Fort Worth Zoo facts for kids
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| Date opened | 1909 |
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| Location | Fort Worth, Texas, United States of America |
| Land area | 64 acres (26 ha) |
| Coordinates | 32°43′19″N 97°21′24″W / 32.7219°N 97.3566°W |
| No. of species | 542 |
| Memberships | AZA ZAA WAZA |
The Fort Worth Zoo is a super cool place in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, where you can see over 7,000 different animals from all over the world! It's been called one of the best zoos in the country by magazines like Family Life and newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. People also voted it one of the top zoos in the South.
The Fort Worth Zoo is officially approved by important groups like the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the Zoological Association of America (ZAA). It's also part of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), which means it meets high standards for animal care and conservation.
Contents
A Look Back: The Zoo's History
How the Zoo Started
The Fort Worth Zoo first opened its doors way back in 1909. Can you imagine? It started with just a few animals: one African lion, two baby bears, an alligator, a coyote, a peacock, and some rabbits. For a long time, until 1991, the City of Fort Worth owned and ran the zoo. People in the community even helped raise money to buy new animals! Later, in 1939, a group called the Zoological Society (now the Fort Worth Zoological Association) was created to help raise even more funds.
Changing Exhibits Over Time
One interesting part of the zoo's history is "Monkey Island," which was built in 1937. Over the years, this spot changed a lot! It was a sea lion pool, then housed small South American mammals, then storks and cranes, and even alligators. Today, it's home to beautiful flamingos!
In 1960, the Herpetarium opened. This was a special indoor building for reptiles and amphibians. It was huge and had amazing technology for its time, like special air conditioning and temperature-controlled water for the animals. It even had cool exhibits with giant snakes behind curved glass that made it look like there was no glass at all!
New Beginnings and Modern Exhibits
In 1991, the Fort Worth Zoological Association took over running the zoo. This led to many exciting changes! In 1992, they opened two big new areas: World of Primates and Asian Falls. Throughout the 1990s, the zoo kept growing, adding places like Raptor Canyon, Asian Rhino Ridge, a cheetah exhibit, Flamingo Bay, and Insect City. They also built a new veterinary center to help keep the animals healthy.
The early 2000s brought even more new exhibits. In 2001, Texas Wild! opened, showing off animals that live right here in Texas. Then came Parrot Paradise in 2004, the Great Barrier Reef in 2005 (part of a new Australian Outback area), and a penguin exhibit in 2008. The old Herpetarium closed in 2009 and was replaced by the amazing Museum of Living Art in 2010.
What's Next: The Zoo's Future Plans
The Fort Worth Zoo has big plans for the future! In 2016, they announced a huge project called "A Wilder Vision." This plan will bring brand new exhibit spaces, updated homes for animals, and new ways for visitors to see and learn about them.
The first part of this plan, a new African Savanna, opened in 2018. Then, in 2021, an even bigger home for elephants opened. Future projects include new and improved areas for African and Asian carnivores (meat-eating animals) and a whole new section called "Forests & Jungles."
The "Predators of Asia and Africa" area opened in June 2023, featuring animals like clouded leopards, African wild dogs, Malayan tigers, African Lions, cheetahs, striped hyenas, and African leopards. The "Forests & Jungles" section, planned for spring 2025, will introduce new species like the okapi and give new homes to Sumatran orangutans, jaguars, and bongos.
Exploring the Zoo: Main Exhibits
The Fort Worth Zoo has many exciting exhibits to explore! Some of the main ones include Penguins, World of Primates, the new Predators of Asia and Africa, Raptor Canyon, Flamingo Bay, Elephant Springs, Australian Outback, African Savanna, Texas Wild!, and the Museum of Living Art (MOLA).
Penguins
This indoor exhibit is home to a colony of African penguins. You can also see southern rockhopper penguins and common eider birds here. Both areas have a beach and a cool underwater viewing spot where you can watch the penguins swim!
World of Primates
Opened in 1992, the World of Primates is a large area covering about 2.5 acres. It has both indoor and outdoor habitats for different primates. When you enter, you walk through a tropical rainforest atrium that's now an aviary. Here, you can see many bird species and mantled guerezas. As you continue, a winding boardwalk takes you past other amazing primates like western lowland gorillas, Sumatran orangutans, mandrills, bonobos, and Northern white-cheeked gibbons.
