Search Results for:

1999 was an unforgettable year for the Zoo with the arrival of Lun Lun and Yang Yang, a pair of giant pandas on loan from China. Even as the city celebrated the beloved bears, Atlanta joined the Zoo in mourning Willie B., who passed away in 2000 at the age of 42. The gorilla who … Continue reading "1999–2017: Pandas to Present"

On May 13, his first day outdoors, Willie B. explored his new home in The Ford African Rain Forest. In 1984, a series of highly publicized events revealed deteriorating conditions at the Zoo, prompting Parade magazine to label the institution as one of the top 10 worst in the nation. A subsequent investigation lost the Zoo its accreditation, and an outraged public demanded that the facility be closed. Mayor Andrew Young assembled an emergency crisis team, appointing Terry L. Maple, PhD, as interim director. The team set out to address immediate issues, beginning with reducing the collection in order to ... Continue reading 1984–1999: Turnaround

By the 1950s, a sweeping global trend had biologists and zoo directors questioning traditional hard, linear animal cages in favor of more naturalistic environments. The period from 1951 to 1967 was one of the Zoo’s greatest times of construction and renovation. This decade also marked the arrival of one of the Zoo’s most beloved animals, an infant gorilla who joined the collection in 1961. Named for Atlanta Mayor William B. Hartsfield, he would be known in perpetuity as “Willie B.” Despite a decade of progress and ingenuity, it would not be long before many of the Zoo’s facilities became outdated. In ... Continue reading 1950–1984: A Zoo Growing Up

Atlanta’s oldest cultural destination began the day a menagerie came to town – and never left. In March 1889, a traveling show bound for Marietta, Ga., stalled just south of its destination when cash flow problems forced its owner into bankruptcy. Left behind by defecting circus employees, the animals began to draw crowds of curious onlookers. Two weeks later, businessman George Valentine Gress purchased the collection at public auction and donated the animals to the city of Atlanta. City leaders relocated them to picturesque Grant Park, a favorite local picnic and promenade destination. Featuring a jaguar, a hyena, a black bear, a ... Continue reading 1889–1950: The Early Days

Thank you to Zoo Atlanta’s corporate supporters! Supporters Allionce Group Aprio Arrow Exterminators, Inc. Aruba Networks Atlanta Gas Light Atlanta Marriott Marquis Blick Art Materials Chick-fil-A, Inc. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Strong4Life The Coca-Cola Company Coca-Cola United Cox Enterprises, Inc. Cricket Deloitte Delta Air Lines, Inc. Ernst & Young LLP Event Network General Building Maintenance, … Continue reading "Corporate Supporters"

Pre-K
Discover the wild features of different animals and understand what makes them similar to and different from one another.

K-1st grade
Explore the basic needs of plants and animals as students compare and contrast animal and plant adaptations and characteristics. 

3rd-4th grade
Georgia is a wild and wonderful state with a diversity of species found across the five regions.