Sacramento Zoo

Zoo in the United States

Sacramento Zoo

38°32′23″N 121°30′14″W﻿ / ﻿38.539605°N 121.504026°W﻿ / 38.539605; -121.504026
Date opened| June 2, 1927[1]
Location| William Land Park, Sacramento, California, United States
Land area| 14.3 acres (5.8 ha)
No. of animals| Just over 500(2012)
Memberships| AZA[2]
Website| www.saczoo.org

The Sacramento Zoo is a zoo located in William Land Park in Sacramento, California. It opened on June 2, 1927, with 40 animals. At that time, it occupied 4.2 acres (1.7 ha), which remained the case until the early 1960s when the zoo expanded to its current 14.3 acres (5.8 ha). As of December 2012[update], the zoo had just over 500 animals on site.

## History

[edit]

The zoo opened as the 4.2-acre (1.7 ha) "William Land Park Zoo" on June 2, 1927, with 40 animals brought together from various local parks, including monkeys, raccoons, birds, and deer.[1]

In 1948, the Sacramento Union newspaper sponsored a drive to raise money to buy the zoo an elephant. In the fall of 1949, SUE (the "Sacramento Union Elephant"), so named by local teenage sisters Jacklyn and Carolyn Bolton via a contest sponsored by the Union, arrived at the zoo, much to the delight of area visitors. In 1955, the zoo bought "Winky", Sue's companion.[1]

The Sacramento Zoological Society formed in 1958 to support and raise funds for the zoo as city funding began to dwindle. The year 1958 also brought along the start of the zoo's educational programming, at that time, one of only nine zoos in the United States to have such a program. In 1997, the society took over day-to-day operation of the zoo.[1]

The zoo was expanded to 14.3 acres (5.8 ha) in the early 1960s, with new habitats built in most areas of the zoo. In 1965, the zoo received its first grizzly bear and two orangutans, and began charging 25 cents for admission. The current name was adopted in 1970, along with the completion of the reptile house and the creation of a docent program.[1]

On April 6, 2007, an exhibit featuring six penguins opened to the public. The day prior, Mayor Heather Fargo and other guests were dressed in black and white to greet the new arrivals, who were on loan for the "one year bash".[3]

In 2009, the zoo started construction on a new barn and yard for their giraffes. The old wooden barn was demolished and replaced with a much more spacious, heated barn. The new barn includes a breeding facility with many large stalls for current giraffes and their calves. The Tall Wonders giraffe habitat has a pavilion for visitors to get an eye to eye view of the giraffes. The new facility opened on February 12, 2010.

In 2011, brought along the grand opening of a new river otter exhibit, complete with glass that enabled visitors to walk up to visitors and interact with the very sociable North American river otters in their naturalistic habitat.[1]

In September 2014, the zoo opened Small Wonders of Africa with aardvarks, Wolf's guenon, red-billed hornbill, and other creatures.

The zoo is working on replacing its current Reptile House with a Biodiversity Center.[4]

In November 2018, zoo officials have explored the possibility of moving the zoo to the former ARCO Arena site in Natomas, citing the need for more space and the constraints of their current location; however, the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association controls the arena site and have conflicting plans to build a mixed-use development on the site.[5] 35 acres (10 hectares) of the former ARCO Arena site were donated to California Northstate University to build its new medical center.[6]

In June 2020, a red panda named Amaya gave birth to her second cub at the Sacramento zoo.[7]

In 2024, it was announced that the Zoo would leave the Land Park area and relocate to the suburban community of Elk Grove, about fifteen miles south of the current location, where it would be able to occupy a much larger space with improved facilities.[8] However, as of April 30, 2025, the relocation project was officially announced to not be moving forward due to growing financial concerns. [9]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d e f "History". saczoo.org. Sacramento Zoo. Archived from the original on March 5, 2011. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
2. ^ "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA. Retrieved January 12, 2011.
3. ^ It's a Penguin Party last accessed April 7, 2007.[dead link]
4. ^ "Biodiversity Centre first phase in total transformation of Sacramento Zoo". blooloop.com. June 19, 2017. Retrieved August 22, 2022.
5. ^ "Sacramento Kings Release Plans For Site Of Sleep Train Arena". KOVR-TV. Retrieved June 28, 2019.
6. ^ Bizjak, Tony; Finch, Michael II (June 18, 2021). "New use for Sacramento's Sleep Train Arena site revealed: 'A hub of innovation'". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
7. ^ "'Robust and active' — Sacramento Zoo shows off pictures of red panda born last month". The Sacramento Bee. Retrieved July 13, 2020.
8. ^ "'Sacramento Zoo leaving Sacramento permanently after 97 years". SFGate. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
9. ^ "'New Zoo Update'". Sacramento Zoo. Retrieved April 30, 2025.

## Photo gallery

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## External links

[edit]

* Official website

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Zoos of California

Zoos|

* Big Bear Alpine Zoo (Big Bear Lake)
* California Living Museum (Bakersfield)
* Charles Paddock Zoo (Atascadero)
* CuriOdyssey (San Mateo)
* Folsom City Zoo Sanctuary (Folsom)
* Fresno Chaffee Zoo (Fresno)
* Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (San Jose)
* Living Coast Discovery Center (Chula Vista)
* Living Desert Zoo and Gardens (Palm Desert)
* Los Angeles Zoo
* Micke Grove Zoo (Lodi)
* Oakland Zoo
* Orange County Zoo (Orange)
* OstrichLand USA (Buellton)
* Sacramento Zoo
* Safari West (Sonoma County)
* San Diego Zoo
* San Diego Zoo Safari Park
* San Francisco Zoo
* Santa Ana Zoo
* Santa Barbara Zoo
* Sequoia Park Zoo (Eureka)
* The Reptile Zoo (Fountain Valley)

Aquariums|

* Aquarium of the Bay (San Francisco)
* Aquarium of the Pacific (Long Beach)
* Birch Aquarium at Scripps (La Jolla)
* Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (San Pedro)
* California Academy of Sciences (San Francisco)
* California Science Center (Los Angeles)
* Central Coast Aquarium (Avila Beach)
* Heal the Bay Aquarium (Santa Monica)
* Roundhouse Marine Studies Lab & Aquarium (Manhattan Beach)
* Monterey Bay Aquarium
* Ocean Institute (Dana Point)
* Ocean World (Crescent City)
* Roundhouse Aquarium (Manhattan Beach)
* Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center
* Sea Life Aquarium at Legoland California (Carlsbad)
* SeaQuest Folsom
* Seymour Marine Discovery Center (Santa Cruz)

Animal sanctuaries|

* Farm Sanctuary's Animal Acres (Acton)
* The Gentle Barn (Santa Clarita)
* Shambala Preserve (Acton)
* Wildlife WayStation (Angeles National Forest)

Animal theme parks|

* SeaWorld San Diego
* Six Flags Discovery Kingdom (Vallejo)

Defunct zoos|

* Barnes City Zoo
* Busch Gardens Van Nuys
* Catalina Bird Park
* Cawston Ostrich Farm
* Feather Hill Zoo
* Gay's Lion Farm
* Griffith Park Zoo
* Japanese Village and Deer Park
* Jungleland USA
* Lion Country Safari
* Los Angeles Alligator Farm
* Marineland of the Pacific
* Marine World/Africa USA
* Selig Zoo
* Universal City Zoo
* Woodward's Gardens

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