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Denver Zoo founded when an orphan American black bear cub named Billy Bryan was given to the mayor of the time Thomas S. McMurry as a gift.
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Mayor Robert W. Speer decided the cages the animals lived in needed to be done away with. He hired Saco R. DeBoer to plan a new design with rocks, waterfalls, trees and more. It became the first zoo in the U.S. to use naturalistic zoo enclosures.
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Bear Mountain opened and housed polar bears and grizzly bears. The south tip originally housed monkeys, but because of an escape problem sea lions moved in instead.
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Monkey Island was built and is surrounded by a moat to get rid of the original bars.
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The Denver Zoological Foundation was created. That year the zoo got their first elephant, Cookie.
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A Children’s zoo was opened but has now been replaced by Primate Panorama, a 7 acre home for apes and other larger primates.
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The Feline House was opened.
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The giraffe house opens, which allows giraffes a place to keep warm.
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The animal hospital opens in the zoo, allowing animals to get help when something is wrong.
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Bird world was opened.
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Northern Shores opened for polar bears, bears, seals and otters. Underwater viewing areas are provided in the polar bear and sea lion habitats.
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Tropical Discovery opened as an $11.5 million exhibit. This doubled the number of species and the number of animals at the zoo. There are also over 250 species of plants within the exhibit.
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Klondike and Snow were born to a first time mother name Ulu, who rejected the cubs. They were raised by the staff at the zoo and were a very popular attraction.
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The Denver Zoo becomes the most popular place in Denver that you have to pay for to visit.
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A jaguar hurts a zookeeper. This event happened despite the zoo policy that humans and big cats should not have direct contact.
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The zoo opened a $50 million Elephant passage. This is a 10-acre exhibit and the largest bull elephant habitat in the world, designed for up to 12 elephants.
