Detroit Zoo
The Detroit Zoo is a zoo located in the cities of Huntington Woods and Royal Oak in the U.S. state of Michigan. Spanning, it houses more than 2,000 animals and more than 200 different species. The zoo was the first U.S. zoo to feature bar-less habitats, and is regarded to be an international leader in animal welfare, conservation and sustainability by the Detroit Zoological Society.
History
The original Detroit Zoo opened in 1883, on Michigan and Trumbull Avenues, across from Tiger Stadium. William Cameron Coup's circus had arrived in town, only to be forfeited and put up for auction due to financial difficulties. Luther Beecher, a local businessman, financed the purchase of the circus’s animals and erected a building for their display which he called the Detroit Zoological Garden. This iteration of the Zoo closed the following year, with the building converted into a horse auction site.The Detroit Zoological Society was founded several years later, in 1911, but the Zoo's official opening did not occur until August 1, 1928. During the opening ceremony, acting Mayor John C. Nagel was to speak; he arrived late, and parked his car behind the bear exhibits. Upon exiting his vehicle, a polar bear, kept in one of the original “barrier-less” enclosures, attempted to lunge at the mayor, nearly crossing the protective moat around its exhibit. Nagel stuck out his hand and walked toward the polar bear joking, "He's the reception committee." The keepers rushed to the bear and forced him back into the exhibit, leaving the mayor uninjured.
By 1930, the zoo included the Bear Dens, Sheep Rocks, the Bird House, an elk exhibit, Baboon Rock, and Primate and Reptile Houses. The Great Depression brought a halt to additional expansion, until the 1940s, and expansion has continued ever since. During the Depression, one of the more popular animals was ‘Jo Mendi’, a four-year-old chimpanzee purchased by the zoo director with his own funds. A veteran of Broadway musicals and motion pictures, the chimp performed for the crowds. One press account stated, "he enjoys every minute of the act...He counts his fingers, dresses, laces his shoes, straps up his overalls; pours tea and drinks it; eats with a spoon, dances and waves farewell to his admirers." When the chimpanzee fell ill in late 1932, after eating a guest-thrown penny, surgeons from area hospitals came to assess his condition. During his recovery, visitors brought toys, peanuts and more than $500 worth of flowers, along with several thousand cards and letters. Jo died two years later, in 1934, from hoof and mouth disease.
In 1939, funded by a donation from Mary Rackham, the sculptor Corrado Parducci created the Horace Rackham Memorial Fountain, known as "the Bear Fountain." During the summer, the fountain is a splash pad and in winter it becomes an ice rink.
From the 1950s through the early 1970s, local weatherman Sonny Eliot hosted a program called At The Zoo, shown on Saturdays on Detroit television station WDIV.
In 1950, the zoo hired senior floriculturist Thomas Roberts. Roberts was a recognized expert on dahlias; his gardens at the zoo, particularly the dahlia exhibit to the west of the Rackham Memorial Fountain, attracted visitors from across the country. Throughout the mid-century era, and into the 1980s, the zoo's gardens were elaborate displays of perennials, flowers, and tropical houseplants. Sonny Eliot interviewed Roberts for one of his episodes of At The Zoo. Fred Roberts remained at the zoo until 1978. His garden designs were maintained through the 1980s.
Until 1982, trained chimpanzees performed for visitors, but the act was discontinued at the insistence of animal rights activists. In 1982, the zoo began to charge an admission fee.
The Arctic Ring of Life, one of North America's largest polar bear habitats, opened in 2001. Centered around a 300,000 gallon aquarium, it allows visitors to view polar bears from a 70-foot underwater tunnel made of clear acrylic. Other new buildings include the Ruth Roby Glancy Animal Health Complex and the Ford Education Center, which offers school and youth group programs as well as having a theater and exhibit space.
