Meet Lovely Animals at the Philly Zoo

‘America’s First Zoo’

The Philadelphia Zoo is located on the west bank of the Schuylkill River and is part of the Fairmount Park section in Philadelphia. The Zoo is one of the premier zoos in the world for breeding animals that have been found difficult to breed in captivity.

History of Philadelphia Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo, the nation’s oldest zoo, was chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, but the Civil War delayed its opening until July 1, 1874. The Frank Furness Victorian gates and gatehouses, and the Zoo’s location, are the same today as they were on the day it opened.

On opening day, there were more than 3,000 visitors. Admission was 25 cents for adults and 10 cents for children, a rate that held for the next half century.

In its first year of operation, the Philadelphia Zoo had 813 animals and received well over 228,000 visitors. Today, the Zoo has more than 1,300 rare and endangered animals, and its attendance is approximately 1.1 million visitors a year.

Philadelphia Zoo Experience & Atmosphere

The Philadelphia Zoo is not only the first zoo in America, but many of the exhibits are up-close and personal. The zoo is 42 acres large and is home to more than 1,300 animals, many of which are rare and endangered.

The zoo features a children’s zoo, a balloon ride, a paddle-boat lake, a rainforest themed carousel, and many interactive and educational exhibits. What makes the Philadelphia Zoo unique from so many other zoos are it’s special events throughout the year. One example is the “keeping up with the keeper” event. You get to find out what it takes to be an animal keeper at the Zoo. Go behind the scenes with one of the zoo keepers to help them with their early morning chores.

Zoo360 Animal Exploration Trails

Zoo360 is a campus-wide network of see-through mesh trails that affords more opportunities for animals to roam around and above Zoo grounds.

The trails link existing animal habitats, so animals with similar habitat requirements can use one another’s spaces in a time-sharing system and take advantage of more room to roam. New destination exhibits will be coming in future years as well, designed to accommodate all of the species that would use each trail type. For more info, Zoo360 Trails.

Besides being the first zoo in America, the Philadelphia Zoo had the first orangutan and chimp births in a U.S. zoo (1928), the world’s first Children’s Zoo (1957), and the first U.S. exhibit of white lions (1993), among other firsts. The zoo also has the only breeding giant otters in North America. The zoo was the first to exhibit them in 1996 and the first and only to breed them in 2004.

How incredible is the Philadelphia Zoo? Here is a statement by a zoo professional.

Did you ever wonder what happens at the Zoo once the lights go out? Take the opportunity to see the Zoo like never before, at night, in the dark! Another special event at the Philadelphia Zoo, in which you can spend the night at the zoo.

How about this experience at the Philadelphia Zoo. A baby kangaroo, called a ‘Joey’, finally comes out of the mother’s puch after being born. This usually happens about 190 days after it’s born and feels safe to leave the pouch. The ‘Joey’ will spend sufficient time in the pouch, after finally leaving around the 230th day or so.

The Philadelphia Zoo is an exciting place to visit for so many reasons. If visiting Philadelphia, this is one place that must be on your list of things to do in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Zoo thrives on reinventing the zoo experience for the 21st century, and won’t be a disappointment.