Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo
Main page
2108833

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

logo
Community Hub0 subscribers
What are your thoughts?
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Be the first to start a discussion here.
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

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. Cleveland Metroparks Zoo has one of the largest collections of primates in North America. The Zoo is a part of the Cleveland Metroparks system.

The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo (CMZ) was founded in 1882. It is one of the most popular year-round attractions in Northeast Ohio with an attendance of 1.32 million in 2023.

The Zoo, originally named the Cleveland Zoological Park, first opened in 1882 at Wade Park where the Cleveland Museum of Art now stands. During its early years, the Zoo only held animals of local origin. In 1907, the city of Cleveland moved the Zoo to its current location in Old Brooklyn, and the Zoo acquired its first elephant. The park was informally known (and referred to) as Brookside Zoo for many years. Beginning in 1910, the Zoo constructed Monkey Island, sea lion pools, and a moated bear exhibit. By 1940, the Zoo was home to three elephants and its first (permanent) elephant resident since 1924. That same year, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History assumed control of the Zoo.

Between 1955 and the transfer of management to the Cleveland Metroparks in 1975, the Zoo experienced rapid expansion despite setbacks due to flooding: the Zoo's reptile collection and several other buildings were lost when Big Creek overflowed in January 1959. Although the Zoo had recovered by 1962, it would not have another permanent reptile collection until the opening of the RainForest thirty years later. Ostrich races proved popular in 1965 and 1966 and a large public swimming pool sat on the grounds from 1930 until the 1960s.

Construction began on the Primate & Cat Building in 1975 (the Aquatics section would be added in 1985), later followed by the RainForest in 1992, Wolf Wilderness in 1997, Australian Adventure in 2000, and the Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine in 2004. Newer exhibits include the Asian highlands and Tiger Passage opened in 2017 and 2018, and The Rhino Reserve was completed in 2020.

The Zoo's official website states that it currently has 3,000 animal residents representing more than 600 different species.

The following is a timeline of the creation of selected buildings, structures, exhibits and attractions:

Dr. Leonard Goss, DVM, PhD (1913–1999) was a veterinary pathologist and retired from the Cleveland Zoo (later renamed the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo) as its director in 1979. Prior to assuming the director position in Cleveland, he was the fourth chief veterinarian at the New York Zoological Society's Bronx Zoo as well as assistant director of the Bronx Zoo. Goss was President of the AZA and twice vice-president.

See all
User Avatar
No comments yet.