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Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium facts for kids
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| Date opened | June 14, 1898 |
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| Location | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States (in Highland Park) |
| Land area | 77 acres (31 ha) |
| Coordinates | 40°29′02″N 79°55′05″W / 40.484°N 79.918°W |
| No. of animals | Over 4,000 |
| No. of species | 475 |
| Annual visitors | 1+ million |
| Major exhibits | Forest Passage, African Savanna, Tropical Forest, The Islands, Jungle Odyssey, Aquarium, Water's Edge, Kid's Kingdom |
The Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium is a special place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It's one of only a few places in the United States that is both a zoo and an aquarium!
This amazing park covers 77 acres of land in Highland Park. It's home to over 4,000 animals from 475 different species. You can even see 20 kinds of animals that are threatened or endangered.
The zoo first opened way back in 1898 as the Highland Park Zoo. Over the years, it changed from just showing animals to focusing on protecting animals and their homes. The zoo was known as the Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium for 20 years, from 2002 to 2022, because of a special agreement with a company called PPG Industries.
Contents
Discover the History of Pittsburgh Zoo
Early Days: Highland Park Zoo
The Pittsburgh Zoo first opened its doors on June 14, 1898. It was called the Highland Park Zoo back then. A kind person named Christopher Lyman Magee gave $125,000 (which would be millions today) to build a place for animals in Pittsburgh's Highland Park.
In its early years, the zoo was more like a collection of animals in cages. But as time went on, the zoo started to create more natural-looking homes for the animals. Its main goal became to help with animal conservation.
Growing Bigger: New Exhibits and Buildings
In 1937, new bear exhibits and the main zoo building were constructed. This was part of a big project called the Works Progress Administration. These new exhibits were the zoo's first try at making animal homes that looked more like their natural environments.
In 1949, the Children's Zoo opened, thanks to a gift from the Sarah Mellon Scaife Foundation. This area had fun, interactive exhibits for kids. Later, in 1967, a large aquarium called the AquaZoo opened. It was the only aquarium in Pennsylvania at the time and the second largest in the whole United States!
Modernizing the Zoo: The Master Plan
In 1980, the zoo started a big plan to make things even better. This plan aimed for major updates and the creation of more natural-looking exhibits.
- The Asian Forest opened in 1983. It was the first area to use this new idea of natural exhibits.
- The African Savanna followed in 1987, also featuring natural habitats.
- In 1991, the Tropical Forest opened. This was a huge indoor rainforest where you could see 16 types of primates and 150 kinds of tropical plants.
- The Children's Zoo was updated and renamed the Children's Farm in 1991. It had three petting zoos where kids could touch kangaroos, deer, and farm animals like sheep and goats.
- By 1996, the Children's Farm was replaced by a new exhibit called Kids Kingdom.
In 1994, the Pittsburgh Zoo became a private nonprofit organization. This meant it was still owned by the city but managed by the Zoological Society of Pittsburgh. That same year, an Education Complex was built. This building had classrooms, a library, and a large lecture hall. This showed how much the zoo cared about education and conservation.
Recent Updates and Expansions
In 2000, the AquaZoo got a huge update costing $17.4 million and was renamed the PPG Aquarium. This new aquarium was twice as big as the original! In 2002, the Education Complex also got bigger, adding more classrooms and areas for teachers.
In 2006, the Pittsburgh Zoo opened Water's Edge. This marine exhibit lets visitors get close to amazing animals like polar bears, sea otters, and sand tiger sharks.
In 2012, a sad accident happened at the African wild dog exhibit. A young boy fell into the enclosure. For the safety of visitors, the zoo later replaced the wild dogs with cheetahs. The viewing area was also updated with stronger fences and plants to keep everyone safe.
Explore the Amazing Exhibits
The Pittsburgh Zoo is split into eight cool sections. Each section has a special theme and different animals to discover.
Kid's Kingdom: Fun for Everyone
Kid's Kingdom first opened in 1949 as the Children's Zoo. This part of the zoo is super interactive and perfect for kids. It has a petting zoo with friendly farm animals, a reptile house, a playground, and exhibits with animals from Pennsylvania. You can see white-tailed deer, North American beavers, river otters, barn owls, and even California sea lions!
Kid's Kingdom has many hands-on exhibits. For example, the meerkat exhibit has tunnels you can crawl through. This gives you an idea of what it's like to be a meerkat or other burrowing animal. There's also a walk-through area where you can see red kangaroos up close. This section helps visitors learn about animals' lives and behaviors. Both Parent Magazine and America's Best Zoos Travel Guide have given Kid's Kingdom high ratings.
Aquarium: Dive into Water Worlds
Built in 1967 and updated in 2000, the PPG Aquarium is a huge, two-story building. It shows off many different watery habitats. The aquarium's main idea is "Diversity of Water." It has exhibits that show various ocean and river environments, including:
- A tropical rainforest gallery.
- A Pennsylvania exhibit with fish and water animals from the Allegheny River.
- A penguin exhibit with kings, macaronis, and gentoos.
- A colorful coral reef.
- An open ocean exhibit.
The aquarium used to have Amazon river dolphins. One famous dolphin named Chuckles lived there for a long time. He was the longest-living river dolphin ever kept in a zoo! Chuckles would do tricks and interact with visitors. A picture honoring him can still be found at the Aquarium.
In 2002, PPG Industries agreed to help fund the zoo for 20 years. This is why the aquarium was called the "PPG Aquarium" and the zoo became the "Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium." When that agreement ended in 2022, the zoo went back to its original name: "Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium."
