Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden was created in 1873 and formally opened in 1875, making it the sixth oldest zoo in the United States. It is situated in Cincinnati's Avondale district. It began with 64.5 acres (26.1 ha) in the city center, but has since expanded onto nearby blocks and many reserves in Cincinnati's outskirts. In 1987, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark.

The zoo is home to more than 500 animals and 3,000 plant kinds. Furthermore, the zoo has run various breeding initiatives throughout its history, and was the first to successfully produce California sea lions. The Lindner Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) was established in 1986 to promote the zoo's conservation goals. The zoo is well-known for housing Martha, the last remaining passenger pigeon, as well as Incas, the last living Carolina parakeet. The zoo is a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) (WAZA).

The Cincinnati Zoo was ranked among the greatest zoos in the country by USA Today in 2014, based on data given by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The Cincinnati Zoo was rated the finest zoo in North America in a 2019 reader's choice poll of the nation's best zoos by USA Today.

Andrew Erkenbrecher and many other Cincinnati citizens founded the Society for the Acclimatization of Birds in 1872, three years before the zoo's establishment, to obtain insect-eating birds to manage a serious caterpillar infestation. Burnet Woods hosted a collection of about 1,000 birds acquired from Europe in 1872 before they were released. The Zoological Society of Cincinnati was created in 1873 by members of the Society of Acclimatization who discussed the concept of establishing a zoo. One year later, the Zoological Society of Cincinnati obtained a 99-year lease on 65 acres (26 ha) of Blakely Woods cow pasture.

On September 18, 1875, the Cincinnati Zoological Gardens formally opened its doors. Architect James W. McLaughlin, who built the zoo's original structures, designed The zoo's initial population included eight monkeys, two grizzly bears, three white-tailed deer, six raccoons, two elk, a buffalo, a laughing hyena, a tiger, an American alligator, a circus elephant, and over 400 birds, including a talking crow. The original Cincinnati Zoo guidebook was produced in German in 1876. The zoo's founders, including the first general manager, were German immigrants, and the city had a sizable German-speaking community. The first illustrated English-language version was released in 1893.

The zoo had significant financial problems in its first 20 years, and after selling 22 acres (8.9 ha) to pay off debt in 1886, it fell into receivership in 1898. The investors voted to keep the zoo from being liquidated. To keep the zoo from being liquidated, the investors agreed to give up their stake in the $225,000 they had initially invested. The zoo was managed as a business for the following two years by the Cincinnati Zoological Company. The Cincinnati Traction Company bought the zoo in 1901, aiming to utilize it to sell itself to potential consumers. They ran the zoo until 1917, when the Cincinnati Zoological Park Association took over administration, aided by gifts from philanthropists Mary Emery and Anna Sinton Taft and a surge of public interest in purchasing the increasingly famous zoo. The city bought the zoo in 1932 and began running it through the Board of Park Commissioners. This signified the zoo's move from its previous location.

This transitioned the zoo from a period of financial uncertainty to its current level of sustained expansion and budgetary stability.

The zoo also has food booths, a dance hall, roadways, footpaths, and picnic spaces in addition to live animal exhibits. The Cincinnati Summer Opera played in an open-air pavilion and was carried on NBC radio from 1920 and 1972.

The Cincinnati Zoo Historic Structures were recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1987 owing to the noteworthy architecture shown in the Elephant House, Reptile House, and Passenger Pigeon Memorial. Beginning in 1880 with the first hatching of a trumpeter swan in a zoo, as well as four passenger pigeons, the Cincinnati Zoo has been engaged in breeding animals to help conserve species. This was followed in 1882 by the birth of the first American bison in captivity.

The Carl H. Lindner Jr. Zoo was created in 1986. The Family Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife exists to use science and technology to better understand, protect, and propagate endangered flora and fauna while also facilitating global biodiversity conservation. Its Frozen Zoo is quite important. It has nearly 2,500 specimens from roughly 60 animal and 65 plant species. CREW's director is Terri Roth.

The zoo developed an eight-acre (3.2 hectare) Africa exhibit in the 2010s, the largest animal display in its history. Phases I and II, completed in 2010, included a crane display and extended the Cheetah Encounter yard, giving the cheetahs 40% more running room. Phase III, which opened on June 29, 2013, contained a larger view with African lions (including white lions), servals, a bat-eared fox, African wild dogs, and a new cheetah exhibit. The 2013 season also saw the addition of a new Base Camp Café, which is believed to be the greenest restaurant in the United States.

The largest part of the Africa expansion, Phase IV, began on June 28, 2014. It added a large savanna with some trees. The largest part of the Africa expansion, Phase IV, began on June 28, 2014. It introduced a vast savanna with some of Africa's most spectacular hoofstock, including zebras, gazelles, lesser kudu, impala, and giant eland, as well as some of the world's largest birds, including ostriches, marabou storks, pink-backed pelicans, Ruppel's vultures, crested guineafowl, ruddy shelducks, lappet-

The final part of the development, Phase V, opened on July 23, 2016, and included an area for Nile hippos, Hippo Cove, with both above and below-water viewing. The zoo welcomed a 34-year-old male named Henry from the Dickerson Park Zoo and a 17-year-old female named Bibi from the St. Louis Zoo.