The Cincinnati Zoo opened on September 18, 1875, with a small collection of animals. More than 1,800 creatures now call the zoo their home — from South American alpacas to Asian snow leopards. The zoo in southwestern Ohio is celebrating a special birthday in 2025. It is 150 years old!
During the early 1870s, Cincinnati businessman Andrew Erkenbrecker and other local leaders wanted to create a beautiful urban park filled with animals. They founded the Cincinnati Zoological Garden in 1873. It opened two years later. At that time, the zoo had monkeys, grizzly bears, deer, raccoons, elk, a tiger, a buffalo, and hundreds of birds. The Cincinnati Zoo stands as the second-oldest zoo in the United States (behind the Philadelphia Zoo). Its monkey house — built in 1875 — is the oldest zoo building in the country and is still used today as a reptile house.
Over the years, workers at the zoo have helped with animal . In the late 1800s, for example, staff bred California sea lions for the first time in a zoo. The first giraffe ever born in the Western Hemisphere was born at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1889. The Cincinnati Zoo also hatched four passenger pigeons. It housed the last living one (Martha) before the bird species went in 1914.
During the 1900s, the Cincinnati Zoo welcomed more animals — and opened new habitats for them. For example, it opened the elephant house in 1906. It opened the African Veldt — a habitat for zebras, antelopes, and birds — in 1935. The zoo renovated and opened other buildings. That includes a second reptile house, an ape house, a cat house, and an aquarium.
Visitors at the zoo’s Hippo Cove can see Nile hippo Fiona. She's there with her mom, Bibi, dad, Tucker, and three-year-old baby brother, Fritz. Fiona gained popularity when she was born early and small at the zoo in 2017. Zoo workers fed her, kept her warm, and made sure she survived and thrived.
The Cincinnati Zoo is also home to cheetahs, the fastest land animal in the world. One of the zoo’s cheetahs, however, has retired from running. Zookeepers take care of the 13-year-old cheetah, named Savannah, by giving her medicine and letting her take walks. She is just one of the many senior animals who live at the zoo.
To celebrate the zoo’s 150th birthday in 2025, workers opened a larger area for elephants. A new habitat for primates also opened. On September 18, 2025, workers celebrated the big birthday. Visitors got special deals. And the zoo hosted 12 animal events for visitors to learn about bonobos, meerkats, gorillas, elephants, and other zoo critters. And the work isn’t done yet. The zoo plans to open a new black bear habitat and an otter viewing area later in 2025.
“The Cincinnati Zoo has grown so much over the years,” said zoo official Angela Hatke. And she told News-O-Matic it’s “not only in the way we care for animals but also in how we connect with our community and contribute to local and global conservation.” As Hatke explained, “We’ve grown into a world-class institution leading the way in animal care, , and conservation.” She added:
“It’s inspiring to see how far we’ve come — and how much we continue to grow.”
By Diana Richard
Updated September 18, 2025, 5:00 P.M. (ET)