Forest Passage: Journey Through Asia
Forest Passage (which used to be called Asian Forest) is home to many animals from Eastern and Southeast Asia. It feels like you're traveling from the Himalayas to Indonesia. This section features some of Asia's most endangered big cats, like Siberian tigers and Amur leopards. You can also see other Asian animals, such as Komodo dragons and red pandas. This area, opened in 1983, was one of the first to follow the zoo's plan to create more natural exhibits.
In 2017, the zoo's only snow leopard, Chaney, passed away. Since then, the zoo has shown two Canada lynxes in that exhibit. In late 2018, some lynx cubs were born! Because of the lynxes (which are not from Asia), the zoo renamed this section from Asian Forest to Forest Passage.
Tropical Forest: A Rainforest Adventure
The Tropical Forest, opened in 1991, is a half-acre indoor rainforest. This building mainly focuses on primates, with 16 different species! You can see Ring-tailed lemurs, black-and-white ruffed lemurs, red ruffed lemurs, tufted capuchins, white-faced sakis, black howler monkeys, northern white-cheeked gibbons, Angola colobuses, blue monkeys, and even great apes like western lowland gorillas and Bornean orangutans. Other rainforest animals, like Hoffmann's two-toed sloths, also live here.
African Savanna: Walk with Giants
African bush elephant (Loxodonta africana) at the zoo
Like the Forest Passage, the African Savanna was also part of the zoo's big plan from 1980. Finished in 1987, this section makes you feel like you're walking along a river in an African savanna. Here, you can find lions, African bush elephants, Masai giraffes, Grant's zebras, eastern black rhinos, American flamingos, common ostriches, nyalas, dwarf crocodiles, and Galápagos tortoises.
Cheetah Valley is a part of the African Savanna. It used to house African wild dogs, but they were moved for visitor safety after an incident in 2012. Now, this exhibit features amazing cheetahs. You can view them through a glass panel, and the old viewing platform was replaced with tall, strong fences and plants to ensure safety.
Water's Edge: Coastal Creatures
Water's Edge is a newer section of the zoo, completed in 2006. It's right next to the PPG Aquarium. This area looks like a coastal fishing village and shows how humans interact with marine animals near the coast. You can walk through a long tunnel that goes through three big water tanks. These tanks are home to polar bears, sea otters, two female northern elephant seals, and sea lions.
The elephant seal exhibit was originally planned for walruses, but they were hard to get. Five sand tiger sharks lived in the enclosure until 2016 when they moved to Florida. A blind elephant seal named Coolio was rescued and came to the zoo in 2014. As of 2020, two more rescued female elephant seals, Ellie Mae and Nessie, have also joined the zoo family.
The Islands: Endangered Island Animals
Opened in June 2015, The Islands exhibit is a large area featuring several endangered animals. You can see tomistomas, Philippine crocodiles, Aldabra giant tortoises, Visayan warty pigs, clouded leopards, and siamangs. The exhibit is designed to feel like a tropical island, with sandy areas, beach chairs, and umbrellas.
Jungle Odyssey: A Global Rainforest Journey
Jungle Odyssey opened in June 2017, right behind The Islands. This area shows rainforest animals from all over the world, including Africa, Asia, and South America. It has a cool mixed-species exhibit where capybaras and giant anteaters live together. You can also find exhibits for ocelots, fossas, and a pygmy hippopotamus.
Amazing Animal Reproduction
The Pittsburgh Zoo is very involved in helping animals have babies, especially endangered ones!
On September 12, 1999, one of the zoo's female African elephants, Moja, gave birth to a baby girl named Victoria. This was a huge success because Victoria was the first African elephant born and to survive in North America since 1982! She was also the first born to a mother who was also born in captivity.
A second baby elephant, a boy named Callee, was born to another female elephant named Savannah almost exactly a year later, on September 19, 2000. The father of both these calves is a bull elephant named Jackson. He is currently the only male African elephant breeding naturally in North America. Moja and Savannah both became pregnant again in 2006. On July 9, 2008, Savannah gave birth to a girl named Angelina. Moja also had a girl on July 25, 2008, named Zuri.
Amur tiger at the zoo
On August 8, 2006, the zoo's female Amur tiger, Toma, gave birth to three cubs. This was a big achievement because Amur tigers are endangered, and every successful birth helps their species a lot. Sadly, one cub, Nadya, passed away in September from a heart problem. But the other two, a boy named Petya and a girl named Mara, are healthy and doing well.
Another Amur tiger cub was born to Toma on May 11, 2008. This male cub, named Grom (which means Thunder because he was born during a thunderstorm), had to be taken from his mother. Handlers realized Toma wasn't producing enough milk for him. On September 12, 2008, the baby cub was named Billy Ray. Donors who paid to name him wanted to honor a family member who loved the country music star Billy Ray Cyrus. Billy Ray the tiger will likely grow to be about 11 feet long and weigh 450 pounds!
On October 25, 2009, one of the zoo's African painted dogs, Vega, gave birth to nine puppies. Sadly, Vega died the next day, leaving her puppies without a mother. To help the puppies, the zoo found a friendly dog named Honey from a local shelter. Honey had recently given birth and was still able to nurse. Honey immediately took to the puppies and fed them. The zoo's vet staff also gave the puppies special liquid food. Although four of the puppies passed away (which is common for African painted dogs), the remaining five were healthy and strong after a month. The painted dogs later left the zoo in 2013 and moved to other zoos.
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