild.

Opened in 1960 as the Holden Museum of Living Reptiles, the Holden Reptile Conservation Center is home to 150 reptiles from 70 species. About 45 percent of these species are threatened or endangered in the wild.

The Edward Mardigian Sr. River Otter Habitat is home to North American river otters. It includes a 9,000-gallon pool with a waterfall and waterslide. One side of the pool is enclosed by a glass wall, and the other side has an observation building. This setup allows visitors, including young children, to see the otters at eye level.

The Polk Penguin Conservation Center (PPCC), opened in April 2016, is the world’s largest penguin center. It won the 2017 Exhibit Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums for its design. The PPCC was closed from September 2019 to February 14, 2022, for waterproofing repairs.

The Jane and Frank Warchol Beaver Habitat, opened in 2013, is next to the Cotton Family Wetlands and is home to nine North American beavers. Since beavers are active at night, their activities are recorded and shown on televisions during the day. This is the first time beavers have been displayed at the Zoo since 1969.

The Wildlife Interpretive Gallery includes the Butterfly Garden, Matilda Wilson Free-Flight Aviary, Science On a Sphere, and the Society’s permanent fine art collection. The Shelle Isle exhibit focuses on the partula snail.

The American Grasslands habitat is home to animals native to North and South America, such as grizzly bears, wolverines, bald eagles, bison, and others. The newest addition is the sloth bear, which arrived in October 2024.

An immersive habitat allows visitors to interact with two well-known Australian marsupials, kangaroos and wallabies. The animals are free to roam, and guests can walk alongside them.

Detroit Zoological Society

The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit group that runs the Zoo and the Belle Isle Nature Center. The organization uses money from three sources to operate: earned income, donations, and taxes from Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties. It has 260 full- and part-time workers, over 52,000 member households, and more than 1,000 volunteers.

The Society’s mission is "Celebrating and Saving Wildlife." It works with the DNR and USFWS to help release Karner blue butterflies into their natural habitats in Michigan. Each summer, Society staff help care for endangered Great Lakes piping plover eggs by artificially incubating them. Recently, the Society, along with the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge and the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, created a nesting site for common terns on Belle Isle.

The Society helps rescue exotic animals from private homes, fake sanctuaries, roadside zoos, and circuses. Examples include over 1,000 animals taken from a wholesaler in Texas, a polar bear from a circus in Puerto Rico, a lioness used to guard a crack house, and retired racehorses. The Society also partners with the Michigan Humane Society and local groups to host "Meet Your Best Friend at the Zoo," the largest offsite pet adoption event in the nation. Since 1993, more than 25,000 dogs, cats, and rabbits have been adopted through the event.

The Center for Zoo and Aquarium Animal Welfare and Ethics (CZAAWE) was created in 2009 to share knowledge and best practices for caring for exotic animals in captivity. It provides a place for people to discuss and debate animal welfare policies and honors programs that improve animal care.

The Society teaches about 70,000 teachers and students each year through camps, school trips, family programs, and teacher training. It also helps students and teachers in rural rainforest communities learn about conservation through the Adopt-A-School program. The Berman Academy for Humane Education teaches people how to care for animals using methods like storytelling, role-playing, and technology.

The Zoo is certified by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and has several award-winning habitats, including the Wildlife Interpretive Gallery, National Amphibian Conservation Center, Great Apes of Harambee, and Arctic Ring of Life, which was named the second-best zoo exhibit in the U.S.

The Simulator Ride is an educational experience in a moving theater seat. The 4-D Theater, the only one of its kind at a Michigan zoo, has effects like wind, mist, and scents.

The Belle Isle Nature Center is on a five-acre area with untouched wetlands in Detroit’s Belle Isle State Park. It has indoor animal habitats, a bee exhibit, a bird observation window, an outdoor butterfly garden, outdoor classrooms, a nature play area, and the Blue Heron Lagoon Nature Trail. It offers educational, recreational, and conservation activities for the community year-round.

Gallery

• Entrance to the zoo.
• Butterfly in the Butterfly Garden exhibit.
• Pink-backed pelicans (Pelecanus rufescens).
• Zebra habitat area.
• Kisa the Tiger.
• Penguin Center exhibit.
• Rhinoceros in its habitat.
• Lion roaring in the sunlight.
• Mandrill and gorilla in their enclosure.
• Wolf howling in winter at the Wolf Wilderness exhibit.
• Bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) in its habitat.

References and further reading

• Austin, William (1974). The First Fifty Years. The Detroit Zoological Society.
• Detroit Zoological (2003). Wonders Among Us: Celebrating 75 Years of the Detroit Zoo. Detroit Zoological Society. ISBN 0-615-12410-0.
• Fisher, Dale (2003). Building Michigan: A Tribute to Michigan's Construction Industry. Grass Lake, MI: Eyry of the Eagle Publishing. ISBN 1-891143-24-7.
• Landry, Michael. (July/Aug. 2023). "Lions, Tigers, and Bears—Oh My! A History of the Detroit Zoo." Michigan History 107(4), pp. 19++. Lansing, Michigan: Historical Society of Michigan. Accessed via Gale OneFile.
• Rodriguez, Michael and Thomas Featherstone (2003). Detroit's Belle Isle Island Park Gem (Images of America). Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2315-1.
• Kvaran, Einar Einarsson. Shadowing Parducci, unpublished manuscript, Detroit.