Elephant Springs
Elephant Springs opened in April 2021 and is a huge, updated home for the zoo's Asian elephants. Before you get to the elephants, you can see Indian rhinoceros from a special viewing area. There's also a demonstration area where you can watch elephant encounter shows!
Predators of Asia and Africa
This exciting new exhibit opened in June 2023. It features large yards for amazing carnivores like lions, cheetahs, African wild dogs, and new African leopards. You can also see Sumatran tigers, striped hyenas, and clouded leopards. Plus, there are aviaries with many African and Asian birds, including lesser flamingos and red-crowned cranes.
Raptor Canyon
Raptor Canyon is a large aviary that opened in 1993. It's home to many impressive birds of prey, such as crowned eagles, Andean condors, king vultures, harpy eagles, cinereous vultures, African fish eagles, and palm-nut vultures.
Flamingo Bay
Flamingo Bay is where you can see two of the four types of flamingos at the zoo: American flamingos and Chilean flamingos. The zoo has even had success breeding these beautiful birds!
Australian Outback/Great Barrier Reef
This exhibit has been updated and now includes the Great Barrier Reef! In the Australian Outback, you can see galahs, red kangaroos, and Australian brushturkeys. The Great Barrier Reef part has three huge tanks with over 10,000 gallons of water! It's home to about 500 aquatic animals from 86 different species, including clownfish, angelfish, brain corals, stingrays, and sea apples.
African Savanna
Opened in 2018, the African Savanna lets you see animals like reticulated giraffes, lesser kudu, springbok, ostriches, southern ground hornbills, Cape vultures, pink-backed pelicans, and helmeted guineafowl. You can view them from many spots, including an elevated boardwalk where you can even feed giraffes! This area also has homes for southern black rhinos, an underwater viewing area for hippopotamus, a greater flamingo pond, the zoo's meerkats, and an aviary with different African birds.
Texas Wild!
Texas Wild! opened in 2001 and shows off many animals that live right here in Texas. This section even has a carousel with hand-painted ponies! The "Texas Town" area helps you get ready to explore the rest of the exhibit.
- High Plains and Prairies shows animals from the Panhandle and Northwestern Texas, like swift foxes, greater roadrunners, burrowing owls, black-tailed prairie dogs, white-tailed deer, and wild turkeys.
- Pineywoods and Swamps represents East Texas. Here, you'll find red wolves, North American river otters, American alligators, and American black bears.
- Gulf Coast is home to animals from Southern Texas, including aquatic animals and waterfowl like roseate spoonbills, American white pelicans, and brown pelicans.
- Brush Country also represents Southern Texas. This section features bobcats, cougars, coyotes, jaguars, ocelots, ring-tailed cats, and white-nosed coatis, along with birds of prey like the bald eagle.
- The Mountains and Desert area is currently being updated into a new section focused on education and protecting animals.
Museum of Living Art (MOLA)
The Museum of Living Art (MOLA) is a fantastic 30,000 square foot building that replaced the old herpetarium. It houses over 5,000 animals from more than 100 different species from all over the world! You can see amazing creatures like a saltwater crocodile, a blue iguana, Aldabra giant tortoises, a Burmese python, pig-nosed turtles, ring-tailed lemurs, gharials, a crocodile monitor, a hellbender, and a king cobra. The zoo's Komodo dragons also live here.
Helping Animals: Conservation Efforts
The Fort Worth Zoo is very involved in helping to protect animals. They have a special fund called the Arthur A. Seeligson Jr. Conservation Fund (SCF). This fund gives money to scientists, teachers, and organizations who work to protect Texas wildlife. For example, money from this fund has helped train dogs to find Houston toads and study alligator snapping turtles.
The zoo's own conservation biologists also work on many projects to help increase populations of endangered species, like the Anegada rock iguana, Panamanian golden frog, Louisiana pine snake, and Texas kangaroo rat.
The Fort Worth Zoo also partners with many other conservation groups around the world, like the International Elephant Foundation and the International Rhino Foundation. They work together in over 30 countries to help save animals!
Art at the Zoo
The zoo also has some unique art! One cool piece is a giant, 40-foot iguana sculpture named Iggy. This sculpture was so big that a helicopter had to lower it onto the roof of the animal hospital in 2010! It was created by an artist named Bob "Daddy-O" Wade.
Images for kids
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A zebra at Fort Worth Zoo, 2005
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Two malayan tiger cubs playing
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Bobcat in Texas Wild!
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Caiman lizards