In 2005 the Zoo became the first in the U.S. to no longer keep elephants for ethical reasons, claiming the Michigan winters were too harsh for the animals and that confining them was stressful. The elephants, Wanda and Winky, were relocated to the Performing Animal Welfare Society's sanctuary in San Andreas, California. Winky died in April 2008; Wanda died in February 2015. The former elephant exhibit was renovated and is now home to two white rhinoceros, Jasiri and Tamba.
The Australian Outback Adventure, opened in 2006, allows visitors to walk through a simulated Outback containing red kangaroos and red-necked wallabies. Nothing separates visitors from the marsupials, allowing the animals to hop freely onto the walking path.
On February 18, 2006, the Detroit City Council voted to shut down the Zoo as part of budget cuts, being unable to reach an agreement with the Society to take over the park and a legislative grant having expired that day. An uproar ensued and the Council, on March 1, 2006, voted to transfer operations to the Society with a promised $4 million grant from the Michigan Legislature. The city retained ownership of the assets, including the Zoo in Royal Oak and the Belle Isle Nature Center in Detroit. The Society is responsible for governance, management and operations, including creating a plan to raise funds for long-term operations. On August 5, 2008, voters in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties overwhelmingly passed a zoo tax that provides sustainable funding to supplement earned revenue and philanthropic support.
The Penguinarium was temporarily renamed the "Winguinarium" in 2009 while the Detroit Red Wings played the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.
In 2011, the lions' enclosure was remodeled, providing animals more than double the room, new landscaping, and a glass wall to allow closer encounters with visitors. The Zoo also has the Simulator Ride, a 4-D Theater, the Tauber Family Railroad and a carousel.
In 2013, the Zoo celebrated its single largest donation ever by announcing plans for the Polk Penguin Conservation Center, which opened in 2016. The Center replaces the Penguinarium and became the world's largest facility dedicated to the study of penguins. The Penguinarium will be converted into event space.
In 2017, a biodigester was installed to convert manure and food waste into methane, which is then used to power the zoo's animal hospital.
On July 6, 2019, the Zoo celebrated the birth of Keti, a red panda cub, born after a 4-month gestation period.
In September 2019, the Penguin Center was closed for waterproofing repairs. The penguins were moved back to the original Penguinarium until the Polk Center reopened. The center reopened on February 14, 2022 after delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It contains 5 species of penguins; King, Macaroni, Gentoo, Chinstrap and Rockhopper.
Habitats
National Amphibian Conservation Center
The National Amphibian Conservation Center is a $7 million, 12,000-square-foot facility situated on a two-acre Michigan wetland area and pond called "Amphibiville". The Center, which opened in June 2000, has a diverse range of frogs, toads, salamanders, newts and caecilians. The Wall Street Journal dubbed the attraction "Disneyland for toads". The Center participates in research and conservation efforts for species including the Panamanian golden frog, Puerto Rican crested toad, and Wyoming toad.In 2002, the Zoo was awarded the AZA National Exhibit Award for Amphibiville.
The Arctic Ring of Life
The 4-acre Arctic Ring of Life, opened in October 2001, is home to three polar bears and two southern sea otters. It is among the largest polar bear habitats in North American zoos. In 2003, the Zoo was awarded the AZA Significant Achievement Award for the Arctic Ring of Life.Cotton Family Wetlands and Boardwalk
Mimicking a Michigan ecosystem, the 1.7-acre pond and wetlands area and accompanying 7,200-square-foot boardwalk is home to native fish, frogs, turtles and birds as well as trumpeter swans. The boardwalk is made from 95-percent recycled material composed primarily of plastic grocery bags and reclaimed hardwood. The Wetlands and Boardwalk are bounded by Amphibiville, the Warchol Beaver Habitat, the Edward Mardigian Sr. River Otter Habitat, and the Holden Reptile Conservation Center.Due to a $102,350 grant from NOAA, the Wetlands are also used as professional development and outdoor classroom for teachers and students underrepresented in science fields.